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The Keeper of Lost Causes

by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Dutton. Aug. 2011. c.464p. tr. from Danish by Tiina Nunnally. ISBN 9780525952480. $25.95. F
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Following the success of other Scandinavian authors, Denmark's best-selling crime writer makes his American debut with this first novel in the Glass Key Award-winning Department Q series. Department Q is a new section of the Copenhagen Police, dedicated to resolving Denmark's most notorious unsolved crimes. A political solution to a bureaucratic problem, Department Q is further hampered by its only detective, Carl Mørck, who has lost his friends, his health, and his spirit in a recent shooting. His first case is to investigate the disappearance of a popular politician. After five years, everyone assumes she is dead, but Mørck and his assistant, Assad, who has his own political past to protect, begin to unravel her secrets.
VERDICT Far from being just another morose Nordic crime writer, Adler-Olsen creates a detective whose curiosity is as active as his soul is tortured. The villain is a monster and the crime horrendous, but readers will root for the victim and for the belabored Department Q. This absorbing psychological thriller is recommended not only for fans of Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, and Stieg Larsson but for true crime aficionados who might like to try fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 2/14/11.]
Reviewed by Cathy Lantz, Morton Coll. Lib., Cicero, IL , Jun 15, 2011
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