Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco (Stalking Jack the Ripper Book 3) #BookReview

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a travelling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

This is the third book in the Jack The Ripper series and I very high expectations for this one. I absolutely love magic and illusions so Houdini certainly made me want to read this. I’m not sure, however, this one tops my favorite of the series so far, which was the first one of the series, Stalking Jack The Ripper.

I find this novel a hard one to review because there wasn’t anything I didn’t like. In general I just missed some real twists and thrills, even though the travelling entertainment on board (The Midnight Carnival) did its best every night to dazzle the people on board of the RMS Etruria on their way to New York and the reader at the same time.

The travelling company’s leader is run by the enigmatic Mephistopheles and it wasn’t only Audrey Rose Wadsworth who was under his spell. I could see his attraction and the fact that he hid his face behind a mask only made him more of a fascinating enigma. Of course I felt bad for Audrey Rose’s partner-in-crime Thomas Cresswell who doesn’t hide his love for her but I never believed for one minute she would really fall for Mephistopheles. The author alludes to this rivalry and a (faux or not so faux after all?) love triangle for most of the novel and it might not be what some readers hoped for since Thomas Cresswell is just perfect but it’s good to see that there might be another person who matches well with Audrey Rose. I enjoyed reading about this potential new love interest, the author did a great job with Mephistopheles. I felt bad for Thomas but also for Mephistopheles because I believed he was really into her too so whoever she decided on, someone was going to lose.

As far as the mystery and murders go, it was all very mystifying but there were not really enough clues along the way to really be able to figure this one out although I wasn’t quite surprised when the true killer’s identity was revealed either.

I was intrigued by the character of Houdini (although none of his tricks were explained which was not totally unexpected but still a bummer) and I loved that the author included a photo of the real Houdini in the book which made it feel more authentic but he didn’t get a lot more attention than any of the other characters and I kind of expected the story to focus more on him.

Overall it was a good read but I think I missed a real ace up the sleeve in this book. I’m still debating whether I’m going to continue with the series or not.

I bought a paperback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson #BookReview

Three women

Three eras

One extraordinary mystery…

1899, Belle Époque Paris. Lucienne’s two daughters are believed dead when her mansion burns to the ground, but she is certain that her girls are still alive and embarks on a journey into the depths of the spiritualist community to find them.

1949, Post-War Québec. Teenager Lina’s father has died in the French Resistance, and as she struggles to fit in at school, her mother introduces her to an elderly woman at the asylum where she works, changing Lina’s life in the darkest way imaginable.

2002, Quebec. A former schoolteacher is accused of brutally stabbing her husband – a famous university professor – to death. Detective Maxine Grant, who has recently lost her own husband and is parenting a teenager and a new baby single-handedly, takes on the investigation.

Under enormous personal pressure, Maxine makes a series of macabre discoveries that link directly to historical cases involving black magic and murder, secret societies and spiritism … and women at breaking point, who will stop at nothing to protect the ones they love…

The title alone scared me off a little and the mention that it was a gothic read wasn’t really comforting me either but on the other hand I really liked the cover and the author. I decided to go for it and in the end I quite enjoyed reading this. Yes there are a few short scenes of performing ‘black magic’ that I could have done without but were a necessary evil; it was mostly talk about symbolism though and how some of it was hidden which was interesting. This all happens in the final part of the book so I wouldn’t rule this novel out if it’s not your preferred genre either.

I loved the three separate plotlines of a detective investigating a murder, a young girl being bullied at school and a woman whose children are missing after a house fire. They were all set in different timeframes and the only thing the three seemed to have in common was a link to the main location where they all seemed to have been at one time or another. The Queen of French noir guides us slowly-slowly (but in a good way) towards some really big revelations and weaves everything expertly together. It felt good to figure out how this puzzle was slotted together and then the big guns were still biding its time to be fired.

I can’t say which of the storylines I liked best but the scenes that definitely stood out for me were those where Professor Gina (Ginette) Montminy interviews Mrs Caron about the murder on her husband and the gruesome finds in their house. Mrs Caron doesn’t speak a word but Montminy’s monologue and observations seem to hit the nail on the head and I was quite in awe of that. The psychological aspect is always what attracts me most so I was served well.

