In “Die for Me” there is a serial rapist on the loose in Copenhagen and DNA links him to a cold case belonging to DI Axel Steen. This case cost Steen a lot at the time, including his marriage, and he’s about to become embroiled again. Can he catch the killer this time around and what will it cost him?

This is a Danish book that has been translated into English and I must admit I’ve not been a big reader of translated fiction in the past but, as regular readers of my blog will know I’ve been trying to expand my library so this is a new area for me.

I really enjoyed this one. I do like crime fiction in general, although I prefer true crime, so this was a good one for me to start with on my venture into translated fiction. The characters were well written and the story was topical and gripping.

The attitude of some of the Police towards rape victims was infuriating but, sadly, very realistic. Women are often disbelieved or blamed when they have been the victim of sexual offences. Too often the victim blaming attitude leads women to not report the crimes at all. In this books it’s shown that the attitude of the Officer who took the original report from one of the victims was so bad that she didn’t get as much detail as she should have, she was going through the motions of investigating but didn’t really believe the victim at all.

It’s difficult to say much without spoiling it for anyone but I enjoyed the twists along the way. There were some slight oddities to the writing style, I don’t know if it’s a problem with the translation or the writing but Steen had a friend who was pretty much only ever referred to as the Swede, which seemed a bit odd to me.

Axel Steen was an interesting character with a lot of baggage, my only complaint would be that he is maybe a character that is a little overused in crime fiction. The complicated detective who takes the cases too seriously is definitely the one I’ve seen in books like this before.

This was a proof copy for review purposes so some of the formatting was a bit off, some words ran into each other and the chapters weren’t separated very well but I’m sure that will all be fixed for the released version.

Overall it was an enjoyable book and made a lot of important points about the way victims are treated in cases of sexual offences.

When I learned that this was the 7th in a series I had to wonder if I would have enjoyed it more, had I read the previous stories. I found it to be oft slow and confusing and would back-track to see if there were something I missed. Instead of leaping at the chance to read again, I usually picked another book first (I'm, ordinarily, reading three different ones at a time). I love a good mystery or suspense novel, and at times this was both but I don't believe I'll look for this author again.

Die for Me has an excellent premise and has the potential to be a gripping thriller. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. It did have its moments where I was able to get into the story, but most of it is very dry, almost documentary-ish. A large part of that may be due to the translation, but knowing that didn't make it any more enjoyable for me. I also had a problem with the characters. As in I didn't much like any of them. I usually like flawed characters, but they really need to have some redeemable qualities, and I didn't find that with Axel. The only positive was his determination to solve the case, but even that wasn't enough to make him likable. On the plus side, I was a little worried when I saw that this book is well into a series (something that should have and could have been mentioned somewhere in the blutb) but I had no problem following the story and would consider this a standalone. If I did miss something that was part of an earlier book, it was lost on me, possibly due to the stilted narrative. In the end, I don't know whether it was just me, or something got lost in the translation, but this one clearly missed its mark with me, and I don't feel any desire to check out earlier books in the series.

i enjoyed the book trying to unravel the clues along the way with Axel. Nothing was ever as it seemed apart from the dislike between Axel and his boss Jens, one a cop with a reputation and one a lawyer out to prove himself as the boss. The fact that Axel's wife divorced him and took up with Jens doesn't help. Not only are they trying to catch a serial rapist who is causing terror in Copenhagen but Axel is determined to solve a death that is four years old but has similarities. The book highlights the police prejudices when it comes to rape and the sheer incompetence that happens in forensic tests that make it all very worrying.
Can you guess the killer before Axel and why? again an all too familiar story that shouldn't happen.

Though set in Sweden,with sometimes hard to pronounce names,this is still a compelling crime story. A detective,who has a stellar record solving crimes,becomes obsessed with one he couldn’t. It affects his life to the point where he looses his family, cannot sleep,takes drugs,and his work suffers. To make matters worse,his ex is dating his boss. Despite his problems,he is still somehow able to function. The story is well-written and fairly exciting. It is not the best story I have read, but it kept my interest and I liked the ending!

