Antti Tuomainen’s second crime novel to be translated into English has got to be on your reading pile if you love Scandinavian crime fiction. Take a liberal helping of spicy Greek tragedy, and place it in-between two layers of dark mystery. Then frost with some Nordic existentialism. Consume at sub-zero, preferably after midnight. This Finnish author has the perfect recipe as we see his main character Aleksi Kivi out to solve the mystery of his mother’s disappearance, 20 years prior. He has his sights set on the wealthy financier Henrik Saarinen, whom his mother dated, and gets a job on the man’s estate. His plan goes awry when he falls for Saarinen’s voluptuous daughter, and he begins to discover just how much his family’s past is tangled up with Saarinen’s secrets. Bloody, poetic, funny, emotional… and another must-read from the Finn. Read the full review.