The biggest surprise was kept till the very end. What a twist! Definitely another highlight of this novel. It left me reeling and I’m sure I won’t be the only one.

Religion isn’t one of my favorite topics in books so I faced some challenges while reading this and yet I still very much enjoyed reading this.

I bought an ecopy of this novel at 99p. This is my honest opinion.

That Bonesetter Woman by Frances Quinn #BookReview

It’s usual, they say, for a young person coming to London for the first time to arrive with a head full of dreams. Well, Endurance Proudfoot did not. When she stepped off the coach from Sussex, on a warm and sticky afternoon in the summer of 1757, it never occurred to her that the city would be the place where she’d make her fortune; she was just very annoyed to be arriving there at all.

Meet Endurance Proudfoot: clumsy as a carthorse, strong as an ox, with a tactless tongue and a face she’s sure only a mother could love. Durie wants one thing in life: to become a bonesetter like her father. It’s physically demanding work, requiring nerves of steel, and he’s adamant it’s not a job for a woman.

Strong-willed and stubborn, Durie’s certain that in bonesetting, her big, usually clumsy hands have found their natural calling. So when she’s bundled off to London with her beautiful sister, she won’t let it stop her realising her dream. As her sister finds fame on the stage, Durie becomes England’s most celebrated bonesetter – but what goes up must come down, and her success may become her undoing.

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That Bonesetter Woman is part of my small birthday book haul (I’m a little early buying and reading though). I chose this book because I read a very positive review of this historical fiction novel a while ago and the unusual occupation piqued my interest as well, and then I haven’t even mentioned the beautiful cover. Also, the author mentions her three furry friends in the dedication (yes and the husband too) so I was already feeling this was going to be a good match, and I wasn’t wrong!

Durie (given name Endurance) might not hold back when she talks but she’s such a good hearted person and she had me on her side from the very first pages. Durie’s always the odd one out, she doesn’t have her sister’s good looks and she’s not good at sewing or anything else but when she sees her father at work she knows she found her true calling, she wants to be a bonesetter too, setting joints, helping people with stiff backs. The only problem is that the profession is handed from father to son and there are no female bonesetters. When she is sent with her sister Lucinda to live with her Aunt Ellen for a little while who has a confectionary store in London, she has to put her dream on hold.

It’s not very often that I find myself so addicted to a story that isn’t a crime novel but I simply had to know how Durie would get on in London. I witnessed her highs and lows, the resistance from her own family, then the established doctors when she tried to carve her own way, her success thanks to a little boy but also the lies that were spread about her. That Bonesetter Woman is a sweeping story that crept into my heart. Aunt Ellen was a wonderful and wise character with much business sense and I liked her a lot even though I didn’t agree with her meddling at one crucial moment and it was the only time I didn’t like her so much. But overall I loved how Aunt Ellen was such an advocate of female independence.

There are a lot of obstacles for Durie to do what she loves best which is fixing people but I loved her passion and her determination, it spat of the pages. As a reader I knew at times a little more than Durie herself and it hurt me to know when someone didn’t have her best interests at heart. I could only hope for a happy ending and I hope I’m not spoiling it by saying that I was quite satisfied with the way it ended, karma always finds its way.

Kudos to the author for making the story feel so authentic (she explains in the epilogue it was inspired by a real story), she did lots of research and it shows and creates a depth needed in such a historical fiction novel. As a result I almost didn’t want to say goodbye to Durie, her sister and aunt, and Cromley the lion. I’ll be only too happy to sign up for Quinn’s next novel.

I bought a paperback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco (Stalking Jack The Ripper Book 2 of 4) #BookReview #HuntingPrinceDracula

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine . . . and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

Wadsworth and Cresswell are back and I missed them! If we wouldn’t have them I don’t know what the world would look like :-). I read the first novel in the series, Stalking Jack The Ripper, back in March and I was really impressed (you can read my here) so I couldn’t wait any longer to pick up the next novel (which I bought at the same time).