There is nothing particularly original about the story line of this book but it goes at a fast pace and has enough twists in the plot to keep the reader anxious to find out how it ended. Alex Steen,the lead character,has a dysfunctional personality and personal life and is totally unsuited to be in law enforcement. Nevertheless he delivers results and gets away with aggressive behaviour to colleagues and suspects because if that. The final wind up of a case proves that. The story is well written and translated. It is a good read.

Well written crime mystery novel. Interesting characters. A first read for this author, but will seek out others.
Thanks Mirror Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Die For Me.

I like "Nordic Noir" a lot, and I'm pretty forgiving where the translation isn't quite 'right' - it's only really noticeable if you're looking for it in this book, IMO.
DI Axel Steen’s path in this book is a compelling one, chasing a serial rapist around Copenhagen, dealing with the fact that it's a case similar to (possibly?) that went cold, and destroyed his marriage several years previously.
The characters are strong, believable and the voice pretty pure. I devoured this book, all in one sitting in one afternoon. It didn't jar in many places, though there are a few tiny places you have to be a bit open-minded about it.
Obviously, it deals with adult themes, as most of these books do, but it did it in an acceptable way.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, on Netgalley.

Axel Steen has always had his problems and it follows him everywhere. His divorce with Cecilie and his daughter Emma, and her marriage too Jens Jessen was hitting him very hard. His hash habit, and becoming involved with women such as Dorte Neergaard and Ea Holdt. But when he became involved with the murder of a girl who was found in a pond with his old partner John Darling, he couldn't leave it alone. It became excessive and actually put him in the hospital. I liked the way Stein always had Axel answer questions by asking another question. He never seem to give up on his belief that he was right. It leaves us with an opening by making it very noir in the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who is involved with rapes and murder. I see that this is the 7th book in the series and that means now that I found Jesper I need to so some catch up.

A serial rapist is terrorising women in Copenhagen. He might have killed a young girl. Axel Steen is the DI who is investigating. There is no evidence or clues to who the rapist might be. Steen had been obsessed by a rape case four years ago and that had been blamed for his wife leaving him. Now they seem to have DNA evidence that will link back to that case.

As the book is translated into English, it took me a little while to get into. This is also the seventh book in this series and I have not read any of the previous ones. It's fast paced, action packed and gripping. There's a mixed bunch of characters, some you will like some you will loathe. Axel Steen Is a damaged but fully capable policeman. This book can be read as a standalone. A great police procedural.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Mirror Books and the author Jesper Stein for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A welcome new addition to Scandinavian crime noir. Jesper Stein and his main character DCI Axel Steen a formidable pairing. A hard hitting crime story based around Copenhagen, a fantastic read, a compulsive page turner. But the reader does need to be a little broad minded!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really couldn’t get on with this one. The cover and plot both interested me greatly, and while I don’t usually start midway through a series, I will say that Die For Me works well as a stand-alone. It addresses rape as a crime very well which is harder to come by in a thriller than you’d think, but for me that’s where the positives end.

I found none of the characters likeable, and while I can appreciate that Axel in particular is supposed to be flawed, there just aren’t enough redeeming qualities to make me partial to him. I’ve also addressed my distaste towards using sexuality as a plot device in other reviews: it happens again in this one. Finally I found the narrative wooden and the language analytic: I can chalk some of this down to translation, but even the plot felt stunted and the final twist predictable.

Absolutely brilliant!!! Grips you in a vice of horror at the theme but tosses you about like a rotweiller with something in its jaws and then spits you out a lot warier and suspicious of your surroundings. I love scandi novels and this has just become my new favourite.

I received a digital copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this dark and gritty book, it was fast-paced and had me hooked. It has been translated to English so took me a little while to get into. I haven't ready any of the other books in this series, so it's quite nice that this book allows the reader to jump into a series without having to read all of the previous books. I read a lot of crime thrillers but most of them have been British based, this was quite different that it was set in Denmark. It was an unexpected highlight.

This book was very well written. Nice and easy to read and flowed well. Had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering which way it was going to go. Great mystery can’t beat it.

