Friday, June 22, 2012

Book club! More crime! And surprise: a good German book title.

Hallo meine Lieben,


it's Friday again which means it's time to link up with Heather from Blonde...Undercover Blonde. I want to talk about another crime novel because they are awesome and I can't get enough of them. You guys have to tell me if you get sick of all the crime and murder, okay? I love it. By the way, after I finished school I wanted to become a police officer and work for the homicide division but they told me that my eyes were too bad and that I need surgery first. That eye exam was very embarrassing because I wasn't able to see anything. Everything was just blurry. So sad.


Okay, the book. I want to talk about another crime novel by Helene Tursten. I recently started to read her Inspector Huss series and already showed you another book from her which is called The Torso.
The book I want to show you today is called "Detective Inspector Huss". The original Swedish title is "Den krossade tanghästen". Unfortunately I have no idea what that means. Google translate says it means "The crushed touched the horse" but maybe one of you can speak Swedish and tell me what it really means. Most of the German titles are really stupid and I never understand why Germany can't manage it to give its books, movies, shows better names but I have to admit that Germany did a better job this time. I think it is pretty boring to name a book after the protagonist so I don't really like the English title. The German title is "Der Novembermörder" and I think that sounds much more exciting. But that's just my taste.


And yeah, i do realize that I started the series by reading the third book but that's just because I found it at a flea market after I have seen the movie about another book from Helene Tursten. So now I try to read them in the right order.


This is the book:






And this is the German edition. 






I think the German cover looks more like a crime novel, the English edition looks like a historical book. But it has the same content and you should not judge a book by its cover. But hey, I have to admit that I always look closer at books when I like the cover. I can't help myself. I am sure I have missed some really good books that way....but I mean, when I read about a book on the internet (and I do search for new interesting books all the time) then I don't care how they look.
Have you ever realized that German and English book pages are completely different? I mean, they have different material (i know they are both made of paper, but different types), they have different thickness etc. 


I should really start to talk a little bit about the content....


A cold, icy rain is falling on the city of Göteborg as frazzled commuters head home in the dark. A man falls through the night and lands on the pavement. Did he slip from his balcony? Jump? Or was he pushed?
It turns out that the man is the famous financier Richard von Knecht. It also turned out that he fell in front of his own wife and son. Detective Inspector Huss is confronted with the high society friends and the impenetrable family of the victim. Even more dramatic events happen....four additional deaths, two bombs, a stakeout gone wrong and so on. Can Detective Huss reveal the truth? 


The book is very exciting and thrilling...so much is going on and sometimes it's a little hard to keep track. And I have to say that this book definitely has a weakness in my opinion. As I said, I have read book number 3 before I started the first book. And I can definitely see that there is not much character development in the first book which is a little disappointing for me. I love the characters in the third book, you learn so much about them and it is easy to relate to them because you know so much about their personal life. Her two teenage daughters and her husband (a chef) play an important role in the other book and you can read a lot about the tension between her personal life and her job. In the first book you don't have such a close connection to the main character. I am glad that  I have read the third book first! I have all the knowledge about her private life and how she became a detective and a judo expert....And it's not only the main character. I have learned so much about her co-workers (the Finnish detective Rauhala, her boss Andersson and so on) which makes it a lot easier to relate to the them. I miss that in the first book, you don't get such a deep insight in the characters. There are many issues in Huss' private and job life, but they don't really get addressed so much. I am very thankful that there is such a huge development in "The Torso". 





What are you currently reading?
Have a wonderful Friday!

10 comments:

  1. Ooh - I love crime TV/Novels. I am still wanting to get around to reading Mankell's Wallander nooks.

    Sarah
    http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/summer-reading-pledge-to-waters-and.html

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    1. Oh, I love the Wallander series. I have read every book at least twice. :)

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  2. Thanks a lot for the tip, really sounds interesting!

    It`s so weird that the covers look so different...like it is two different books o_O

    I hope you are doing good on your Euro2012 bet, have fun watching the game!

    Cheers,
    Miss Sugar Shack

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    1. I really like crime novels. :)
      Yeah, I don't know why they always have to look so different. They should at least all look like crime novels!
      I am leading at the moment! Yay! But I am not watching it at the moment, I have to wait until David is home from work. I am so nervous!
      Have a great evening!

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  3. I really think I need to join this linkup, I do love reading!

    I like murder/mystery but mostly the Kathy Reichs novels (and maybe the occasional Dan Brown if that counts?). I could not read them every week though, I like a little comic fantasy or dystopian political thriller to balance it all out.

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    1. You really should, Celeste. It is lots of fun and you always find some great new books!

      I try to balance it out too. But I can't stop when I have a crime novel in my hands. :)

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  4. Btw - I nominated you for an award today!!

    Check it out here:

    http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/52-weeks-of-grateful-plus-blogging.html

    Sarah

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    1. Uhh, an award? Thank you so much, I'll go and check it out!

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  5. I'm not big into murder mystery type books. I'm currently not reading much which makes me so sad, I was always a super avid reader and now, I just hardly EVER read. :( But I'm reading this memoir of a guy who wrote about the Brooklyn Dodgers. It's pretty incredible.

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    Replies
    1. I try to read as much as I can. The pile next to my bed is huge. :) Sounds like an interesting book. I'll have a look!

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