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A review by ojtheviking
Løvinnen by Sven Petter Næss
4.0
3.6 rounded up.
With two stand-alone stories after an effective cliffhanger in the second Harinder Singh novel, this fifth book in the series finally touches directly upon what happens. And it's been an interesting read.
Of course, there are several examples of continuity outside of the main plot as well. Singh's life progresses from one book to the next, as does his relationships with other people. That's always something I appreciate, the sense of familiarity and reuniting with some recurring characters, both to see what they have been up to since we last spent time with them, and to see how their journey continues throughout the current story.
All in all, though, these are solid, Scandinavian crime stories, with a sufficient blend of building the mystery, adding suspenseful moments, as well as occasionally sprinkling the story with elements of social commentary along the way. And over the course of these five books, Næss has honed his writing skills and found his own flavor of tempo and balance when it comes to the main plots.
One main concern, though, is that the aforementioned character development sometimes feels a bit surface-level. As if we are given just enough to see their distinct personalities while the driving force in each book is still going to be the main plot; a case that needs solving. I would have liked to see just a little bit more depth when it comes to some of the characters, especially Singh himself.
Singh gets involved with each mystery differently in each novel. However, there has often been that underlying tone of him being discouraged to stick his nose where it shouldn't be, but he does so anyway. Because of this, this book starts with him being back on the force, but in a somewhat demoted capacity, as a consequence of his actions in the previous novel. This is always a nice way to add some extra suspense: the feeling that the main protagonist is a bit of a loose cannon, and you hope he doesn't get in too much trouble before he can solve the case. And this time it's once again much more personal again, due to the aforementioned fact that this novel continues a storyline from the second book.
Maybe we Norwegians are weird like that, but sometimes there's something cozy about reading a crime mystery where clues are dropped like breadcrumbs along the way, and you start piecing things together along with the investigator, seeing how people are caught in their lies, how cover-ups are falling apart, and so on.
But if that is your style, then I'd say these Singh books are more than adequate for some relaxing moments with a cup of coffee in front of the fire or whatever kind of reading nook and set-up you prefer or have available to you!
With two stand-alone stories after an effective cliffhanger in the second Harinder Singh novel, this fifth book in the series finally touches directly upon what happens. And it's been an interesting read.
Of course, there are several examples of continuity outside of the main plot as well. Singh's life progresses from one book to the next, as does his relationships with other people. That's always something I appreciate, the sense of familiarity and reuniting with some recurring characters, both to see what they have been up to since we last spent time with them, and to see how their journey continues throughout the current story.
All in all, though, these are solid, Scandinavian crime stories, with a sufficient blend of building the mystery, adding suspenseful moments, as well as occasionally sprinkling the story with elements of social commentary along the way. And over the course of these five books, Næss has honed his writing skills and found his own flavor of tempo and balance when it comes to the main plots.
One main concern, though, is that the aforementioned character development sometimes feels a bit surface-level. As if we are given just enough to see their distinct personalities while the driving force in each book is still going to be the main plot; a case that needs solving. I would have liked to see just a little bit more depth when it comes to some of the characters, especially Singh himself.
Singh gets involved with each mystery differently in each novel. However, there has often been that underlying tone of him being discouraged to stick his nose where it shouldn't be, but he does so anyway. Because of this, this book starts with him being back on the force, but in a somewhat demoted capacity, as a consequence of his actions in the previous novel. This is always a nice way to add some extra suspense: the feeling that the main protagonist is a bit of a loose cannon, and you hope he doesn't get in too much trouble before he can solve the case. And this time it's once again much more personal again, due to the aforementioned fact that this novel continues a storyline from the second book.
Maybe we Norwegians are weird like that, but sometimes there's something cozy about reading a crime mystery where clues are dropped like breadcrumbs along the way, and you start piecing things together along with the investigator, seeing how people are caught in their lies, how cover-ups are falling apart, and so on.
But if that is your style, then I'd say these Singh books are more than adequate for some relaxing moments with a cup of coffee in front of the fire or whatever kind of reading nook and set-up you prefer or have available to you!