I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. This author was new to me and I was not let down. It was a great story and very well written. The characters were easy to relate to and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this to everyone!!

Now I don’t normally read a book that’s in the middle of a series but I came across Die For Me and wanted to try it. I have a thing for Scandinavian crime thrillers and although I felt a bit lost at points (due to not having experienced that character development this type of series provides) I still really enjoyed the book. I definitely want to read from the beginning though. I’m terrible at providing a breakdown of what the book is about but I will say that it’s about women and sexual assault and I liked how Jesper Stein showed the reader that it isn’t just men who downplay rape in our modern society. It’s a sad truth and I felt it was highlighted and dealt with by the main character Axel Steen really well.
There were a few parts where the translation to
English wasn’t that great but it’s understandable it has to be tough to have a literal translation. I found this book to be full of awesome forensic information and details I really enjoyed that part of it!
This is a very good procedural police thriller I highly recommend but maybe start from the first one which I’m going to do.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Mirror Books for the ARC.
This is a very cleverly-written Nordic thriller set in Copenhagen. Star of this story is DCI Axel Steen - a driven investigator who detests paperwork - partial to drugs and alcohol, separated from his wife Cecilie and daughter Emma.

Mid-summer of 2004 18yr-old Marie Schmidt's body is recovered from the lake at Orsted Park. She'd been missing for 36 hours. She hadn't made it home a short walk from Norreport Station and 4 hours previously her bag and clothing had been discovered in bushes. She was nicknamed 'Blackbird'. The case was never solved and Axel was obsessed with it. He neglected his family, hence the split.

Now, 2008, Copenhagen is in the grip of a heat-wave. His wife's boyfriend is Deputy Commissioner Jens Jessen (JJ) - a careerist lawyer, an administrator; universally un-liked but always on the lookout for his next promotion. He's a bully and egotistical but nevertheless is entirely insecure about his relationship with Cecilie and Emma.

Out of the blue Axel gets a call from their Forensic Services: they found a DNA match from a recent serious sexual assault with a sample taken from 'Blackbird' - the system said he should be informed. Thus starts a renewal of Axel's obsession and to try and link his cold case to a serious of rapes in the intervening 4 years. This means him having to very reluctantly work with Tina Jensen who is investigating the recent case, and being pressurised by JJ to provide the Dep. Commissioner with operational experience by shadowing him during the investigation.

This couldn't possibly end well - could it?

Well, this story is so well-written, with great dialogue. I was really interested in the juxtapositions of life in Denmark. The beautiful park and lake where students celebrate and let off steam that become 'playgrounds' for couples and drug dealers at night. The nice precincts and areas of the city - then the impoverished down-and-outs and drug addicts waiting to collect benefits. A real eye-opener for me.

A really good Nordic mystery/thriller.

Jesper Stein has created for the reader a book that can sit comfortably beside those that have been written by all of the crime writers from the Nordic countries. Unfortunately for the reader this is one of a series written by the author and is only the first to be translated into English. Some readers may find the Danish places names etc a little off putting. I can only urge them to allow the story to develop and it will then be only a minor distraction.
Stein has created an extremely troubled investigator whose past is carried around with him and causes him to drift from that which is expected from a senior police officer.
DI Alex Steen is obsessed with a 4 year old murder that he was not able to solve. It is only due to his perseverance that he is able to carry this burden and work toward establishing a link between a series of nasty rapes and possibly this cold case. This crime novel carries the reader on a whirlwind ride from start to finish.
I cannot wait for the rest of Jesper Stein’s work to be translated to English.

This is the 7th book in the series but the first one I've read. It works well as a stand-alone, since the characters and their relationships are well established and clear enough. The case is interesting: a serial rapist is terrorizing women in Copenhagen and may or may not have also murdered a young girl. Axel Steen, a damaged but capable cop will sacrifice everything to get to the bottom of this. There are a lot of twists and turns, and I was very surprised by the conclusion. Axel is not a well balanced man and his morals are not always clear, but he is a top-notch investigator. The rhythm is steady, making for a fast read.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Mirror Books!