A Conspiracy of Faith

Starred review from March 11, 2013
A cold 14-year-old murder-arson case preoccupies crotchety Copenhagen Deputy Det. Supt. Carl Mørck in bestseller Adler-Olsen’s third Department Q thriller (after 2012’s The Absent One), a shattering parable of honest individuals caught up in the corruption of our times. Mørck must also contend with such problems as an office torn asunder by idiotic governmental asbestos mitigation; the replacement of his assistant Rose by even quirkier Yrsa; his enigmatic Arabic deputy, Assad, gone bonkers; his wayward wife, Vigga, threatening to return; and his paralyzed partner, Hardy, in residence in his living room. To complicate matters further, a mysterious SOS in a bottle puts Mørck on the trail of one of the most cannily conceived serial child-killers imaginable. Mørck faces these heart-wrenchers, small and large, by perceiving them as essentially analogues to everything that Denmark’s welfare state has turned rotten—problems that are all immaterial, Mørck insists, as long as he’s doing his job.

July 29, 2013
In Adler-Olsen’s latest Department Q novel, a message in a bottle is discovered 14 years after it was written and tossed into the ocean. The barely legible note, written in blood, is from two kidnapped children begging for help. Detective Carl Mørck and his eccentric team of Danish detectives are tasked with investigating the legitimacy of the note and, once it’s authenticity is confirmed, discovering the fate of the two victims. What they ultimately uncover is a serial killer who has kept his criminal activities hidden for over a decade. With his slightly accented reading, Graeme Malcolm does an excellent job of bringing this dark Nordic suspense story to life. His melancholic delivery aptly reflects the story’s often-somber content. That said, he fully captures each of Adler-Olsen’s quirky characters and, in the case of the Department Q’s personnel, allows them to bring sparks of humor here and there before things become too grim. In all, Malcolm’s skillful performance lets this mystery unfold at a natural, steady pace with just the right balance between the dark and light, making for a satisfying listen. A Dutton hardcover.

Anyone who thinks Sweden has a monopoly on soul-shaking Scandinavian murder mysteries should cross the resond to Denmark and sample Adler-Olsen's police procedurals. The characters and stories of Copenhagen's Department Q will keep listeners up at night. The plots are cunning, and the eccentric investigators earn their clues. This is the third audiobook in the series but the first with Graeme Malcolm as narrator. His British accent matches the slangy but accessible British English translation. His voices for the central characters are distinct, and their dialogue can be hilarious. It helps to have a map of Denmark handy, but confusing place names don't dim one's enjoyment. F.C. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

Starred review from September 15, 2013

An intriguing message in a bottle motivates Det. Carl Morck's assistants Assad and Rose to look further. Is it a prank from 20 years ago or a desperate cry for help? Though no related cold case exists, his determined assistants push Carl into the search for what turns out to be multiple crimes by a diabolical serial killer. This latest series entry (after The Absent One) is given an outstanding reading by Graeme Malcolm. This is an extraordinary mystery by a writer at the top of his game. The translation by Martin Aitken captures the ironic nuances of police and government bureaucracy, the terrors of victims and captives, the subtleties of racism and sexism, and the excitement of dangerous chases and confrontations. VERDICT This adult audio, with its moments of laugh-out-loud humor, is a must for adult fiction collections. ["This series has enough twists to captivate contemporary mystery readers and enough substance and background to entertain readers with historical and literary tastes," read the starred review of the Dutton hc, LJ 3/15/13.--Ed.]--Cliff Glaviano, formerly with Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH

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