In its original Swedish, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is Män som hatar kvinnor: Men who hate women. Tomas Gads - actually a duo of Finnish women - could perhaps borrow that title for their translation of "Pirulainen". A police thriller, very much in tune with Stieg Larsson, Pirulainen begins with the death of an industrialist in the Turku archipelago in western Finland. Police have a hard time telling if it's murder or an accident, but the victim's family and business life all point at problems just beneath a pristine surface. And, in the end, it's the women who have it worst.
Turku is a surprisingly good location for a crime thriller. It's a city, but small enough to have some small town vibes. It's not the small town from The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, but it's also not the metropolis of so many police thrillers. Turku's archipelago is a massively underused setting in Finnish literature. Each July, Finns hop on boats and travel the thousands of islands, staying in idyllic villages and enjoying the rugged beauty and untouched nature of the national park. But once the holiday season is over, and especially as the winter months set in, the islands are a hostile home to a few thousand inhabitants, who sustain themselves on fishing and boredom. Most winters, ice surrounds the islands and makes travel difficult or impossible. Only the eccentric seem to survive the whole year. Most of the action in Pirulainen takes place in the city of Turku, but the opening drama - and a memorable mid-book detour - make use of the archipelago.
Pirulainen stands out from many crime thrillers by focusing on the police charged with the investigation and not the killer. At the center is Halme squad, a relatively diverse group of detectives that share the spotlight. There is even an Enid Blyton moment as the cast is introduced one by one: their conflicts and quips are what drive the action, especially when the investigation hits a bump. Gads is surprisingly merciful to his cast: their weaknesses are not only humane but also hilarious. The IT guy is a desperate ladies' man. The single mother, previously a big-time business leader, is addicted to online video games. The latter has an affair with her daughter's football coach (goalie coach to be exact), who turns out to also be the coroner assigned to the case. It's funny and heartfelt, but doesn't take away from the book's overall mood.
My biggest gripe is stylistic. Gads plays it fast and loose with points-of-view and the effect is jarring at times. Most people won't mind, let alone notice, but when the story follows the police to an interview and the perspective suddenly shifts to the interviewee's point-of-view, it feels off. The focus is deservedly on the police, so a shift into someone else's thoughts sticks out. Also, chapters focusing on the police are interrupted by someone visiting a shrink and the musings of the killer. Combining so many voices in one book strains the reader's attention. It's a minor annoyance in an otherwise exciting book.
Gads is clearly laying the groundwork for a follow-up. In addition to the (relatively minor) twist ending, there is a lot left to unpack within the squad itself. Sergei, a Finn with a Russian name and a history of working the eastern border, is perhaps the prime candidate for a continuation. Novel characters are hard to come by, especially in police thrillers that tend to rely on familiarity for effect.
Turku is a surprisingly good location for a crime thriller. It's a city, but small enough to have some small town vibes. It's not the small town from The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, but it's also not the metropolis of so many police thrillers. Turku's archipelago is a massively underused setting in Finnish literature. Each July, Finns hop on boats and travel the thousands of islands, staying in idyllic villages and enjoying the rugged beauty and untouched nature of the national park. But once the holiday season is over, and especially as the winter months set in, the islands are a hostile home to a few thousand inhabitants, who sustain themselves on fishing and boredom. Most winters, ice surrounds the islands and makes travel difficult or impossible. Only the eccentric seem to survive the whole year. Most of the action in Pirulainen takes place in the city of Turku, but the opening drama - and a memorable mid-book detour - make use of the archipelago.
Pirulainen stands out from many crime thrillers by focusing on the police charged with the investigation and not the killer. At the center is Halme squad, a relatively diverse group of detectives that share the spotlight. There is even an Enid Blyton moment as the cast is introduced one by one: their conflicts and quips are what drive the action, especially when the investigation hits a bump. Gads is surprisingly merciful to his cast: their weaknesses are not only humane but also hilarious. The IT guy is a desperate ladies' man. The single mother, previously a big-time business leader, is addicted to online video games. The latter has an affair with her daughter's football coach (goalie coach to be exact), who turns out to also be the coroner assigned to the case. It's funny and heartfelt, but doesn't take away from the book's overall mood.
My biggest gripe is stylistic. Gads plays it fast and loose with points-of-view and the effect is jarring at times. Most people won't mind, let alone notice, but when the story follows the police to an interview and the perspective suddenly shifts to the interviewee's point-of-view, it feels off. The focus is deservedly on the police, so a shift into someone else's thoughts sticks out. Also, chapters focusing on the police are interrupted by someone visiting a shrink and the musings of the killer. Combining so many voices in one book strains the reader's attention. It's a minor annoyance in an otherwise exciting book.
Gads is clearly laying the groundwork for a follow-up. In addition to the (relatively minor) twist ending, there is a lot left to unpack within the squad itself. Sergei, a Finn with a Russian name and a history of working the eastern border, is perhaps the prime candidate for a continuation. Novel characters are hard to come by, especially in police thrillers that tend to rely on familiarity for effect.