In 1997, a seventeen year old girl named Alberte is murdered in a hit and run accident on the island of Bornholm. Her body was hit so hard that it flew up a tree, where she was found dangling from a branch the next day.

When the cold case comes to the Department Q staff, they are disinterested, but the story is such a strange one that they begin to investigate. On Bornholm they encounter a cult-like group that worshps the sun, and this strange group is intertwined in Department Q's cold case.

The story of the hanging girl is a very good one, complex, with interesting characters and shocking depravity. We learn a little more about Assad, the Syrian detective with the secret past life. Carl gets to drink a really good cup of coffee. Hardy is able to move his thumb now, and can use an electric wheelchair to get around. It's a good book. I enjoyed reading it, and wondered how Mr. Adler-Olsen is able to create such imaginative stories with such realistic characters.

I have two more Department Q books here at home, and there are another two on the market, so I will be enjoying Carl Morck et al for a long time to come. ( )

While some parts of the hunts are dragged out a bit too far for my taste, this is another great addition to the series, and once you get through the slightly boring middle part, it becomes really difficult to put down. Highly recommended. ( )

Hated the translation

Another wonderful read about one of my favorite group of investigators. Such an unlikely team, it's surprising they ever do anything sometimes. The boss, Carl Mørck, usually would rather nap than take on a new case. He complains about everything, and resists anyone who tries to tell him what to do.

His assistant, a mysterious Middle Eastern Muslim man who likes to throw out proverbs about camels, is perhaps my favorite. He's clever, and very funny without trying to be. He always seems to be hiding something, whether it's his past or present, and drives Carl crazy trying to figure him out.

And his secretary/office manager Rose is also pretty mysterious, and is suspected of being two different people. In this story, she too proves to be very perceptive and clever, and works with them more than in the past.

The story is as complex as always, and when you think you know what's going on, well, you'd better be prepared to be wrong. It seems certain that one person is the guilty party, and then you think maybe it's someone else, but sometimes a one-armed man is just a one-armed man (that has nothing to do with this story, by the way).

Be sure to read the first book in the series if you want to know what's going on with Dept Q, and why they are the keepers of lost causes. ( )

It's not often that I look forward to diving into a book of nearly 600 pages but when it's a Department Q novel I'm excited mainly because of the gender and culturally diverse trio made up of Mörck, Assad and Rose. Such a trio is acerbic, sarcastic and deeply committed to solving cold cases which often lands them in dangerous situations. Deeply satisfying reading. ( )