Dreamless
Chief Inspector Odd Singsaker of the Trondheim police, still recovering from brain surgery, is assigned to investigate the murder of a young woman, left in the snow with a music box placed on top of her and her vocal cords removed. When another young woman goes missing and both seem connected to a centuries-old ballad, Singsaker must marshal his uncooperative faculties in order to prevent another murder. Meanwhile, in a parallel historical storyline, an 18th-century Trondeim police chief investigates the murder of the troubadour who wrote the ballad.
This Scandinavian mystery incorporates the staples of the genre, and the thriller aspects are well done (there are a few clenched-fist moments courtesy of the kidnapped girl’s struggles and the death of one of Singsaker’s colleagues). The switching between time periods flows well, and Brekke manages a good feel for 18th-century characterization. Unfortunately, the novel suffers from multiple info-dumps which are handled in a less than subtle manner. This is only the second novel in the series, but one has the impression that a great deal of character development must have gone on in that first novel, since its events are often referenced and one feels “dropped in” in the middle of something here. Overall, a quick read with strong pacing that will appeal to fans of Scandinavian mystery-thrillers.
