Blessed Are Those Who Thirst

November 26, 2012
A sympathetic lead distinguishes Holt’s second novel featuring Oslo’s Det. Insp. Hanne Wilhelmsen (after The Blind Goddess). Hanne has been keeping her relationship with her female lover a secret, a choice that creates tension between the two women. Professionally, the inspector must deal with the person who’s leaving rooms drenched with blood every Saturday night, but without traces of an actual body, as well as a series of rapes. Evocative descriptive prose is a plus (“In the west, the heavens showed that intense hue only a Scandinavian sky in springtime is blessed with—royal blue on the horizon and lighter toward the meridian, before dissolving into a pink eiderdown where the sun was still lying lazily in the east”). Holt made her U.S. debut in 2011 with the eighth book in the series, 1222, which was an Edgar finalist.

Starred review from December 15, 2012
This second U.S. release in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, (following Blind Goddess, 2012) is a starkly realistic glimpse of Norwegian policing filtered through Hanne's self-deprecating narration and Holt's savvy use of environment as catalyst. In 1994, Hanne is a star police investigator slogging through the unbearable combination of heat and crime waves assaulting Oslo. Hanne's share of the mountainous caseloads includes the brutal rape of a young medical student and the apparent mystery of blood-doused outbuildings throughout the city, which could indicate violence or just vandalism. Rapes, Hanne acknowledges, are the toughest crimes to solve, and she's fairly pessimistic about her handful of weak leads. Fighting powerlessness, the victim and her father strike back with their own parallel investigations that overtake Hanne's when she becomes distracted by the constant demands of hiding her sexual orientation and stonewalling those who dare to care for her. Before Hanne can regroup, the vandalized sheds are linked to a series of missing female immigrants, and the two cases begin dueling for resolution. Holt pokes at brittle, surprisingly vulnerable Hanne with an unrelenting combination of humidity, impossible cases, and love until she evolves a bit, professionally and personally. The straightforward, gritty gumshoe approach offers a perfect entry point into Scandinavian crime and will be a sure pleasure for police-procedural fans who read everything from Slaughter to Nesbo.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)