A symphony of suspense that crescendos to a climactic revelation, this thriller is a harmonious blend of mystery and unrelenting tension. A dark but brilliant read

I felt this started out really slow, and took way too long to get to the end. It needed more action if you was going to make it as long as it was. Over all I loved the plot of the story and the ending, I just felt it needed more action in it

This book is like an alarm for parents. When a girl is found dead and her friend is gone missing the olice is finding how many children are using dangerous chats on the internet.
Thank you Netgalley for this book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Saga Egmont for an advance copy of Username: Doll Child, the first novel in the DI Roland Benito series, set in the Danish town of Aarhus.

When the body of a ten year old girl is found in a dumpster Roland Benito is assigned the case. He has hardly started his investigation when the victim’s best friend disappears. Benito finds that both of them had lied about their age when signing up for an internet chat room. In the meantime journalist Anne Larsen is new to the area and determined to make a name for herself, so along with freelance photographer Kamilla Holm they mount their own investigation.

I enjoyed Username: Doll Child which is an eventful read with so much more than Benito’s investigation. I have read a couple of other novels in the series, which were so-so, but this is much better, longer and more complex.

The novel is told from a multitude of points of view, which are seemingly unconnected and, yet, the reader just knows that it will all come together eventually. It took me a long time to sort out all the voices and recognise the characters, with some obvious exceptions like Benito, Anne Larsen and Kamilla Holm, but the author injected enough mystery to make me curious and keep turning the pages. The plot is quite complex and turns into something different from what the reader would assume from the early pages. I found it really interesting and while not quite gripping - it’s too busy for that - it kept me turning the pages. Did I say busy? Apart from the complexities of the murder investigation there are several subplots to contend with as well. It’s certainly all go.

As this is the first novel in a series there is a lot of character development and backstory going on for the three main protagonists. It is a story of pain and betrayal for Anne and Kamilla and a balancing act between home and work for the comparatively happy Benito.

The novel was published in Danish in 2008, so while it is all about the dangers of the internet and who you meet there, it is very old fashioned in its technology.

Username: Doll Child is a good read that I can recommend.

This book is set in Denmark, it is the first of a series of 16. The first to be translated I’m guessing.

It was a rather dark take on the dangers of the internet where your friends may not be your friends. A 10 year old girl, Gitte Mikkelsen is found dead in a dumpster. Inspector Roland Benito catches the case. A few days later, Gitte’s friend, Louisa Poulson is reported missing. Journalist Anna Larsen and photographer Kamilla Holm from the Daily News discover some things that help the police so Roland is not averse to keeping them across the case.

Things get complicated very quickly. They learn that the girls were both active on an internet chat site. Gitte’s user name was doll child - rather provocative and very unfortunate. There are many potential suspects but not everybody is as they seem and many secrets are yet to be uncovered. The murder of an old lady does not, at first glance, seem related but could it be? The back stories of some of the characters are sad but they do bring these characters to life and explain some of their actions.

It was quite a complicated but compelling plot with excellent pacing. Unfortunately because of my shoulder injury it took me 4 days to read it. Nevertheless I enjoyed it very much. Many thanks to Netgalley and Saga Egmont for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

This book started off slow, picked up and got super interesting and then the ending was kind of predictable and rushed. Overall a good read, I got through it super quick. The short chapters help keep the pace up once you get going.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don't normally keep up with foreign thrillers, but as a millennial, any plot involving teens chatting with strangers on the internet coupled with crime usually piques my interest. I loved the setting of the book- Denmark. Nordic and Scandinavian mysteries go hand in hand with some very dark horror-noir stories, so I knew just from the book synopsis and book title alone that I would not be disappointed! The character development of everyone in the Danish suburb of Brabrand was very detailed, and each had their own distinct history. As the narrative unfolds, the reader finds out how each person is connected to another, all while we have the overarching storyline of a teenager found dead in a dumpster, and another who's gone missing. This is a great "who dunnit"-type mystery, as you're constantly wondering who it is of the cast of characters you've been introduced to. As this is the first in a best-selling series (I"m guessing newly translated), I imagine American readers will definitely want to follow the rest of the books in the series. I would not say this book needs any trigger warnings, as there's not too much gore or depictions of sexual assault (there's very little). All things considered, this was a great read and I would check out more from the author. 10/10, and thanks to NetGalley and Saga Egmont International for the ARC!

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book If your looking for a good thriller to get your teeth into

Username: Doll Child by Inger Gammelgaard Madsen is about Detective Inspector Roland Benito, who is immediately put on the case of the death of a ten-year-girl found lifeless in a dumpster. Doll Child is the chilling story of the dark side of the internet.

This is the first book I have read by this author, which kept me engaged and had a captivating storyline. I really liked the setting. There were several characters introduced to keep track of, but it did not get confusing, and there are some sub-storylines that actually enhanced the story. It did seem like each character had a story to tell.

This book has been translated from the original Danish version. I look forward to other books by this author in this series. I enjoyed reading this book and being introduced to a new author and series. I would rate this a 4 out of 5 stars.

#UsernameDollChild #NetGalley @sagaegmont

Enjoyed this creepy dark thriller by Madsen. Really twisty and compelling. Loved the storyline and it was very well put together. A cast of great characters kept me invested in the book.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

When detective rolling is called to the murder of a 10-year-old girl he knows the suspect will be a pervert, but which one. His murder investigation will lead him to the Internet, night clubs and into the dark secrets people don’t want coming to the light. This is a Gritty investigation and they may have some triggers for those who find it hard to deal with pedophilia, but if you can stomach it this is a great read. It’s set in Denmark which only proves even beautiful places hide ugly secrets. I love reading books that are set another countries into books that go through a translation sometimes it doesn’t translate well or whoever did the work for this book was excellent. You really don’t see any thing lacking. The drama flows nicely and Detective Roland gets his man and what a grotesque man he is. I thoroughly enjoyed this book I was given it by Net Galley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

One of my bookish aims this year is to read more translated fiction so I was so happy to be able to get the chance to review this book.
It was well written with a compelling storylie that kept me engaged all the way through and well developed characters. The story was twisty and kept me guessing. I enjoyed it.

