European Mysteries
Compiled by Debra Wordinger, Indian Prairie Public Library

The MLS Readers Advisory Special Interest Group met on March 11, 2008 to discuss mysteries with a European setting.  What we found was that other than a current trend for Scandinavian mysteries, most of these series are written by American or British authors.  Some, like Donna Leon have long lived in the location of their series.  In trying to brainstorm current authors who are published in translation we could think of only Boris Akunin, Arturo Perez-Reverte and Umberto Eco, the latter two authors writing something rather different than traditional mysteries.

Arnaldur Indriason.  Jar City, 2004.
Inspector Erlendur of the Reykjavik CID is presented with an unusual murder.  A 70-year old man lies dead of a blow to the head, with a note stating “I Am Him” on his body.  In investigating the case Erlendur discovers that the victim was accused, though not convicted, of a crime that may be associated with his death.  A labyrinthine investigation reveals many secrets and unknown connections within a society where everyone goes by their first names.
Nancy Bent, LaGrange Public Library
Audience:  adult, interested YA

Black, Cara. Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis, 2007.
Aimee Leduc, who owns her own computer security business in Paris, is up late working when she receives a call that draws her down to the street where she finds a weeks-old infant.  As Aimee tries to find the mother she becomes convinced that a government and big business scheme to sell drilling rights and suppress opposition is connected to her foundling’s missing mother.
Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie
Audience: Adult

Draskovic,Vuk. Knife 2000.
This Serbian mystery is a challenging read.  Set in the 1960s of Tito’s Yugoslavia, it is both a mystery and a complex meditation on the human condition.  Beginning in the violent turmoil of WWII, a particularly vicious slaughter results in lost identity and suppressed hatreds spilling over into the modern era.  While a young man remains ignorant of his true heritage, another man obsessively tracks a war criminal, intent on bringing him to justice.  Moving at a slower pace and meticulously footnoted, Knife is also a fictionalized history of one of Eastern Europe’s most tumultuous regions.  This might be a good match for readers of literary fiction, provided that they are not put off by descriptions of graphic violence.
Jennie Milojevic, Riverside Public Library

Eriksson, Kjell.  The Princess of Burundi,  2006.
Detective Ola Haver and Ann Lindell, a detective on maternity leave, investigate the brutal murder of Little John, an unemployed welder who is known for having the largest aquarium in Upssala, Sweden. Lennart, John’s alcoholic brother, also searches for answers, but doesn’t know about a recent windfall John entrusted to his son Justus.
Recommended for adults.
Brenda O’Brien, Woodridge Public Library

Fossum, Karin.  Don’t Look Back, 2002.
When well-liked teenager Annie’s body is discovered by a lake near her Norwegian village, the community is shocked.  There is no obvious motive for the murder.  Was it her boyfriend, Halvor?  The father of one of the many local children for whom Annie babysat?  Or Raymond, the young man with Down’s syndrome who lives on Kollen Mountain with his invalid father?  Inspector Sejer must uncover the secrets of these and other suspects to find Annie’s killer.  (First in a series.)
Debbie Darwine, La Grange Public Library

Fossum, Karin. When the Devil Holds the Candle, 1998, US pub c. 2004.
In this chilling combination of police procedural and suspense, series Inspector Sejer is looking for a teenage boy who goes missing after a night of petty thievery.  In the classic suspense style of alternating chapters told from the point of view of the victim and the victimizer, it becomes increasingly difficult to discern which is which. Adult and older teens.
Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie

Kerr, Philip. March Violets, 1989.
Private Investigator Bernhard Gunther is hired by a wealthy Ruhr Valley industrialist to recover a valuable cache of stolen jewels before the Nazis are able to claim them as Reich property.  As Gunther attempts to track them down, he is pulled into an ugly world of corruption and brutality, where even his temporary employer is more concerned about money than the murder of his daughter and son-in-law.  Gunther’s investigation will lead him to the very worst of the Third Reich’s violent excesses.  Set in 1930s Berlin, this is the first book in the Berlin Noir series.  It has both a strong sense of place and of the nervous quality of life under Nazism.
 Jennie Milojevic, Riverside Public Library

