The Keeper of Lost Causes

The effect of Scandinavian crime writing has been far-reaching and, to my mind, one aspect that has helped its growth has been the addition of psychological aspects in the characters and—in a very particular sense—the response to this from the reader. I feel I’ve learned more of this deeper level from the writings of Adler-Olsen, particularly his Department Q novels with their lead, Detective Carl Mørck (a deeply flawed man, although written without a cliché in sight). Adler-Olsen has said the reader must have the opportunity to create their own images from his not-very detailed descriptions, which he calls the… show more.

I was particularly taken with this first Department Q novel because of the intensity of the characters. They inhabit a basement office as the red-headed stepchildren of the police department in Copenhagen. The head of the group is a gruff, jaded cop named Carl Morck. He gets assigned an assistant, a Muslim immigrant named Assad, who turns out to be more than the paper pusher he was hired to be. Together, they look into a cold case involving the murder of two young people, covered by a complex conspiracy of the rich and powerful. They form a powerful team, each… show more.

My favorite Danish mystery writer is Jussi Adler-Olsen, author of the incomparable Department Q novels. Department Q is where Copenhagen’s cold cases live, and it is wonderfully weird Detective Carl Morck’s job to thaw them out. He has help: a fascinating sidekick named Assad, a Syrian immigrant with a backpack of mysterious skills and a hidden past. I would call these books Scandinavian lite or Nordic noir because they are fun. I love grumpy sleuths with soft hearts, sidekicks that end up saving their bosses in crazy ways, and plots that are never what they seem.