So in Hunting Prince Dracula Audrey Rose and Thomas travel to Romania to study forensics at Vlad’s Castle and there’s already a murder before they arrive at the school. Before I knew it, I was immersed in a world full of legend and folklore, of bloodless bodies, of sneaking around via secret passageways and finding rooms that made me think of Indiana Jones movies and The Hunger Games. There were too many crazy rooms for me but I did like how they acted and worked together. The term blood bath will forever be seared in my brain now though and I can totally see how this book could spat from the screen (and I do wonder if the author had this in mind as well with these spectacular spooky and challenging scenes).

Cresswell is still at his best behaviour courting Audrey Rose and all through the novel I wished she’d throw this poor boy a bone. It was magnificent to read their humorous interactions and his blatant attempts to flirt with her but also a little torturous. As a reader you know that she feels the same way about him so it’s really just a matter of time but she tries so hard to reign it in that I was giddy with anticipation. She’s afraid not to be treated as his equal but Cresswell is… well perfect so I don’t know why she would ever doubt him. I don’t know how I could swoon over a Victorian guy but I did.

This is a great series really (and the photos included in the books of instruments and such only add to the pleasure of reading), but I must confess I loved reading about Jack The Ripper more (until I got to the end). In both books there are some things over the top though which hold me back every time from giving a higher rating but the writing is stellar and Audrey Rose and Thomas are a great and strong team with a good balance. I have the third book waiting on my shelf and I think the world of magic set on a secluded location will totally be my thing. After a change of palate I do hope to pick that one up soon.

I bought a paperback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

Stalking Jack The Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco #BookReview

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

The story’s shocking twists and turns will make this dazzling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.

I was in the mood for reading some historical fiction and when I saw this novel about Jack The Ripper, well how could I resist? I’m also a big fan of the cover and reading the story I can say that the woman on the cover fits the story perfectly, she even made it easier for me to imagine Audrey Rose. 

There’s A LOT that I liked about this novel. First of all I loved how the author was not afraid to dive right into the story. The novel opens with an autopsy in Audrey Rose’s uncle Jonathan’s laboratory and just reading that first line about the moment before making the incision was enough to know that I was really going to enjoy the story and writing. The author inserted real photos of that period which gave the story a sense of authenticity, and afterwards I read in the afterword also a number of details about the Jack The Ripper murders that she tried to replicate in the story as well. 

I also loved how Audrey Rose didn’t want to fold to the Victorian standard expectations for a woman. I loved her fascination for the dead and how she’s adamant that she’s just as capable to perform a postmortem as a man. She has to walk a fine line, on the one hand she has to have tea parties and if she wants to wed soon she needs to be on her best behaviour, but on the other hand she sneaks away to assist her uncle, she doesn’t shy away from looking at Jack The Ripper’s havoc on his victims, she isn’t afraid to tell her mind and as an act of defiance further along she wears her riding gear.. when she’s not riding. She’s a perfect heroine and the exact character this novel needed!       

I’d say she’s the star of the show but that’s a lie because she has to share first place with Thomas, another student of her uncle. Thomas has mad deductions skills, I was seriously in awe and I don’t know if I loved the murder mystery or the courting going on between Audrey Rose and Thomas most. I’m tempted to go for the latter. The flirting (on a Victorian level) was so good and I loved Thomas’s pursuit and his little remarks. Apart from that they were also great as a detective duo and I think it’s no coincidence that Thomas addressing her often as Wadsworth always gave me major Sherlock and Watson vibes.

Last but not least, the story is of course about Jack The Ripper. Audrey Rose and her entourage are called upon and soon enough it doesn’t let her go. There are a few possible suspects but I figured out who Jack The Ripper was very soon, without any real grounds I admit but I still knew I had to be right on this and I was. Authors always follow the same formula and I have cracked that formula so it takes a lot more than this to surprise me, although she did try to create some doubt. While I knew who I didn’t completely understand the why though and finding out left me a little speechless. Now I wonder about the real Jack The Ripper even more!

Stalking Jack The Ripper is an original young adult novel with a great Jack The Ripper twist. I neither expected the morbid details nor the romance but I loved both and I do hope to read the next in the series in the future.

I bought a paperback of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Survivors by Kate Furnivall #BookReview

‘Directly I saw him, I knew he had to die.’

