The Witch Hunter

September 1, 2020
A desperate hunt for what may be a gang of serial killers flushes out a policewoman's haunting past in Finnish author Seeck's first English translation. The body of a famous author's wife is discovered in what appears to be a deliberately staged pose, dressed in a black gown with black painted nails and a ghastly grin. Another almost identical woman is found under the ice of a nearby lake. The author, Roger Koponen, is out of town at a book signing, where an audience member asks some odd questions. While a police officer is driving him back to Helsinki, communications are lost, and two bodies are soon found burned in the woods. The police realize that the deaths are re-created scenes from Koponen's popular Witch Hunt trilogy and fear that more may follow. Sgt. Jessica Niemi's dying boss, Erne Mikson, the only person on the Helsinki police force who knows she's a very wealthy woman, puts her in charge of the case. Mikson, long Jessica's father figure, knows her disturbingly dysfunctional background, which is slowly revealed as she's personally drawn into the mystifying case by her striking resemblance to several of the victims. Jessica's team works tirelessly to uncover suspects and motives as more gruesome murders related to witches occur until Mikson fears that Jessica herself may be a target. The apparent resurrection of Koponen's cellphone and his image caught on surveillance cameras only make the case more confusing for the officers, who have very different thoughts about who's involved. The heroine's personal problems provide a fascinating counterpoint to a disturbing tale of murder and madness.

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Starred review from September 21, 2020
One winter night, Sgt. Jessica Niemi, the heroine of Finnish author Seeck’s stellar debut, arrives at the home of author Roger Koponen and his wife, Maria, in an upscale Helsinki neighborhood, where shortly before two patrol officers found Maria dead at her dining room table, dressed in a black cocktail dress and her face “twisted up in a hysterical grin.” Roger is across the country in Savonlinna, talking about the latest book in his bestselling Witch Hunt trilogy. The police chief there sets out to drive Roger home, but they never arrive—instead the car and two burned bodies are found the next day. Jessica and her team realize there are similarities between the deaths and the killings of witches by inquisitors described in Koponen’s thrillers, leading them to expect more bodies. The police investigators have their own secrets, most of all Jessica herself, whose backstory Seeck skillfully reveals through her memories and in a separate story line set in the past. One twist follows another, baffling the police and readers alike. Seeck imbues this riveting procedural with a deliciously creepy undertone. Readers will be excited to see what Seeck does next. Agent: Rhea Lyons, HG Literary.

Starred review from October 1, 2020
This rich, intensely suspenseful thriller begins with the murder of Maria Koponen, a woman who happens to be married to the author of a series of books about witches and inquisitors. The investigators, including the intensely private Jessica and her partner, Yusuf, their sickly supervisor Erne, and a full cast of allies, are taken aback first by the sickly smile on the woman's face, and, later, by the parallels that begin to pop up between the murder and Roger Koponen's novels. New clues arise that point to the occult, from references to a medieval text about the torturing and sentencing of witches, to figures with horns out in the snow. Seeck's debut is dark and intricate?the moments of revelation are as vividly cinematic and impactful every time. Seeck has an uncanny ability to unspool reveals at just the right pace to get the reader's heart pounding as they make the connection at the same moment as the detective on page. His expertise with pacing, his careful plotting, and his choice to use short, quick chapters all combine to create a vivid, robust thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)