I was lucky enough to visit Copenhagen a couple of years ago and love reading novels set in places I’ve been to so I was pleased when I was offered the chance to read the new book by Jesper Stein.
Die for Me is about a rapist who is preying on the women of Copenhagen. DI Axel Steen is leading the investigation. When there are links found between the latest crime and one of Steen’s unsolved cases, the murder of a young girl four years before it soon becomes personal for him. As well as having to face a case that he has never forgiven himself for not solving, the Detective is also dealing with the fact that his new boss is his ex-wife’s girlfriend and that he doesn’t see as much of his daughter as he would like.
This was an interesting story, although I must confess to finding DI Steen a bit annoying. He is a very self centred person who seemingly cares more about where his latest hit is coming from than the case he is on. However on the positive side he is clearly a great detective and that bloody mindedness is put into his work. I actually prefer his boss Jens Jessen as a character. He was much more of a ‘play by the rules’ type of person and he provides a good contrast from Steen’s more maverick approach. This is very heavy on the police procedure which I found interesting and it gave a good structure to the story.
I really enjoyed the descriptions of the city, and found it fascinating to read about the contrast between the beautiful areas I saw as a tourist and the rather less salubrious areas where a lot of the action takes place. The writing takes a little bit to get used too I found, which could be down to the translation rather than the writing but once you got into the swing of it the story soon grips you.
I enjoyed this and would recommend this especially if you enjoy a maverick detective.
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