View enlarged image

Dubray Review

Inspired by the award-winning Danish television series, The Killing follows Sarah Lund and the Copenhagen police department as they search for Nanna Birk Larsen’s killer. Sarah is an intense and utterly single-minded woman, occasionally to the point of stupidity, and she often seems unaware of the consequences of her actions. At times, it is difficult to empathise with Sarah and yet, as portrayed here, she remains a likeable character. David Hewson is a successful crime writer and The Killing is just as sharp as his other novels. This complex investigation, full of red herrings, bluffs and double bluffs, keeps the reader guessing right until the very end. Fans of the television series will enjoy the novel’s fresh insights into established characters, whilst those who haven’t seen the series will love the intrigue and suspense that Hewson’s writing brings to the story.

- Sally Kingston, Bray

Description

Be careful who you trust. Sarah Lund is looking forward to her last day as a detective with the Copenhagen Police department before moving to Sweden. But everything changes when nineteen-year-old student, Nanna Birk Larsen, is found raped and brutally murdered in the woods outside the city. Lund's plans to relocate are put on hold as she leads the investigation along with fellow detective Jan Meyer. While Nanna's family struggles to cope with their loss, local politician, Troels Hartmann, is in the middle of an election campaign to become the new mayor of Copenhagen. When links between City Hall and the murder suddenly come to light, the case takes an entirely different turn. Over the course of twenty days, suspect upon suspect emerges as violence, political intrigue cast their shadows over the hunt for the killer.

Reviews

"'Through the dark wood where the dead trees give no shelter Nanna Birk Larsen runs... There is a bright monocular eye that follows, like a hunter after a wounded deer. It moves in a slow approaching zigzag, marching through the Pineseskoven wasteland, through the Pentecost Forest. The chill water, the fear, his presence not so far away... There is one torchlight on her now, the single blazing eye. And it is here...'"