While the writing is excellent this specfic volume of the series was frustrating. It drags on and on, with officers more interested in eating, drinking, talking and playing chess. And this same team of officers didn't act on their concerns for their missing colleague until late in the game. Disappointed.

Don't know if I want to continue with this series.

Characters were fine, plot fairly straight forward. I knew early on who it was, but it remained to find out why. Will try one of his later books ( )

Big clumsy man fingers all over this story. Ugh! ( )

I found this much more engaging than Mind's Eye. I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps Van Veeteren is drawn in more depth as well as the secondary characters too. Also I think I may have adapted to Nesser's at times chopped writing style. Am looking forward to reading more in the series. ( )

The second in the series was better, at least to me. I still wouldn't have figured it out myself. An axe murdered is at large in a middling size sea town. The police are stumped. Van Veeteren is sent in to try to figure it out. How are the victims connected? ( )

a nice Scandi police procedural ( )

In Kaalbringen, einem ehemals beschaulichen Küstenort, regiert der Schrecken: Drei bestialische Morde sind geschehen, kurz hintereinander. Einheimische und Feriengäste reagieren mit Panik. Denn irgendwo mitten unter ihnen sitzt der Mörder und plant in Ruhe seinen nächsten Schlag. Wann und wo wird der »Axtmörder«, wie er inzwischen im Volksmund heißt, wieder zuschlagen? Hat er sein nächstes Opfer schon im Visier? Das örtliche Polizeiteam ist überfordert, und so holt sich Hauptkommissar Bausen den erfahrenen Kommissar Van Veeteren zu Hilfe, der in der Nähe Urlaub macht. Gemeinsam versuchen sie den Zusammenhang zwischen den scheinbar unerklärlichen Morden herauszufinden. Doch die Zeit drängt, denn das vierte Opfer befindet sich schon in der Gewalt des unheimlichen Mörders...

Chief Inspector Van Veeteren aids small city police depatment in tracking down killer of three seeming unrelated men - who actually have an association. Somewhat unexpected protagonist uncovered due to the Inspector's experience and/or intuition. ( )

The second in the Swedish Inspector Van Veeteren series, and it's really growing on me. Usually I like some meat on the bones, but these spare novels about a cynical and dryly bemused detective are just the thing for a reader needing something that just skims along on the top of the story. I don't mean the crimes aren't intriguing, although I did guess this one about 3/4 through (and I'm not that good at it), but these books are just easy to digest and zip right through. The story is told through the viewpoints of the Inspector, his main associate Münster, a deft female detective from the town where they are all searching for a serial ax killer, and the killer himself. Van Veeteren believes in his mentor Borkmann's main idea about solving crime: at some point you know everything you need to, and more input only distracts you from what you have. The trick is to find the balance, and Van Veeteren is a master at it. ( )

beautiful empty beaches, small towns, axe murders, clever and intuitive detectives and detectives who reason... and thoroughly enjoyable. ( )

Much better than Mind's Eye and a couple of the later books. The translation seemed better, but it was done by the same translator. ( )

It read easily but without flair. Too much padding in attempt to prolong little bursts of weak suspense. Too much extraneous detail about various characters' interior lives which was completely irrelevant to the story, without the saving grace of providing a different perspective into the human condition. This seems to be a common pitfall in this genre. Enjoyed the short snippets of the villain's POV. Other than the names, it felt generic. ( )

I received this audio book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an impartial review.

I have enjoyed many audiobooks, but for some reason, I just could not get into this one and did not finish it. I have heard such great things about this book and the series, and plan to read it someday. As for this audiobook, as I did not finish it, I do not feel that I can give it a fair ranking, as I believe that I would like the book itself.

The first in the Van Veeteren series but my third and hugely enjoyable it was too. ( )

Rather like the last book I read, this book's overall Good Reads rating fits exactly to my view of its merits. It is a bit unclear as to whether this is the first or second book in the series (it seems more like the second, because there is little in the way of "set-up", but no matter. I was surprised to find out he is a Swedish writer, writing about a Swedish policeman in that there is a lot less introspection than is normal in Nordic noir. But I have already purchased five more books in the series; so you can tell I enjoyed it and look forward to the next one! ( )