Leon, Donna. Death and Judgment, 1995.
Inspector Guido Brunetti becomes involved in finding the murderer of two prominent Venetian businessmen.  It becomes evident that forced prostitution of women from Eastern Europe and South America is part of a scheme being run by powerful men.  Brunetti and his strong willed wife and daughter are the attraction to this mystery series. Debbie Wordinger, Indian Prairie
Audience: Adult

Leon, Donna. Death and Judgment, 1995.
Venetian police commissario Guido Brunetti must dig beneath layers of political corruption and departmental incompetence to solve the murders of several wealthy citizens.  What he discovers about their connection to a local prostitution ring may put members of his own family in jeopardy.  This complex story provides an interesting look at Italian crime. 
Debbie Darwine, La Grange Public Library

Leon, Donna.  Death at La Fenice, 1992.
First mystery featuring Venetian detective Guido Brunetti. Between acts at the opera house, La Fenice, the body of famous conductor Helmut Wellauer is found in his dressing room, and Guido is urged to find the murderer quickly, but instead finds many people with motives, though not necessarily the opportunity to murder the maestro. Very good sense of place, quite atmospheric.
Brenda O’Brien, Woodridge Public Library
Audience: Adult

Mankell, Henning.  Faceless Killers, 1991.
The first in the Kurt Wallander series, this taut mystery introduces Sweden’s famous sleuth.  An old farmer and his wife are brutally murdered, but just before she dies the wife murmurs one word – “foreign.”  Against a background of massive immigration into Sweden and a wave of anti-foreigner sentiment, Wallander must race not only the clock but his own dysfunctional life to find the killer.
Nancy Bent, La Grange Public Library
Audience:  adult, interested YA

Roslund, Anders and Borge Hellstrom. The Beast, 2006.
This is a disturbing mystery focusing on the aftermath of a predator’s escape from prison and its chilling affect on victims, investigators, and the legal system.  When a convicted pedophile remains at large, a victimized father takes the law into his own hands.  Beast focuses on the stress and torment endured by the police, the legal system which must come to terms with the father’s actions, and society’s feelings about those who abuse and murder children—from behind prison walls to small, peaceful Swedish communities.  While an excellent psychological study of a very disturbing manner of crime, this book delves into far more details than I had expected.  It is fairly graphic and unsettling (but never gratuitous and sensationalistic).  The thoughts and actions of the pedophile are described, which will make this book unreadable for many, even those that do not mind graphic violence.  Translated for a UK based audience, the book’s language can feel a bit clunky at times, nonetheless, it still has a nice flow to it, while posing very uncomfortable situations and questions.
Jennie Milojevic, Riverside Public Library

Sigurdardóttir, Yrsa.  Last Rituals, 2007.
The grisly, ritualistic murder of a German graduate student in Reykjavík and his obsession with witchcraft creates a bizarre case for lawyer and single mom Thóra Gudmundsdóttir.  Brought in by the family of the dead student as a translator and guide to Icelandic law, Thóra soon discovers a variety of suspects, from like-minded friends of the deceased to jealous faculty advisors.  This fascinating story gives lots of detail about life in Iceland as well as university politics and culture. 
Debbie Darwine, La Grange Public Library

Simenon, Georges.  Maigret and the Enigmatic Lett, 1931.
We meet the eponymous Maigret, in the first of Simenon’s well-loved Inspector Maigret series, as he is reading telegrams from Interpol and other European police agencies.  All deal with the movements of international swindler Pietr the Lett (Latvian), who is reported to be on his way to Paris.  Maigret must intercept this chameleon of a criminal and arrest him, with enough evidence of his crimes to hold one of Europe’s most slippery characters.
Nancy Bent, La Grange Public Library
Audience:  adult, interested YA

Vargas, Fred.  Have Mercy on Us All, 2005.
In a Parisian neighborhood, modern town crier Joss LeGuern reads aloud messages left for him thrice daily. Some recent messages intrigue Herv Decambrais, and he finds matches in medieval records of plague in France. Chief Inspector Adamsberg is alerted to strange signs appearing on apartment doors in the neighborhood, then a flea-bitten body is discovered.
Brenda O’Brien, Woodridge Public Library
Audience: adults and young adults.