Borkmann’s Point, by Hakan Nesser

Review:

Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is called away from vacation to help out in distant Kaalbringen.  He is asked to assist in solving the murders of an ex-con and a wealthy real-estate mogul, both of whom have been murdered with an ax. Being a bit bored and restless, Van Veeteren readily agrees, happily applying his knowledge and experience to tracking the killer down.

Relying on intuition and charm, the inspector slowly ingratiates himself with the residents of the insular community and bumbles toward a solution, much in the manner of Fred Vargas’ Commissaire Adamsberg.

Borkmann’s Point is a well-written, thoughtful novel. Borkmann’s Point is focused on the process of police work, the art and arduousness of investigation and detection, and is a imaginative police procedural with unusually deep, totally believable examinations of the human condition and of the crimes.  The very title of the book is in itself a clue for both Van Veeteren and the reader as to the process of crime-solving. It is a fascinating point and one that should intrigue many readers. It is a masterful detective story!

Links:
Amazon US: Borkmann’s Point: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery
Amazon UK: Borkmann’s Point
Amazon CAN: Borkmann’s Point: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery

Synopsis:

International bestseller Nesser makes his U.S. debut with this classy and rewarding whodunit, which won the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy Prize for Best Novel in 1994.

Chief Inspector Van Veeteren, a veteran of 30 years of police work who appreciates fine food and drink, reluctantly cuts short his vacation to help the police chief of the remote town of Kaalbringen and his small crew investigate two ax murders. When the killer claims a third victim and the town’s best police investigator disappears without a trace, Van Veeteren, who has left only one case unsolved in his long career, intensifies his hunt. The contemplative inspector believes that in every case a point is reached where enough information has been gathered to solve the crime with “nothing more than some decent thinking.” The trick is knowing when that point is reached.

Thompson’s smooth translation makes this worthy mystery readily accessible to American readers.

Praise for Borkmann’s Point:

“Nesser had a penetrating eye for the skull beneath the skin.”
–The New York Times

“Keeps you on the edge of your seat… You don’t want it to end.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

“Inspector Van Veeteren seems destined for a place amongst the great European detectives.”
–Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse mysteries