The Blind Goddess

April 9, 2012
Det. Hanne Wilhelmsen and her colleague Håkon Sand, an attorney with the Special Branch of the Oslo police, look into two murders in Edgar-finalist Holt’s well-paced first Hanne Wilhelmsen novel, the second to be published in the U.S. (after 2011’s 1222). A frightened Dutchman, who won’t give his name, quickly confesses to the first murder, that of a drug dealer. When the Dutchman insists that inexperienced lawyer Karen Borg, an old friend of Sand’s, represent him, the police suspect that unknown corrupt lawyers, part of a massive criminal organization, are behind Borg’s selection. The subsequent fatal shooting of a sleazy lawyer may be linked to the first murder. Snippets of the crooks’ reactions to the police investigation add tension, while the breaking of a “book code” helps bring the criminal activities into focus. Characterizations that compel without being obtrusive compensate for the somewhat disappointing reveal of the ultimate culprit’s identity.