With The Unlucky Lottery, I've now read all of Nesser's books that have been translated into English, and I must say, they are among the finest novels of crime fiction coming out of Scandinavia. Sadly now I have to bide my time until the next one is translated and published. This novel offers its reader an intriguing mystery or two, a compelling story and absolutely some of the best characterizations in the genre. The story begins when four older men realize they've won 20,000 euros in the lottery, to be split four ways. First, though, the plan is to go out for a "knees-up in Capernaum" to celebrate. By the end of the evening, Waldemar Leverkuhn will go home very drunk and tumble into his bed. By the time his wife sees him again, he'll be dead, with over twenty stab wounds in his body, soaking in his own blood. And just as the police are getting into their investigation, two other events of interest occur: one of the Leverkuhn's neighbors disappears and one of the original four lottery winners goes missing as well. Munster and his colleagues have their hands full trying to sort out this case, which takes one twisty turn after another, but they are left to do it with only a minimum amount of help from Van Veeteren, who is on a year's leave of absence. His trusty assistant Reinhart is also away on paternity leave. It's up to those officers who previously have been more or less on the sidelines of Nesser's other novels to solve the case.Although murder and mayhem abound, and the book's focus is on the crime and its solution, Nesser also uses this space to explore other topics, especially the toll that police work puts on his characters' lives. Van Veeteren, of course, has had enough, and is "focused on beauty and pleasure nowadays" in a wing-backed chair in an antiquarian book store, yet he offers his help once in a while, putting his "oar in," as a friend calls it. Münster's family life is beginning to suffer as his work keeps him away from home and his wife realizes that there has to be more to their lives. Moreno finds herself putting work at a distance as she deals with ending a long-term ongoing relationship with her boyfriend. Nesser also goes back to what seems to be a favorite pastime of his -- examining how past events play a role in shaping an individual's psyche, and above all, the nature of justice: what the police call murder, someone else may call retribution -- it's all a matter of perspective.The book has a rather chilling twist, which gives the reader pause to think about deeds and consequences, about justice and about the reader's own ideas about the rightness or wrongness of one's actions given certain circumstances. I love books like this -- far from just a series of events that take you from point a to point b, from the crime to the solution, there's another layer inserted between the lines that gives the reader pause to think about his or her feelings on the matter. Not that I don't like a good, old-fashioned point a to point b kind of crime novel sometimes, because I do, but this extra layer of self examination elevates this book from just another novel of crime fiction out there on the shelves.The Unlucky Lottery is absorbing, and scattered throughout is a bit of sarcastic humor, another trademark of Nesser's writing. Getting nit-picky here, I have to question the validity of using tape recordings of psychoanalytic therapy that someone just hands over to the cops -- Maardam may be a fictional place, but it seems to me that the laws of doctor-patient confidentiality are pretty standard everywhere, so this part did not ring true at all, and it seemed to be a rather unfair ploy the author used to further the story. And perhaps the characters' lives are a little too much in depth for most readers of crime fiction -- I like good character development, but let's move along already in some cases! Other than those minor issues that bugged me a bit, The Unlucky Lottery is another awesome book -- but I must say, I do hope Van Veeteren isn't totally sidelined in the rest of the series.