Germany, 1945. Klara Janowska and her daughter Alicja have walked for weeks to get to Graufeld Displaced Persons camp. In the cramped, dirty, dangerous conditions they, along with 3,200 others, are the lucky ones. They have survived and will do anything to find a way back home.

But when Klara recognises a man in the camp from her past, a deadly game of cat and mouse begins. He knows exactly what she did during the war to save her daughter. She knows his real identity. What will be the price of silence? And will either make it out of the camp alive?

I have read some books about WWII but this is the first time I read one describing the post-war era. I had not even heard of the Displaced Persons camps in Germany. These were sort of a waiting room where the British tried to find family members in other countries so the survivors could go and live with them. Until then they had to sit and wait and weren’t even allowed to go out of the camp walls. I was astonished about that honestly, after what these survivors went through and while they were already imprisoned for so long.

The novel opened with a gripping scene in a forest where Klara and her daughter were being chased by robbers. It was a powerful scene where I immediately wanted to know how Klara had in fact been able to obtain the special valuables she was carrying.

I also wanted to know what had happened in the past between Klara and this person she recognized in this DP camp. Why didn’t she report this guy to administration, what did he know about her? I had to suspend some disbelief here because I think if she had told Colonel Whitmore about him in reality instead of plotting to kill him, he would have believed her over whatever this man would have told them about her.

There’s a lot of fear but Klara is also a fierce character, as well as her daughter Alicja and the other survivors so she doesn’t shy away from what needs to be done and I really liked Klara’s determination, her protectiveness over her daughter and kindness towards others.

While Klara is busy trying to protect her daughter Alicja from dangers inside and outside the camp and is slowly building a friendship – possibly more – with the camp administrator Davide there are also flashbacks to her past that gave me an idea what happened to her before she came there. I was drawn to these flashbacks that show a very different Klara. Unavertedly she caught the eye of one of the SS Officers playing chess. She didn’t spare him in the game and that’s what he liked so much about her. Soon she would become an every day presence in his life. It’s not that she had much choice in the matter but she played him well.

‘This Oberfüher Axel Fleisher. This Stumbahnfüherer Oskar Scholz. Hadn’t they learned? That when it came to war on a board of black and white squares, the king may be taller. But the queen was more dangerous’

The novel pulled me right in and didn’t let me go. It was certainly fascinating to read about life immediately after the war ended (unfortunately the Russians make a brutal appearance here too) and how hard life was on those in the camps but also outside in the towns. Lots of mystery kept me intrigued till the very end with a great twist where a character I didn’t realise the importance of becomes critical to Klara for finding what she wanted for so long in order to close this chapter of her life.

I bought a second-hand paperback of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson #BookReview #capitalcrimebookclub

London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline ‘Caro’ Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a highly paid prostitute, at which point they cease to care entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for wanting to see justice done, and so sets out to solve the crime herself. Enlisting the help of thieftaker Peregrine Child, their inquiry delves into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a world of artifice, deception and secret lives.

But with many gentlemen refusing to speak about their dealings with the dead woman, and Caro’s own reputation under threat, finding the killer will be harder, and more treacherous, than she can know . . .

It took me a while to get into Daughters of Night but once I did I was all the way in. The novel is set in 1782 London and Laura Shepherd-Robinson paints such a vivid image of that era, it is all quite detailed. Daughters of Night must be one of the most researched novels I read so far, at least it felt that way. I struggled a little bit at first with some of the terms and language so I started to make a list of words that I needed to look up. Maybe you know these terms already because you are either native English or you read a lot of historical novels: tipstaffs, penny bunter, pugilist, peccadillous, buttered cardoon, ormolu workers, quim,.. but I certainly learned a few new words and meanings that I normally don’t come across in crime novels set in the present day. After a while though I did get the hang of the atmosphere and it became easier to read. I didn’t need to pause my reading so much anymore and that certainly helped to enjoy the story more.

The story was quite intriguing. Caro Corsham – a woman who has a secret of her own – is on a mission to find the killer of a prostitute who had impersonated an Italian contessa and befriended her in that persona. Caro employs thief taker Peregrine Child to help her and while he goes into ‘a bawdy house’ and talks to people on the street, she concentrates on a select group of men of her own standing who all seemed to cross ways with the great artist Agnetti who painted the girls as goddesses. He seemed pleasant enough though, it’s his wife who made me raise questions.

