The Inspector and Silence by Hakan Nesser and Laurie Thompson, a Van Veeteren Mystery Novel

Hakan Nesser is one of the up-and-coming Scandinavian crime authors; the most famous ones are Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo, however, Nesser’s books are no less brilliant. His new suspense/mystery novel The Inspector and Silence, co-written by Laurie Thompson, is admirably grim and full of tension. It also boasts with an amazing protagonist, a bitter, impatient, and shrewd Chief Inspector. The story is about young girls who disappear and meet their violent deaths which obviously has to do something with a religious camp of a sect – and the author does have a dry sense of humour. The Inspector and Silence is a great read for fans of dark toned suspense fiction fans.



After thirty-five years of work, Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is tired with his career in the Swedish police force. He has already seen too much of gore. He seriously considers retiring and turning into a bookshop owner. He even plans to take a holiday. Before he leaves for Crete, his boss sends him to help a young police officer Sergeant Kluuge who was left in charge in a small community near a lake – it will be only two days, a routine task. However, Acting Chief of Police Kluuge receives a phone call from an anonymous female who claims a thirteen years old girl vanished from a nearby religious camp. He calls the camp immediately, however, the members of the religious group deny that any girl went missing. Next day Kluuge receives another phone call from the same woman – she says policemen did not do a thing and the girl must be murdered by now. Van Veeteren starts to investigate the case. Oscar Yellinek, the leader of the sect named „The Pure Life”, is a charismatic man – and was already convicted for inappropriate sexual behaviour. The other members, all of them females, refuse to communicate with him. The Acting Chief of Police receives another call, this time the elusive woman (presumably one of the members) says she has found a girl dead, she also describes the location. Van Veeteren goes there to find a corpse of a young female, she was raped and strangled – and he spoke to her only the day before, when he first went to the camp to investigate. This was not the same girl whose disappearance the nameless informator reported initially. Soon other corpses turn up…
The Inspector and Silence is the fourth mystery/suspense book written by Hakan Nesser that was translated into English.