Rezension bezieht sich auf das Hörbuch!Wer Hakan Nesser kennt, weiß, dass der Schwede gute verworrene und wenig vorhersehbare Krimis schreibt. Wie die meisten schwedischen Krimis ist auch dieser wieder undurchsichtig, düster und gekennzeichnet durch familiäre Probleme als auch die ganz eigenen Probleme des Kommissars. Der Fall in dem Münster steckt, ist alles andere offensichtlich, auch wenn sich eine Person zu der Tat bekennt, hat Münster seine Zweifel an der Aussage. Auch die nachfolgende Handlung passt nicht in das Bild und so muss Münster dranbleiben und weitersuchen. Er holt sich dabei die Hilfe von dem beurlaubten Altkommissar Van Veeteren. Dieser genießt die Ruhe und den Abstand zur Polizeiarbeit. Seine Gedanken kreisen nicht mehr um Leichen, Mörder, Opfer und Gewalt. Er hat innerlich bereits seinen Ruhestand eingenommen, auch wenn die Kollegen auf seine Rückkehr hoffen. Münster sucht seine Hilfe und beide gehen sie die Fakten des Falls immer wieder durch. Langsam erkennen sie die Zusammenhänge und verstehen das Grauen, welches sich hinter den einzelnen Puzzelteilen verstecken. Schicht für Schicht wird die Familientragödie aufgedeckt und offengelegt. Doch ist dies gut? Sollte man die Vergangenheit nicht ruhen lassen? Münster und Moreno (seine Partnerin) müssen weitergraben, um den Mord aufzuklären. Dann findet Münster den „Schlüssel“, das letzte kleine Puzzelstück. Zwar erkennt er die Zusammenhänge und zieht somit die richtigen Schlüsse, jedoch unterschätzt er die Gefahr, der er sich nun aussetzt. Neben der Aufklärung des Mordes machen Münster immer wieder Selbstzweifel und Zweifel an seine Liebe zu seiner Frau zu schaffen. Er fühlt etwas, was nicht gut für die Beziehung ist und kämpft mit Gedankenspielen, die nicht seine Frau und ihn, sondern Moreno und ihn betreffen. Immer wieder erwischt er sich dabei, dass er abschweift und den Tagträumen hinterherrennt, um später mit einem schlechten Gewissen wieder in die Realität zurückzukehren.Die bedrückende Stimmung wurde durch die tiefe raue Stimme von Dieter Moor noch stärker. Er schaffte es eine stetige Spannung zu erzeugen, die für eine beklemmende Stimmung sorgte. Moor gab dem Kommissaren Van Veeteren und Münster die richtige Tonlage, um die älteren, verbrauchten und abgekämpften Männer sehr gut darzustellen.Insgesamt ein gelungener düsterer Schwedenkrimi, der wieder ein paar kleine Details offen lässt, um die Anschluss zum nächsten Fall zu schaffen.
What do You think about Münsters Fall (2002)?
I found this book when I was looking for a novel that had a character with the same occupation as me (yes, for a Goodreads Challenge - see Fiction Fanatics "All About Me" challenge). It was quite fun searching the library website to find a novel that appealed to my usual likes while having an ESOL teacher or a bookshop worker. I was prepared to look at previous jobs as well, but found this. Of course, the character working in a bookshop is really a policeman on leave (Van Veeteren, the chief protagonist in a series by this author) and his role in the book was minimal. Sometimes we have to flex things a little to fulfill the challenges.So, what's the book about and what did I like about it? It's about the investigation into a murder, which expands to be an investigation of a murder and two disappearances. The murder is of an old fellow, who with his 3 mates has just won the lottery. The first disappearance is another of the group of 4 old fellows, and the second, only a few days later, is that of the caretaker's wife in the apartments where the murdered old fellow and his wife live.I liked the dour characters and the dreary weather and the philosophizing - it's all so perfectly dreary Northern Europe, and so different to American or British crime novels. I also liked that it gave me enough information about the characters and their history that I didn't feel I needed to have read the preceding novels. Having said that, I'm going to look for the first in the series because I liked this one enough to see if the liking keeps going.
—Kathleen Dixon
This is my first Hakan Nesser book.I had just finished a book by Jo Nesbo, so in comparison, the pace of this book feels much slower than that of Nesbo. If i can fairly compare, it feels like an Ian Rankin. Perhaps because the storyline revolves characters in the police force...or PD James for that matter.However, this, I was told not the best book simply because it is a Van Veeteren series with the least involvement of Van Veeteren, who is on sabbatical.The story plods on at a steady, though somewhat slow pace with the police team not making any head way for three quarter into the book. But the plot was engaging enough to hang on to.I mean, bodies kept turning up, surely the guilty party would appear soon. When infact the story gets tied up nicely over the last 10 or so pages, and then, it twisted off tangent with a different than expected ending.A nice twist.
—Shirin
Some readers may feel cheated in that Van Veeteren is not the lead detective in this latest story, number 6 in this series. However he does hover and meet with Munster from time to time, and he is often noticed in his absence and remembered for his sayings and methods. In this way we learn more about him and his team blossoms in his absence.A simple story of Shakespearean quality, a clever mystery which exposes motives, responsibility and love. There is misdirection from the start but this baffling of the reader mirrors the confusion of the detective team. Masterfully crafted insights into a dysfunctional family who seem reluctant to reveal their secrets.Two gruesome murders; lives changed forever but no-one seems to have seen or heard anything.What I really like about Nesser's writing is its economy of words, rich descriptions, in setting of mood and character but always leaving the reader time to absorb the writing.When the book finishes you are pleased about the time you have taken in his company, having been entertained and had your mind exercised.
—Richard