I very much enjoyed their investigation but I must say that I was always looking forward to the chapters from the perspective of a young girl named Pamela too. She went missing, along with another girl so her fate was still unclear and I held out a little bit of hope that she was still alive. These plotlines, the murder of one girl and the two missing girls are intermixed in so many brilliant ways making Daughters of Night quite a complex story. Nothing is as straightforward as you think and I would never have been able to imagine the different paths this novel takes.

Daughters of Night is a totally engrossing read, not the most easiest novel to read for me perhaps but challenging me in a good way and very satisfying in the end. Oh and if perhaps you want to find out what puzzle purses are, there’s no better way to find out than picking up this novel!

I received a paperback copy of this novel in my Capital Crime bookclub subscription box. This is my honest opinion.

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton #BookReview

Three impossible crimes

Two unlikely detectives

One deadly voyage

It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported from the Dutch East Indies to Amsterdam, where he is set to face trial for a crime that no one dares speak of.

But no sooner is the ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. Strange symbols appear on the sails. A figure stalks the decks. Livestock are slaughtered. Passengers are plagued with ominous threats, promising them three unholy miracles. First: an impossible pursuit. Second: an impossible theft.

Then: an impossible murder.

With Pipps imprisoned in the depths of the ship, can his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes solve the mystery before the ship descends into anarchy?

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Well I certainly ventured out of my comfort zone reading this. If you would have told me I would read a story set on a ship called the Saardam sailing under the Dutch East Indian Company and drawing on trading adventures in the 1630s, I would have laughed. But I loved Turton’s debut novel so much (my review here) that I was curious and I wanted to give it a chance, and by giving it a chance in I mean I even bought the hardback (and I never buy hardbacks) because I believed the 552 pages could only be fully appreciated between a hard cover.

Overall I can say that I enjoyed reading The Devil and the Dark Water but I didn’t love it as much as I loved this author’s debut novel. In all fairness I don’t think anybody can deliver such a mindblowing job twice though.

The author did try to make his second book intriguing by introducing quite a big cast in his new novel too. The names and professions of the key players were listed before the first chapter which was a good idea to start with (and I absolutely loved the map of the ship drawn inside the book flap) but while I was reading I noticed there wasn’t much other than their professions to distinguish the different characters (Guard Captain, Governer General, Chamberlain, boatswain, Chief Merchant, Captain) and I struggled a little to figure out what each of them did on that ship exactly and Drecht and Vos for example seemed interchangeable so after a while I tried not to think too deeply about the who’s who.

I did love Arent Hayes and Sara Wessel. The governer general’s wife was undaunted and brave and a perfect partner in crime for Hayes. There was a great balance between both of them while they worked on trying to figure out more about who the leper was who warned them that the ship would never reach its destination, what this mysterious folly was (I did feel frustrated at times that it was shrouded in so much mystery for sooo long) and where it was kept and if ‘Old Tom’ really was on the ship.

I enjoyed the mystery but the revelations came quite late so I liked the last part of the novel where all the answers were finally revealed most of all. The author is skilled at working a complex plot and it gave me little vibes of Agatha Christie in the end so that certainly made me appreciate it.

I survived this quite well I think so even though it’s not a favourite I will keep an eye out for his next novel.

I bought a hardback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner #BookReview

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary’s in a stunning twist of fate―and not everyone will survive.

It’s been a while since I gave a novel five stars but how can I not give five stars to this stunning debut? I’m so happy this novel crossed my path!

I can’t think of anything that I didn’t like about this novel, I loved the writing and the switches between present and past were perfectly aligned. I was one hundred percent invested in Nella en Eliza’s unfurling story but it was also great to take a step back from those scenes and have Caroline in the present day try to locate this apothecary and its intriguing history. It was exciting to see her stepping into the footsteps of Nella. I’ve read a few books about the Victorian era but this was a new subject to read about for me and it was a fascinating topic with a very likeable apothecary. There is a sideplot about Caroline’s marriage troubles and while I thought James was portrayed a little too much as a villain who should never receive forgiveness for his infidelity and who’s solely to blame for all of their decisions (it’s a good thing he cheated on her then or she wouldn’t have had this eye-opener, take a look at it that way Caroline), I liked Caroline’s personal development throughout the story and how she found her true self again, all because she went ‘mudlarking’ (person who scavenges in river mud for objects of value) on a whim.