This books is a Danish crime fiction that was translated into English. It is apparently the first in a series to feature Roland Benito who is the Detective Inspector on the case. The book did keep me guessing as to who the killer was and there are certainly a lot of characters to keep track off. The story did seem a bit long to me but I suspect it was to give "life" to the characters that will continue on through the series. With that said, the book was definitely entertaining and worth reading. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a free e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book 1 in the best selling Roland Benito series. On a humid and rain filled summer day in the Danish suburb of Brabrand, the body of a ten year old girl is found lifeless in a dumpster. Detective Inspector Roland Benito is immediately put on the case. Reporter Anne Larsen and freelance photographer, Kamilla Holm, are covering the case for The Daily News and the deeper they look into the story, the more entangled they become. It quickly becomes apparent to all involved, that the crime is linked to an internet chat site where the murdered girl had a profile. The hunt for the killer is on. But things start to get complicated when the victim's best friend mysteriously disappears. She too had a profile on the chat site. She too lied about her age. 'Doll Child' is the chilling story of the dark side to the internet, where no one knows who is hiding behind that username or what they're capable of doing.
Really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank You NetGalley and Saga Egmont
I just reviewed Username: Doll Child by Inger Gammelgaard Madsen. #UsernameDollChild #NetGalley

Username Doll Child is the first of Inger Gammelgaard Madsen's long-running Detective Inspector Roland Benito series. The series began in 2008 with this one and the sixteenth title has just been published in Ms Madsen's native country of Denmark..

As with so much Danish crime fiction this is a very dark book and the opening descriptions of the body of a young girl being found in a rubbish skip are quite stomach-turning. Benito,originally from Naples hence the distinctly non-Danish name, is given the case . After a quite shockingly lax investigation of the crime scene an important clue is provided by reporter Ann Larsen and her new sidekick,photographer Kamilla Holm. With the press gang seemingly more competent investigators than the police Benito comes to begrudgingly respect them and value their input.
The investigation leads to an internet chat site ,this being written in 2008 the net is a mystery to Benito but he very soon realises how it can be abused and as another child goes missing the race is on to catch a dangerous predator.

I really enjoyed the book but it is very "busy" At times the main plot fades into the background as the several sub-plots play out and more and more characters are introduced.. I suspect Ms Madsen wrote this very much with it becoming a series in mind and she seems determined to "cram in" as many of what I'm assuming become regular characters in as soon as possible,not to mention as many storylines as she can fit into one book.

That said it's entertaining and I'll look forward to more from Benito and co.
The book is quite dated, at the time it was written the internet was very new and Benito is baffled by things the average 8 year-old could explain to him now. I'm also quite surprised he lasted the whole book with his excessive smoking ,which Ms Madsen rather oddly describes in almost loving detail throughout the book. For an experienced policeman Benito also often comes across as quite dense with the ladies of the press often well ahead of his investigation.

It's not perfect but it's quirky and entertaining, which is more important. I'd guess that the following books in the series are less "crowded" now that the characters have been established and introduced,I'll certainly be sticking with the series.

Detective Inspector Roland Benito works to find the killer of a young girl buried along with a doll. The killer’s thinking is revealed at times and it’s creepy. Readers will need to wade through this translated fiction novel to discover who the killer is. I confess to skimming some of the text.

I requested Username: Doll Child from NetGalley because I consider myself a fan of Nordic Noir after discovering Jo Nesbo, Jussi Adler-Olsen and The Girl books by Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz. While being a gritty crime thriller, this book was a little less dark than some of the others of its ilk. Though overall it was written pretty solidly, the plot was a bit unfocused. There's a gripping story at the heart of a 10-year old girl who is found murdered and soon after a friend of hers disappears, the biggest connection being they all used the same chat room and were contacted (apparently) by an adult male. However, where that seemed like it would be a main focus of the story, that was merely one of numerous elements in the crime and not explored very far. When an elderly woman is brutally murdered the question comes up as to whether the crimes are connected at all. Initially written off as not being so, nonetheless the parallel investigations to the crimes eventually take place, but in bits and pieces.
Also, this is listed as the first in the Rolando Benito, the primary detective, series. It may be that when Madsen first wrote the novel he didn't intend on writing a series. Maybe that explains why Benito is a main character, but not THE main character. Yes, he is one of the top people in the police department and runs the investigation, but the story doesn't center around him. There is equal, or even possibly, more time dedicated to a spunky young journalist, Anne Larsen, and the news photographer, Kamilla Holm, who investigate from a journalistic angle. And whether it's because this was originally thought of a singular novel or in an attempt to copy the Millennium novels, there is a lot of backstory and side stories involving those two, especially Kamilla, which add nothing to the main story except to give those characters some depth. Since it seems this is the only book in the series thus far translated to English, it will be interesting to see if Kamilla and/or Anne have roles in the subsequent novels, and if Benito becomes more of the central figure. 3.5 rounded up to 4/5*

So much pain and anguish line these pages from various perspectives. I’ve never quite read a book like this but the storytelling was superb.

There is so much to this book than a missing and murdered child. So many lives are intertwined and the web of lies just keeps growing.

Every person involved in this case has a story to tell. But who’s telling the truth? The shift in perspective and coinciding storylines merged well and added something I can’t quite put my finger on.