Book Review: THE CHESTNUT MAN by Søren Sveistrup

Title: THE CHESTNUT MAN

Author: Søren Sveistrup
Publisher: Harper
Read: February 2020

Expected publication: out now

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen.

His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene.

Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery—a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister’s daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago.

A tragic coincidence—or something more twisted?

To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man’s gruesome clues.

Because it’s clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over.

And no one is safe.

What attracted me to this book:

I am always in the market for a Nordic Noir read, and THE CHESTNUT MAN certainly promised the best the genre has to offer: gruesome murders, a dark atmospheric setting and detectives on the hunt for a ruthless killer. After reading THE KILLING, I knew that this would be another intelligent, contemporary and multi-layered story, and you won’t find any plot holes here. I was not disappointed!

My musings:

If you have read THE KILLING, then you will know that Søren Sveistrup writes intelligent, multi-layered and well plotted thrillers that contain scenes that will haunt your worst nightmares! THE CHESTNUT MAN follows this pattern exactly, right from its horrific opening chapter, and I still shiver at the thought of some of the imagery the book conjured up for me. I’m just glad that I read this as a group read, because believe me, you will need to have a debrief regularly, especially when reading this before bed!

The book involves a series of horrific murders on women that all have several things in common: they are mothers, their hands have been amputated, and a chestnut man has been found on the scene.

Some of the characters of THE CHESTNUT MAN reminded me of the author’s previous book: here we have Thulin, a young clever detective who is raising her daughter as a single mother and encountering all the problems Sarah Lund was up against working long hours on solving murder cases. Her reluctant partner on the case is Hess, a troubled soul who has been temporarily suspended from Europol and banished to Copenhagen on a kind of sabbatical. Hess is antisocial, secretive and a loner, but he is also clever and able to think outside the box. I liked both main characters immensely, and they had a good dynamic going that kept the story interesting.

Sveistrup is a screenwriter, and his writing style is quite unique, which will work for some readers and not so well for others. For me, the book always had a certain movie like quality, intent on showing us scenes rather than allowing an emotional connection to any of the characters. In a police procedural, especially one as dark and brutal as this one, this worked well, even though it may have taken out some of the emotional involvement felt with other crime books. Short, crisp chapters from various POVs moved the story along at a decent pace, and their cliffhanger endings made it hard to put down. Which was just as well, as it’s a hefty book of over 500 pages! As with THE KILLING, we also get a political thread here, although I was happy to see it wasn’t as dominant as in the author’s previous book. Be aware that there are A LOT of characters, who are often referred to by their surnames only (which is a bit alien for us Australians) – I was forever mixing people up and having to flick back and forth to remind myself who is who.

Our group had multiple theories as to who was the killer, and only one person managed to guess correctly, whether fluke or not. Comparing notes was a great part of the enjoyment here, and also allowed us to air some of our emotions concerning the darker elements of the story. If your triggers include descriptions of domestic violence, child abuse and torture, then you may want to steer clear. I am no  shrinking violet, but some of the descriptions made my stomach somersault.

I used to make chestnut man as a child, but thanks to this book will never quite look at a chestnut the same way again. With a constant undercurrent of menace and danger, and an atmospheric setting, these innocent little figurines took on a whole sinister role of their own.

Summary:

In summary, THE CHESTNUT MAN is a gruesome, multi-layered and well plotted Nordic Noir thriller that will appeal to fans of the genre who don’t mind some gruesome scenes that will haunt the nightmares of the fainter- at-heart. With an atmospheric Nordic setting and contemporary themes, it makes a worthy addition to your mystery shelf.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.