Unrest by Jesper Stein

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After reading Jo Nesbo and Inger Wolf, I have developed a taste for Danish novels. There just is an absolute difference between American, British and Danish crime novels. Through the eyes of cynical and troubled policemen, you see a different side of the country and what the life of fighting crime does to a person.

The Danish authors are straightforward and do not sugarcoat anything.  They call it as they see it and write brutal honest stories.

In this Jesper Stein Novel, we meet Axel Steen, a troubled investigator whose supervisor sorely wants him gone and knows that he closes cases.  Steen is divorced with a five-year-old daughter whom he loves very much.  He lives in Norrebro, a mixed district that is rife with violence.  During violent riots, Steen is called out to a murder that took place amidst heavy police presence.

Steen has to solve the crime and prove the police were not involved. He has to do all this while keeping his daughter from trying to wake the corpses in the morgue. This takes Steen into a hostile area of playing cat and mouse with the press and determining what the government's part in the whole mess was. His wife did not see the humour in this and restricted his visiting right, making life for Steen just so much harder.

It is an excellent but taxing read; if you are used to American crime novels, this would take you up a notch and introduce you to a new way of reading crime.

Enjoy.



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