The Glass Devil

February 19, 2007
Swedish author Tursten's taut third contemporary police procedural (after 2006's The Torso
) opens with a compelling setup: after Det. Insp. Irene Huss and her team find Jacob Schyttelius, a divorced teacher, shot to death in his isolated cottage, his computer monitor marked with a bloody Satanic symbol, they visit his parents, Sten and Elsa, only to find them dead as well and with the same markings on their computer. The data on both machines was erased professionally, and the only viable lead, Jacob's London-based sister, Rebecka, is too devastated by the dual tragedy to offer much assistance. Huss focuses her inquiry on Sten, a minister who had been investigating a local Satanist movement, in the belief that he may have been killed in revenge. The solution is both logical and depressing. Tursten does her usual solid job of populating the novel with credible, flawed characters and bringing to life modern Swedish society.

Starred review from April 1, 2007
Detective Inspector Irene Huss of Gö teborg, Sweden, is not the stereotypical hard-boiled heroine. With a chef husband and twin teenage daughters, she must balance her home life and her work life, in which there are always too few cops and too many cases. Jacob Shyttelius is shot to death in his isolated cottage; not far away, his sleeping parents are also killed. The victims' blood is smeared on their computers into the shape of a pentagram, suggesting Satanic elements. Irene travels to Britain to interview Jacob's nearly catatonic sister, a computer whiz, but leads are few. In her third Huss tale to be translated into English (after "The Torso" and "Detective Inspector Huss"), Tursten, a master of short sentences and a matter-of-fact tone, does a fine job of showing not only the teamwork, frustrations, and drudgery of much police work but also the persistence and intuition that lead to solutions. The shocking ending questions the very nature of justice and evil. Highly recommended.Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale

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