Detective Inspector Irene Huss is not one to be easily
rattled, and when she notices that a garden seat was moved
and her rosebush damaged, she attributes it to mischievous
youths, but when her asters are destroyed, she becomes a
tad suspicious. She has a nagging feeling that maybe
someone is watching her, but duty calls, as she must go to
a crime scene. Women are being killed, strangled, and it's
obviously the same perpetrator: the MO is the same, but
the connection between the murders remains elusive. And do
Irene's incidents have anything to do with the case? Is
Irene targeted, or is she the recipient of someone else's
revenge?
I love police procedurals, and I try to read as many as I
can from various countries. WHO WATCHETH takes place in
Göteborg, Sweden, and while Ms. Tursten aptly conveys the
local colour, the story is universal: WHO WATCHETH is a
classic serial killer tale, made more personal because of
Irene's personal life, which takes up a good chunk of the
book, and is just as interesting as the chase for the
killer. I did feel that, at times, there were a tad too
many inconsequential details not pertaining to the mystery
arc, and that made me antsy to get back to finding the
killer. It's not that it's distracting per se, but I am an
impatient reader! I loved the roles dogs play in WHO
WATCHETH, not in cute way, but as meaningful characters in
their own right, and they nearly as fully-rounded as the
superb cast of secondary characters.
WHO WATCHETH was the first Irene
Huss Investigations book I have read, and I immediately
felt at ease with the characters and the set-up. Ms.
Tursten, with a few precise sentences and crisp
descriptions, takes the reader in Irene's world, whether
the home front or the police department, I got the
dynamics of DI Huss' environment. Irene is fair and
generous, as is the author, in giving a wide berth to
young Sara Persson, whom I particularly liked; she's a bit
of a younger Irene. Best of all is that Irene Huss is a
true hero: she's a woman, a mother, and a detective who
doesn't need a man to rescue her. If the identity of the
killer seemed a sure thing around halfway, I definitely
did not expect the ending, which was quite daring and left
me happily stunned. WHO WATCHETH may not be the expected
Scandinavian noir crime thriller, but it certainly is very
dark grey, and I loved it!
He watches the women from the shadows. He has an
understanding with them; as long as they follow his rules,
they are safe. But when they sin, he sentences them to death.
A woman is found dead in a cemetery, strangled and covered
in plastic. Just a few days before her death, the victim had
received a flower, an unintelligible note, and a photograph
of herself. Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her
colleagues on the Violent Crimes Unit in Göteborg, Sweden,
have neither clue nor motive to pursue, and when similar
murders follow, their search for the killer becomes
increasingly desperate. Meanwhile, strange things have been
going on at home for Irene: first the rose bush in her
garden is mangled, then she receives a threatening package
with no return address. Is Irene being paranoid, or is she
next on the killer’s list?
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