From the Bookshelf of The Dusty Bookshelf…

Snow Angels (Inspector Kari Vaara, #1)

James Thompson

Start date: December 17, 2012

Finish date: December 19, 2012

Why we're reading this: Another mystery that's been sitting on the TBR shelf too long!…more
[close] Another mystery that's been sitting on the TBR shelf too long!

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Dec 20, 2011 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it really liked it

Shelves: good-fiction, thriller-mystery, spring-2012

I can see why Snow Angels was short-listed for an Edgar Award and was selected as one of Booklist’s best Crime Novel Debuts! Finnish resident and American, James Thompson’s writing style is lean and sinewy and reflects the “Nordic Noir” atmosphere of the Finnish setting and his characters. I felt the bitter cold and desolation of the kaamos and its effects upon each of characters. The forensics and investigating techniques of Vaara and his small police force are well researched and are strategic I can see why Snow Angels was short-listed for an Edgar Award and was selected as one of Booklist’s best Crime Novel Debuts! Finnish resident and American, James Thompson’s writing style is lean and sinewy and reflects the “Nordic Noir” atmosphere of the Finnish setting and his characters. I felt the bitter cold and desolation of the kaamos and its effects upon each of characters. The forensics and investigating techniques of Vaara and his small police force are well researched and are strategically told. I admit the perpetrator(s) were not who I thought and that is what makes Snow Angels a fantastic read. Thompson offers up many potential suspects as well as a haunting story of racism, religiosity, and relationships as Inspector Kari Vaara seeks the truth behind the brutal murder of a gorgeous Somali starlet.

On the pristine snow in a field of a reindeer farm 100 miles into the Artic Circle lays a beautiful woman. Her arms are above her head at 45 degree angles with signs she made herself an exquisite snow angel in death, except for the brutal mutilation of her body. She is naked. She is black. She is Muslim. She is a rising Finnish starlet. And Police Chief Kari Vaara knows he has a major headache on his hands. The investigation will be of national importance. Sex crime? Racial crime? Religious crime? All of the above, given who she is, wonders Vaara. He doesn’t know yet, but this kaamos will be one of the most difficult and dangerous he has ever experienced when evidence soon points to the common law husband of his first wife. He should recuse himself, but his need to search for the truth is far greater. As Christmas inches closer, fissures deepen within the relationships of his small team, his pregnant American wife, and his father. More dead bodies are discovered and Vaara knows this kaamos will be the most difficult and dangerous season he has ever experienced. Will the new father be able to solve this brutal crime with his integrity intact? Are the other bodies linked to this murder? If so, will his world ever be the same? It is worth the few hours to find out.
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Mar 19, 2016 Jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2016-cover-to-cover

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel which surprised me. I don't normally like anything set in the snow - whether it be kidnappings, murders it chase scenes. But I learned a lot about Finland and the Finnish people. It also had a nice juicy bloody murder or two to keep me happy :) ...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Denise rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery, gone

This book, the first in a series set in Finland, just wasn't my cup of tea. I prefer cozies, although I do like some noir. However, I do like a bit of humor mixed in, and this book was very dark and bleak. It takes place during the winter, when it is night all the time. Most people are depressed and stay drunk most of the time. In this setting, a black Somali refugee starlet is murdered in a particularly gruesome way. Was it a hate crime, a sex crime, both, or something else? There will be more ...more

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