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Review
'The fashion for imported crime fiction is still booming with the Swede Hakan Nesser one of its most successful models' --Literary Review
'A satisfying novel from a rising Swedish star... Van Veeteran [the detective], disengaged, thinking of retirement and wonderfully enigmatic, makes an enjoyable change from all those fictional police men who persist in taken their work home with disastrous consequences, and the slow pace - there's more introspection here than action - results in an intense read' --Guardian Review
'The atmosphere of the small town, the mysterious fringes of the forest full of aspens and blueberries, are evocatively drawn. So is that particular contribution to Sweden to crime fiction: the contrast between the light summer nights and metaphorical darkness... The clarity of Nesser's vision, the inner problems of good and evil with which Van The Veeteran struggles, recall the film of Bergman' --The Independent
'The novel is as much about his [Detective Van Veeteran] thought processes and private pleasures as it is about a murder enquiry. The result it wry, thought provoking and often surprisingly funny' --The Spectator
'Håkan Nesser's The Inspector And Silence (Mantle, £16.99) has a pervading sense of calm and introspection thanks to its protagonist, Ch Insp Van Veeteren, nearing retirement and more interested in his next glass of wine than exhausting himself on a case. He's tested, though, when members of a religious sect refuse to help as their young female initiates start being picked off by a rapist and murderer. Nesser works the slow pace skilfully and Van Veeteren is an appealing companion' --Metro Crime Books of the Year
`Van Veeteran is a reluctant and sometimes cynical genius `destined', in the opinion of Morse's creator Colin Dexter, `for a place amongst the great European detectives' --London Review of Books
'A satisfying novel from a rising Swedish star... Van Veeteran [the detective], disengaged, thinking of retirement and wonderfully enigmatic, makes an enjoyable change from all those fictional police men who persist in taken their work home with disastrous consequences, and the slow pace - there's more introspection here than action - results in an intense read' --Guardian Review
'The atmosphere of the small town, the mysterious fringes of the forest full of aspens and blueberries, are evocatively drawn. So is that particular contribution to Sweden to crime fiction: the contrast between the light summer nights and metaphorical darkness... The clarity of Nesser's vision, the inner problems of good and evil with which Van The Veeteran struggles, recall the film of Bergman' --The Independent
'The novel is as much about his [Detective Van Veeteran] thought processes and private pleasures as it is about a murder enquiry. The result it wry, thought provoking and often surprisingly funny' --The Spectator
'Håkan Nesser's The Inspector And Silence (Mantle, £16.99) has a pervading sense of calm and introspection thanks to its protagonist, Ch Insp Van Veeteren, nearing retirement and more interested in his next glass of wine than exhausting himself on a case. He's tested, though, when members of a religious sect refuse to help as their young female initiates start being picked off by a rapist and murderer. Nesser works the slow pace skilfully and Van Veeteren is an appealing companion' --Metro Crime Books of the Year
`Van Veeteran is a reluctant and sometimes cynical genius `destined', in the opinion of Morse's creator Colin Dexter, `for a place amongst the great European detectives' --London Review of Books
Product Description
The fourth novel in the internationally acclaimed Inspector Van Veeteren series
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Two annonymous phone call to the police station at Maardam involving a missing girl, together with the fact that he owes the chief of police in the district a favour, draws Van Veeteren into this investigation. The Pure Life religious sect with its charismatic leader Oscar Yellinek is the centre of this investigation. Van Veeteren is met with silence from the members of the sect, even when a body is found, and has to rely on his famous intuition to solve the crimes.
Anyone who has read the previous books in the series will know that all is not what it seems. Nesser appears to enjoy playing with the reader, convincing us that we know what is going on only to throw a spanner in the works so that we have to rethink everything we think we know.
This for me is definitely the darkest of the series due to the subject matter and the quotation from the poet M Barin right at the start sets the scene:
'Imagine a twelve-year old girl. Imagine her being attacked, raped and murdered. Take your time. Then imagine God.'
After this no-one can say they don't know what to expect.
Unlike Jo Nesbo, for example, it is not essential to read these in order, but I think I have got more out of the novels by doing this, the history of Van Veeteren is, after all important to the way he solves his crimes. By now, he is older, wiser and questioning his future - I look forward to the next installment.
Anyone who has read the previous books in the series will know that all is not what it seems. Nesser appears to enjoy playing with the reader, convincing us that we know what is going on only to throw a spanner in the works so that we have to rethink everything we think we know.
This for me is definitely the darkest of the series due to the subject matter and the quotation from the poet M Barin right at the start sets the scene:
'Imagine a twelve-year old girl. Imagine her being attacked, raped and murdered. Take your time. Then imagine God.'
After this no-one can say they don't know what to expect.
Unlike Jo Nesbo, for example, it is not essential to read these in order, but I think I have got more out of the novels by doing this, the history of Van Veeteren is, after all important to the way he solves his crimes. By now, he is older, wiser and questioning his future - I look forward to the next installment.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I always enjoy reading Hakan Nesser's novels for the droll, and at times quirky, humour of his characters. It is this that distinguishes his novels from many of his contemporaries. Although a key revelation can be predicted from near the beginning the story can still be enjoyed on several levels: for the charm of its characters and their foibles (especially the principal protaganist Van Veeteren); the challenge of solving the puzzle - 'whodunnit'?; and the depiction of a fictitious but believeable society. The plot focuses on horrific crimes but this is never presented in a gory or graphic manner. And the novel is all the better for it.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I must be out of step with other reviewers, but I was very disappointed in this book. I loved Borkmanns point, The Return and The Mind's Eye, and then came this.
I found it slow, aimless, totally lacking in tension. The reader was subjected to endless details of meals, snacks, drinks and generally meandering about, without much purpose. I understand that Inspector Van Veeteren is winding down. It felt more like it was Hakan Nesser who was winding down.
I found it slow, aimless, totally lacking in tension. The reader was subjected to endless details of meals, snacks, drinks and generally meandering about, without much purpose. I understand that Inspector Van Veeteren is winding down. It felt more like it was Hakan Nesser who was winding down.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not Hakan Nesser's best but still good
I have been hooked on all the Van Veeteren series and started this one just as eagerly as the others. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Yorkshire Rose
...three pale women wrapped in lengths of unbleached cotton cloth...
Hakan Nesser is my favorite Swedish crime novelist. I have just finished reading his THE INSPECTOR AND SILENCE, an Inspector Van Veeteren mystery. Read more
Published 2 months ago by janebbooks
dull as dishwater
This is one of those crime novels where you keep slogging in the hope that the Inspector on the case will get hideously murdered by the criminal he's after. Read more
Published 3 months ago by B. Lowe
Another good read from Nesser
My wife's review:
I have been reading all Nesser's books in order, so I have been able to see the characters grown and develop along the way and to be honest I have... Read more
I have been reading all Nesser's books in order, so I have been able to see the characters grown and develop along the way and to be honest I have... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. S. N. Pattison
Not worth your time
This is the first Hakan Nesser that have read and if it wasn't for the reviews saying that it was poor in comparison to other books of his, it would have been the last. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dangerscouse
Dreadful
This book is so badly written I couldn't continue with it.
Sentences tend to be a string of words with either no subject or no purpose, i.e. Her anger and sense of justice. Read more
Sentences tend to be a string of words with either no subject or no purpose, i.e. Her anger and sense of justice. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Oscar
Dreadful
This is the first Hakan Nesser novel I have read and it will be the last. His style is appalling - jerky non-sentences without verbs, eg 'Or a metaphor at least' (and that is not... Read more
Published 5 months ago by D. J. Woodward
A bit of a dud
This Van Veteeren novel seems something of a misfit with others I've read in the series. It's overly long and drawn out, little really happens to sustain interest, and Veteeren is... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jl Adcock
Not as good as the rest of the series
I really enjoyed the four previous Van Veeteren books, so I was looking forward to getting my teeth into The Inspector and Silence. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Caledonia558
Disappointing
A very interesting premise with great settings and potentially great characters but the highly predictable story doesn't really go anywhere until the end. Read more
Published 9 months ago by A Bekkers
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