Mostly dull and tedious, with an implausible plot. In place of the usual red herrings and white elephants, the narrative here is sustained (and stretched beyond believability) by police failure. These cops seem lazy and stupid, though when you reach the end you do have to realise that the culture which impedes the investigation (indulgent long lunches, booze, sloppy interviewing, inadequate record-keeping and analysis of information, etc) may be a deliberate construction. It might repay a rereading after the final twist in the tale, but it's not well-written enough to warrant that. For someone who simply relishes the whodunnit element, this would probably be good enough, but the cliched characters and scenarios provide nothing more than that. It kept me reading until the end, but the repetitive, simplistic prose seemed a chore I had to plough through, and the increasing dramatic tension toward the end correlated directly with growing implausibility. ( )

3.5 stars

This is another Scandinavian author whose catalogue is gradually being translated for the North American audience. It features CI Van Veeteren, a Swedish cop with more than 30 years on the job.
Van Veeteren is currently enjoying the last days of his summer vacation when his chief calls. Seems they're having a little problem with an axe murderer in nearby Kaalbringen. Would he mind popping over & having a look around?
There he meets Bausen, the soon-to-retire chief & his crew, one of whom is a young, ambitious detective named Beate Moerk. Unfortunately they're spinning their wheels. After exhaustive investigation, there seems to be no rhyme or reason behind the murders. And while they shift through endless reports & interviews, another victim falls to the axe.
If you're into fast paced thrillers with lots of car chases & things that go boom, this is not for you. Yes, it's a police procedural but it's also a character study of its' star, Van Veeteren. He's a man of a certain age who has closed every case in his career, save one. His personal life has not been as successful. He's divorced & alone with a son currently out on parole.
He's not a flashy or aggressive character. Instead, he's the soft spoken guy on the periphery who sees & hears everything. Long walks & playing chess allow him to let all the information percolate in his head until the connections start to appear. It can be frustrating for those around him as he doesn't appear to be doing anything. Beate reacts by striking out on her own, desperate for action & to make a name for herself. It could cost her life.
This is a slow, introspective read that is more about the characters than the case. Even the killer gets a chance to tell his gut wrenching story about his quest for revenge. The pace pick up in the final few pages as his identity is revealed but the resolution brings the team more sadness than satisfaction.
As for the eponymous Borkmann, well...he shows up more in spirit than in person. For fans of Barbara Fradkin, David Whellams or Quentin Bate's "Gunnhildur" series. ( )

I'm sorry to say I found this desperately slow going. It took me weeks to get to within 50 pages of the end. By this point I was as desperate as the fictional detectives to get the murder solved, especially as nothing had really happened and they had no real suspect. The last 50 pages were quite good, if only the rest of the book could have been as well paced, ( )

I enjoyed this crime novel quite a bit. A series of murders using an ax terrorizes a small northern European town and the Inspector is brought in to help catch the murdered. It takes a while, strangely enough for a small town where everyone seems to know each other, but they do eventually uncover the murdered. Wonderful characters that seem real while also serious and funny. Not an easy combination. ( )

Borkmann's Point: "the point beyond which we really don't need any more information. When we reach that point, we already know enough to solve the case by means of nothing more than some decent thinking. " It took me until page 75 to reach that point... ( )

This is the second in the Van Veeteren series. This isn't as dark as most Scandi crime fiction, but Nesser does a great job keeping his readers in suspense until the very end.

In this book, an ax murderer has killed 3 people in a small town. The local constabulary have no experience with murder and Van Veeteren is called in to offer some assistance. There are no clues and no apparent motive. No witnesses or at least no reliable witnesses and most frustratingly, no apparent connection between the 3 men.

I like the way the story builds. I had thought I figured out who the killer was and possibly what the motive was, but I was completely blown away when I discovered at the end that I was wrong and that I'd been barking up a wrong tree in a completely different forest. ( )

A brilliant plot. I love the characters, and I love the atmosphere the author creates. He is one of those writers who can sketch a person or a place with just a few sentences, and you see everything so vividly. I am planning to read all his books! ( )

There is no point to reiterate the plot, that is done so well by other reviewers. the point that I want to make other than Borkmann's, which I missed by the way, was that when trying to find similarities between the victims of a serial killer even some wild speculations would have been better than absolutely zilch. The fact that the first victim was a drug addict should have at least suggested drugs were possibly related. There were a lot of arrows pointing at the killer from early in the book and then they would disappear or fade for a while eventually to return. ( )

It read easily but without flair. Too much padding in attempt to prolong little bursts of weak suspense. Too much extraneous detail about various characters' interior lives which was completely irrelevant to the story, without the saving grace of providing a different perspective into the human condition. This seems to be a common pitfall in this genre. Enjoyed the short snippets of the villain's POV. Other than the names, it felt generic. ( )

Typical Scandinavian mystery book. Interesting surprise ending. ( )