First Line: Fuzzy images from the bank's security cameras flickered across the TV screen. Three men have been shot and killed in one of Göteborg, Sweden's most fashionable neighborhoods. All three victims have ties to the same woman (Sanna Kaegler-Ceder), but Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues are still led a merry dance through the world of the rich and shameless because Sanna seems extremely unwilling to talk about what she knows-- even when her life and the life of her infant son are at stake. When Irene is left to dig through details of the dot-com bubble and how it burst, she also has to deal with the strange behavior of her partner and long-time friend Tommy. Irene suspects that he may be having an affair with someone else on the police force, but she certainly hopes she's wrong. Helene Tursten's series featuring jiujitsu champion and happily married mother of twin teenage daughters Detective Inspector Irene Huss has become one of my favorite Scandinavian mystery series. As in her other books, The Golden Calf has a plot with more twists and turns than a mountain road high in the Andes, but while you're enjoying a devious storyline, there are always some characters for you to appreciate, too. In this book, one of the suspects/potential victims, Sanna Kaegler-Ceder, is very memorable indeed. At first, she's so glamorously in shock that the reader is willing to cut her plenty of slack for her behavior. But as more is learned of her past, and when it becomes clear that there is a lot Sanna knows that could dramatically speed up the investigation, the reader's compassion quickly turns to exasperation. Why doesn't she seem to care that the life of her baby is in danger? Why doesn't she even care that her life is in danger, too? Sanna is the catalyst that keeps us reading until everything is revealed. But Sanna isn't the only memorable character in Helene Tursten's book. Irene Huss herself has kept me returning to this series time and again. She's tall, athletic, and a quiet, observant person who knows when to be forceful. Irene and her husband, Krister, have raised two twin girls who are just about ready to leave the nest. They're both still sane and happily married because of their priorities. Irene is the breadwinner of the family. Krister is an excellent chef who works part-time so the twins can be cared for and the house can run smoothly while Irene is working long hours on murder investigations. Irene and Krister have certain blocks of time each week that they spend just the two of them together, and those times are always greatly anticipated. Many couples should take a page out of their book.But while Irene's marriage is just as strong as ever, her partner and best friend, Tommy, isn't so lucky. Watching Irene as Tommy's troubles start coming to her attention, as she begins "gathering evidence" before she talks with him, and the final confrontation and its aftermath... watching this long-standing friendship sort itself out through a difficult stretch is every bit as comforting as once again experiencing the love and domesticity of Irene and Krister's marriage.Helene Tursten knows how to write deftly plotted police procedurals that have characters that live and breathe on the page. Whenever I need a bit of a Scandinavian crime fix, it's always a pleasure to turn to Detective Inspector Irene Huss.
Once again (this is the fifth in Helene Tursten's Irene Huss series), the detectives in Gothenburg's Violent Crimes Unit are called upon to investigate another brutal murder. This time the victim is a wealthy restaurant owner who leaves behind a widow (Sanna) who is quite unwilling to answer questions... even after additional men, all known to Sanna, turn up dead. Although Huss and her colleagues are rather sure Sanna didn't actually commit the crimes, they are convinced she knows more than she is willing to tell.In the past I was quite pleased with Tursten's stories, but this time I felt a tad disappointed. First off, the plot was confusing to me; I had a difficult time remembering who was related to whom and to what extent the different characters had business dealings. Second, I was disappointed that Tursten didn't bring Irene's family into the story so much this time around. From reading the first four books, I am just as interested in her family as I am in the crimes she investigates. Alas, Krister and the twins were hardly mentioned this time. But even though I can't give this story as high a rating as the previous four, it was surely enjoyable, and there is no doubt I will continue with the series.
What do You think about The Golden Calf (2013)?
This book is an exciting thriller that was hard to put down. There were so many twists and turns that I was glued to the pages, eager to find out what happens next. What begins as a murder of a very wealthy restaurant owner spirals into a much bigger plot, where this first murder was only a small piece of the puzzle. When you think you have an idea about who might be behind the killings, something else happens and makes you target someone else. The author did a great job in making sure all of the questions were answered at the very end, one of those "Ohhhhh" moments!I really enjoyed the characters, especially Irene. She is a very dedicated agent and isn't afraid to stick her nose into places she shouldn't be. Irene is keen on being able to detect when a person is lying and is very good at being able to connect with people on a genuine level. It was very easy to become fully immersed in this book and I would enjoy reading another of this author's books, since this was the first book I read by her.I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
—Erin
I like this series in general. Irene Huss, the main character, is a very down-to-earth nice person who doesn't have the usual loner-detective neuroses, yet at the same time, she's not boring, and it's fun to learn about Swedish society while reading the books. That said, I felt a bit cheated at the end of this particular book, which was humming along until our heroine and her partners captured the guy who had done the killings, and then a deus ex machina from the FBI comes in at the end to explain to the Swedes what it all meant. I think Tursten didn't really know how to end the book, and this was a cop-out (no pun intended).
—Kathleen
A suspenseful murder mystery. I really enjoyed the depth of Tursten's characters and twists and turns in the plot lines. Every chapter unveiled more details in Detective Huss's homicide case that made the prospect of pinning down the suspect seem even more impossible as more characters and their motives are called into question. The cast of characters--ranging from investment bankers, a wealthy heiress, software developers, and mafia family members-- showcase the worst that can happen when greed and dishonesty take over in their search for wealth, which in the end they really don't find. I think Tursten aims to show us that the search for money isn't what leads one to happiness and fulfillment. To makes it even more interesting Tursten throws in the workplace gossip that takes place at the police station as if you were a colleague of Det. Huss. Tursten takes the audience through the types of questions must be asked during investigations and the detective's line of thinking. Apparently Tursten was once a nurse before becoming a novelist and having worked as a nurse I can identify portions of this book where Tursten must have applied her critical thinking skills to write this novel. In some ways a nurse is so much like a detective in that she must identify the problems her patient is experiencing and ask critical questions and pull together bits and pieces of evidence to draw a complete picture of the situation. Definitely an exciting read.
—Jennifer Fu