The story had a good dose of mystery about the fate of the characters. Nella and young Eliza – wise beyond her 12 years – who came to see her in her shop for a poison, Caroline and her library friend Gaynor, there were definitely similarities in the plotlines, especially towards the end where their loyalties to each other are put in the spotlight, and I grew fond of all of them. It was hard to say goodbye, especially to Nella and Eliza who are now long gone but certainly not forgotten.

I didn’t expect The Lost Apothecary to be such a captivating novel, but it really was a great historical read and I can’t wait to read more by this author!

I bought an ecopy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.

The Assistant by Kjell Ola Dahl #BookReview

A seemingly straightforward investigation into marital infidelity leads a PI and his ex-con assistant on a murderous trail, in a sophisticated, riveting historical Nordic Noir thriller set in interwar and prohibition-era Norway.

Oslo, 1938. War is in the air and Europe is in turmoil. Hitler’s Germany has occupied Austria and is threatening Czechoslovakia; there’s a civil war in Spain and Mussolini reigns in Italy.

When a woman turns up at the office of police-turned-private investigator Ludvig Paaske, he and his assistant – his one-time nemesis and former drug-smuggler Jack Rivers – begin a seemingly straightforward investigation into marital infidelity.

But all is not what it seems, and when Jack is accused of murder, the trail leads back to the 1920s, to prohibition-era Norway, to the smugglers, sex workers and hoodlums of his criminal past … and an extraordinary secret.

Kjell Ola Dahl was a totally new author to me so I went in with an open mind, even though I was a little unsure about the type of novel it was. It turned out The Assistant is quite the varied type and it is everything you think – or hope – it might be. Nordic crime? Check! Spies and lots of action? Double check! An intriguing mystery delivered in a historical setting? Why yes that too!

The Assistant contains at first chapters shifting between 1924 and 1938, and ends in 1962, but it all starts in 1924 where Jack Rivers is a driver for a man called Arvid Bjerke. He not only transports passengers but is also a runman delivering illegal cans of liquor to village shops. In the very first pages Jack is actually trying to avoid being arrested as he tries to outwit ‘the cop from hell’ Ludvig Paaske in a breathtakingly dangerous scene. Twenty pages later though with a time jump to 1938 Paaske isn’t a cop anymore but a private investigator and Rivers is quite suddenly his sidekick. It is all quite matter of fact with no explanation what happened in between so that only intrigued me more to find out how they got from sworn enemies to allies.

Good teamwork is certainly necessary when a woman asks them to investigate her husband, only to bring danger on themselves as soon as they start trailing the husband. I was invested in this novel from the action-packed opening till the earth shattering ending. In between I followed a treacherous path of twists and red herrings. This is one of those novels that were it a movie you better not look away if you want to keep up with what’s happening. There’s robbery, betrayal, narrow escapes and plenty of action and two women as memorable characters, Julie – wife to Jack’s old employer Arvid – and Amalie who plays the part of Arvid’s mistress. Both women play a magnificent role in all of it but are also characters that will make you question their sincerity and motives. Is Amalie worth being Jack’s crush or is she playing games with him? What are Julie’s intentions towards Jack? Who to trust?  

I have to admit that this was a somewhat challenging novel for me. I didn’t find the story as easy to read as the novels I finished in the weeks before with the writing style being more show than tell. I was often wondering what was going on and felt a little lost at times. I was also taken by surprise in the end that the novel suddenly went a very different direction than the route I had figured we were going. Without saying too much hopefully, I anticipated a full blown political/spy novel in the end with everything that had happened but I was way off track and shortly before the ending I became painfully aware of my mistake. My mouth nearly dropped open when I finally saw what we were dealing with! I really did enjoy the ending though which showed the true colours of all the characters. Overall I can conclude this is a great novel but I’m left in doubt that the style of writing makes this the right author for me.

I received a free paperback copy from the publisher Orenda Books to read. This is my honest opinion.