What is it about Scandinavian crime noir that just does it for me? Probably the bleakness. The stark reality of evil in the world and that even those out there to fight it are often a little morally grey. The Corpse Flower takes place in one of my favorite cities, Copenhagen and the author did a fabulous job of highlighting the city in the narrative.
Heloise is a journalist and she is being taunted by a missing murder suspect. After a series of unusual letters Heloise is drawn into reviewing this cold case where a lawyer was stabbed by a young woman who fled the scene. The letters indicate that the suspect and Heloise have a connection but Heloise can’t imagine what it might be. We get a fun, dangerous game of cat and mouse as these two chase one another. As they get closer and closer, the motive for the murder is revealed and boy, it is a doozy. This is where the parallels to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo references come in, it’s a story of a girl out for revenge but I think the parallels end there. This is a great crime story but I don’t think it’s a Steig Larsson level of intrigue, nor would I class it a thriller, I think it’s just a fabulous mystery. (Definitely serious trigger warnings so message me if you want those.)
I listened to this one on audio and the narration was great. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thanks to Libro.fm for access to this ALC. All opinions above are my own.
Do you read Scandinavian fiction? What’s your favorite?
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