The good, the bad and the very ugly

On the ugly side is the translation. Putting aside that it is a Swedish to American English translation it is all the little mistakes that jar you out of the narrative. At one point the detectives discover a "day planner" in a pocket. Now I think of a day planner as one of those large charts you see in offices where staff record leave, sickness etc. I can only assume it is a diary, but I am still not sure despite having completed the book. There are many more of these mistakes. The beginning of the book is worst but the effect fades through the book because you begin to mentally insert the right words.



The bad is the reader. Her narration is full of inappropriate.....pauses and while her Swedish pronunciation seems consistent with other readers the issue is that you can hear her vocally “taking a run” at the more complex ones for about half a sentence before she gets there. Lastly her voice is not pleasant to listen to, imagine the female option in Stephen Hawking's voice software and you won't be far off.



But the good is that, in spite of the bad translation and rotten reader, there is a really good police procedural in here. Irene Huss is a likeable character who does not suffer from the usual star detective maladies that afflict her male colleagues. She is happily married, has kids, and goes home at night to a house filled with children arguing and a husband cooking. Being written from a female perspective by a woman also adds a great deal to the feeling of Irene being a normal person with normal hang ups and normal attractions. The plot is intriguing, involving an old hospital, dark secrets from the past, and ghost. The killer turns out to be a surprise without there being any improbable leaps and the last half is a gripping listen. Try the sample, and if you can live with the reader you will have a really enjoyable listen that has a different perspective to the usual detective fare.



Could have been a 5 star listen.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Pretty good

I Really enjoyed this book....the mix of characters and suspense was just right and there were enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I like Helene Tursten's style of writing, she strikes a good balance between the plot and background information around the home life of the main character. I didn't like the narration...I found the narrator had a harsh voice and was a bit "shouty" at times...I also struggled with the American accent and found it strange that an American should be chosen to voice a Scandanavian book, but...maybe that's just me.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful