Tuesday 3 September 2013

Grey Doll And Criminal Reading: "Savage Spring" by Mons Kallentoft

I did a quick post about Elmore Leonard who died recently.... One of the best in American crime writing, who set the benchmark for laconic, dry-witted, crime fiction. It's a style I very much like.

But to my surprise I find it's not the only style for me.

Different as chalk and cheese are the sassy grit of Leonard and the introspective, cool, Scandi-Noir of Mons Kallentoft. I really enjoyed Kallentoft's "Savage Spring", where the voices of the dead mix with the thoughts of the living. This crime story sees Malin Fors of the Linkoping Police trying to find the killer who set a fatal bomb blast in Linkoping town centre which killed two young girls. Alongside the hunt for the killer, we become involved in Malin's life as it is altered by her mother's death and the unfolding of its own family secrets. The writing is dark, psychological ... with poetic imagery. It is not a style to every crime fiction lover's tastes ... but I be surprised to find that it is as much to my taste as the wise-cracking snap of Leonard.

Here's the link to a Euro Crime review of "Savage Spring" ....which is the fourth in Kallentoft's crime series featuring detective Malin Fors.

I'm off to catch up with the earlier books... starting with an audio version of "Midwinter Sacrifice" .

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