Member Reviews
Great start to a new series. In this series opener, we're introduced to an interesting cast of characters that I'm already anxious to follow through the series. If you like Nordic Noir, this will likely be up your alley. A young woman is found murdered in her apartment and Detectives Korner and Werner take the case. The mystery deepens when it is discovered that the building owner is a wanna=be novelist whose book mirrors the real life murder.
This is the start of a great series that I look forward to continuing. I hope translations continue to come. But start this one--you won't be disappointed.
A very gruesome murder takes place in a building where a young woman lives. It is described in detail more than once. Trigger warning for anyone who has trouble stomaching these things. Two detectives are sent to investigate. Two very interesting women are part of the plot, but, are they connected? One is elderly and is writing a mystery about a murder in the building. The other one is murdered in the building... Hmmmm.....
The detectives get along at times but often do not see eye to eye
Some other reviewers shared that this is somewhat of a Noir style novel. It may be. I am not very familiar with that kind of storyline. I requested to read this from NetGalley a long while back. It seemed like an interesting plotline. I now find it is not really to my liking. I am glad I tried it and know many other reviews reflect a 4 star review or higher. Give it a try. Just was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to read for review.
An unpublished book, oh the drama they can cause. It reads a little differently and I liked that. It felt fresh, and the murder mystery was a good one. I thought it was pretty intriguing. I do watch shows from other countries, so I found things like that present in this story to be of interest to me. Jeppe is going through a lot, divorce, crime-solving, and life. The story is mostly from his POV and that made it clear and easy in a way. I would read another book by this author, the murder mystery was good enough and it has some twists worked in.
Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
For any reader who loves to be absolutely creeped out while carrying on because they are hooked and need answers - this is for you!
<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>
A mystery thriller that is neither mysterious nor thrilling? Doesn't sound like a good time to me.
I struggled a lot with this one. The many PoVs don't seem to serve any more purpose than to make the story chaotic. It's hard to connect with the characters because the writing (or the translation) was very flat. And at the same time, all the characters seemed a little judge-y? It was a weird vibe.
The mystery was fairly easy to figure out. I considered the merits of a few red herrings but pretty much knew who it was from the beginning. The motives are unnecessarily convoluted and the ending doesn't really leave you with a feeling of resolution.
I can't see myself recommending this to anyone, unfortunately.
I liked this one, but didn't love it. The plot was pretty predictable - nothing I haven't read before. I would call this more of a slow burn than a thriller, though. I also didn't care much for the characters. I feel they lacked depth and I still don't know much about Anette. However, I did feel like it was a fun read, although a bit forgettable.
I'll start with the good things first: this Danish crime novel had some interesting elements. There were a few twists I didn't see coming, and it had a pretty creepy tone (that perfectly fit with the events of the plot). I didn't work out how everything would be solved in the end, so that was a benefit.
Okay, now for the elements I wasn't a fan of: the writing felt really stilted to me. Not sure if that was just because this was a translation or not. But overall, it felt like there was a lack of flow to the structure of the sentences. I also found that I didn't care at all about the detectives as characters (especially the male detective - there was way too much focus on his sex life). The characters connected to the crime were intriguing (especially the owner of the building where the main murder takes place), so I felt detached from the book whenever the story strayed from that. There were also a couple of plot-holes that were sort of unforgiveable in the end.
Although I appreciate the need to set up a thriller with recurring detective characters for future books, there wasn't anything about this that would make me want to read more in this series or from this author.
Creepy and twisty Mystery Thriller?! Count me in! I have a feeling that I will be hooked on thise police detective series for as long as it lasts.
The Tenant was an enjoyable murder mystery. The characters were well entwined. They all had their own unique quirks which made them likable and interesting. The well thought out plot made it all come together throughout the story.
This wasn't my favorite thriller. But it did grab my attention at key points.
Here is the synopsis:When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist—and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.
Thank you for the ARC!
It took me awhile to get into this book. I put it down for a few months and then went back to it on audio as I was hoping that format might be better suited to this book. While I can say I did like the book, it was lacking in the mysterious aspect for me. I found it to be a detailed character development novel in which we find out lots of things about one of the main detectives, but a little bit less than the actual crime they are solving. I did like the scene building but am not sure I would give another of this series a try as I think these are just not for me.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster as well as Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.
A Scandinavian noir thriller? Yes please, sign me up. This was Katrine Engberg's debut novel and I absolutely love reading debuts. It did take me some time to get into it, the story is very dark and creepy but there weren't as many surprise or aha moments throughout at you might expect. It's a gruesome, slow burn which I've found is pretty common with nordic noir police procedural stories.
This was overall not my favorite suspense. I found myself having to reread because it was not holding my attention
A good police procedural novel that I quite enjoyed. There is a lot going on in this novel as the truth is yet to be seen, and it kept my interest to the very end.
A diabolical mastermind works behind the scenes to protect his secrets and extract a terrible revenge in this first book in a new Nordic crime thriller series.
Esther de Laurenti has retired, drinks too much, and lives in her large family home with apartments that she rents out. She's now turned her attention toward writing a mystery novel and gives fabulous parties with all sorts of artsy type friends. Things take a horrible turn when one of her tenants, Julie Stender, is gruesomely murdered in a manner that is almost copied directly from Esther's unpublished manuscript. Copenhagen police detectives, Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner, are assigned the case and immediately the investigation becomes extremely complicated. Unfortunately, Julie is just the first victim in this complex and very twisted story. NO SPOILERS.
Don't you just love finding a new series with great, multifaceted characters who beg to be known? I enjoyed the relationship between Jeppe and Anette -- they have such distinct personalities and their partnership is one of opposites barely tolerating each other as they work together. Jeppe is messed up after his divorce and Anette seems to have the much more forceful attitude. There are many additional characters in this novel with some very disturbing traits and plenty of red herrings as they probe into the identity of the killer. There are many grisly descriptions along the way but I did love the details about the city of Copenhagen and surrounding areas. I'm eager to see what the two detectives will be doing next and so I will be reading the second book in the series immediately.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.
THE TENANT was not exactly the book I expected but was thrilled it was the one I read. The characters were engaging. The suspense was on point. It is the beginning of what I can only hope will be long-running Nordic Noir series.
I actually really enjoyed The Tenant. As a thriller, I thought that it gave exactly what we needed. With a few suspects in the beginning, they add more in later on. It doesn't take from the story and things don't get messy or confusing!
I'm not sure why I took so long to read this book. I love the story and everything came together so nice. It was interesting to read about the Copenhagen police procedures even though it was fiction. I really enjoy reading this Nordic Noir and will for sure add more books of this genre and this author to my reading lists. Thank you for the opportunity of reading this book.
Nice thriller. I love these types of thrillers. Basically if a thriller has a house on the cover I'm going to read it and love it for some reason LOL
Overall, I found The Tenant to be an easy, quick read with an interesting premise. It became a bit predictable as to "whodunnit", but that didn't take away from the other themes and sub-stories lying near the surface. Fair warning, there are some disturbing details (that are wonderfully described, by the way).
Esther is easily my favorite character - complex, but gentle. She loves to party and drink, which never makes for a good combo but certainly adds to the fun! I enjoyed trying to identify who Esther truly was and how she related to the other characters.
There is a strong theme of Mothers which carries heavily throughout the story; some heartbreaking details and some that bring joy. I found the multiple references to mothers to be a bit overdone, but I understand why they were included.
This wasn't one of my favorite reads of the year, but I appreciate that it was a slightly unique storyline than usually seen in mystery/thrillers.