The plot reminded me in several ways of The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first mystery of another Danish author, Jussi Adler-Olsen.
In The Keeper of Lost Causes Carl Mørck is a senior homicide detective, just recoverd from a major injury, when he is assigned to the newly created Department Q to investigate cold cases. He does not want to be there. He wishes he were in the regular homicide unit.
In The Chestnut Man homicide detective, Naia Thulin, is putting in time as she strives to be transferred to the cybercrime unit, NC3.
In both books an outsider comes to the Department.
Mørck is assigned an assistant, Assad, to aid him in cleaning and administrative tasks. The industrious Syrian immigrant through his enery and enthusiasm inspires Mørck to become engaged with his work.
Thulin is assigned Hess, it is some time before she learns his first name is Mark, as a partner. He has been returned from Europol to the Danish police. Initially indifferent to the investigation he proves himself clever and dedicated.
In each book the original detectives Mørck and Thulin come to grudgingly accept the competence of Assad and Hess.
The investigations share a theme in that both look into a long missing person thought dead.
And both missing persons are connected to Danish politics. In The Keeper of Lost Causes it missing politician, Merete Lyngaard. In The Chestnut Man the missing Kristine is the daughter of Minister of Social Affairs, Rosa Hartung.
I have taken a quick look around the net but have not found any reviews that comment on the common elements of the books.
The second issue involves the evocative ``chestnut men`` left at murder scenes. They are described as being made by Danish school children each fall.
Having a Danish friend, Bente, I asked her about children making chestnut dolls. She advised me in a message that:
Yes, children in Denmark make chestnut dolls, chestnut cows, dogs, cats, giraffes and whatever aninmal they can imagine from chestnuts.
Not having found any photos of chestnut figures made by her children she went out and found some chestnuts and ``made a man and his cow and dog``. The photos at the top of the post are photos she sent to me of her figures. Thanks for sending them to me Bente. They make chestnut figures so much more vivid.
I can really see the similarities, Bill, between these two books as you lay them out. To me, what's interesting is that the two authors have taken different approaches to telling the stories, despite the similarity in plot elements. And thanks for sharing about chestnut figures. The one you shared is beautiful, and the concept's a lot clearer to me now I've seen a 'photo of one.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. I have wondered if Sveistrup was inspired by Adler-Olsen. I was very glad when Bente sent me the photos.
DeleteHi. I just looked up chestnut dolls on the Internet because I am reading The Chestnut Doll. I agree with your idea that the two books are very similar. I absolutely adore Nordic noir books and find there is almost always a dysfunctional police officer who is not paying enough time to his/her family, and a new mysterious partner with Asperger like symptoms. This pattern seems to work as I enjoy most Scandinavian books I pick up.
ReplyDeleteSarah: Thanks for the comment. Sorry I missed seeing it sooner. You point to an interesting pattern in Nordic noir.
DeleteI noticed some general similarities to Department Q, but honestly, The Chestnut Man feels much more in keeping with Soren Sveistrup's television series Forbrydelsen ("The Killing" in English, even though it means something more like "The Crime".) In that case, the detective (Sara Lund) is trying to leave the Danish major crimes unit to move to Sweden, but gets talked into staying for a final case, which she investigates with a new 'temporary' partner who was supposed to be her replacement. The case in series one is a bind/torture/kill murder of a young woman, and involves an immense number of suspects and red herrings and other crimes and tragic incidents, and centers (by accident, it turns out) around the race for Mayor of Copenhagen (though in this case the politician's a man, Troels Hartman, and he's a suspect rather than a target.) Having watched/read both, the common themes stuck out more to me than Department Q.
ReplyDeleteAnd I could NOT figure out what a 'chestnut doll' was supposed to be. Glad you asked someone and got pictures because the book just assumes this is a normal thing everyone's familiar with. Using them for conkers I'd heard of, this was a new thing.
Jennifer: Thanks for the comment. I shall have to see if I can find "The Killing" on one of the streaming services to which my family subscribes. You have pointed to significant similarities. I was equally glad Bente provided me with some photos. They look so innocent in the photos and sounded so sinister in the book.
DeleteThanks for the info. about chestnut dolls. I enjoyed listening to The Chestnut Man performed as an audio book (from the Ottawa library); it adds flavour to hear local names pronounced in Danish. FYI "The Killing" series is available on Knowledge.ca. Free for all (and for BC residents) but donations encouraged. Various shows and documentaries posted for a limited time. Lots of BBC mysteries; my favorite series is Silent Witness. .
ReplyDeleteNancy J: Thanks for the email and the information on "The Killing". I am going to go look for it on Knowledge.ca.
DeleteThank you! I was watching the tv series based on the book and was curious whether making chestnut men was common. I'll have to look for the other book now (and read the original Chestnut Man book. Thank you so very much! Ginger Huntsville, AL
ReplyDeleteGinger: Thanks for the comment. The chestnut dolls - so innocent looking in the light of day and so sinister in the night in the book. I think you will enjoy both books. I hope you will comment again.
DeleteHi, Bill. Thank you for posting about the chestnut men. I thought it might be some sort of plot contrivance until I began to research it. I haven’t read the book, but the series is great.
ReplyDeleteGarrett: Thanks for the comment. I hope you read the book. Those little dolls are memorable.
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