I have discovered that all human evil comes from this; man's being unable to sit still in a room.

books:


	• The Return: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) Hakan Nesser Vintage, 2008 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A double murder becomes triple

Hakan Nesser's "The Return" is another of the good Swedish police procedurals translated for consumption by the English speaking market. On the whole, the novel is a compelling read diminished only by Nesser's shallow development of his characters except for the victimized villain. The author has a penchant for commencing chapters with riveting plot action without identifying his characters. While this makes the action suspenseful, is can also cause confusion.

The storyline revolves around an inquest conducted by Chief Inspector Van Veeteren and his squad of detectives in the Maardam police department. A decapitated corpse also missing hands and feet was discovered wrapped in a carpet by a pre-schooler in a wooded area during a class outing. Immediately the investigation was two pronged. Exactly who was the victim and who was his murderer?

Adding depth to the storyline Van Veeteren was being operated on for a colon resection owing to cancer. He would conduct the investigation in part from his convalescent bed.

The detectives soon discover that the victim was one Leopold Verhaven. The notorious Verhaven, once a world class middle distance runner, had served two separate 12 year prison terms for the murders of two young women he was romantically involved with. As Van Veeteren looks back at the evidence from the previous killings he gets the feeling that Verhaven might hane been innocent.

Using unorthodox means, Van Veeteren and his minions take great pains to uncover the identity of Verhaven's murderer, speculating that this person also committed the crimes that Verhaven was implicated for.

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I have discovered that all human evil comes from this; man's being unable to sit still in a room.

It was an early morning in August; Leopold Verhaven walks free after serving twenty four years in prison for double murder. He feels the first rays of warmth from the sun on his face; his aim, to quietly return home. On a rainy day the following April a child on a field trip wanders off into the woods alone, frantically the adults and party of friends search for the young girl they find her safe but disturbingly sitting next to a mutilated corpse half wrapped in carpet.

A new case for Chief Inspector Van Veeteren or was it? His stubborn determination not to let a case go unsolved, even if it was from a hospital bed while recovering from surgery. The decomposing body is soon identified as a local man the murderer Leopold Verhaven or so they believe. Van Veeteren becomes rattled at this news, his quick to reopen the old cases for the killings of Verhaven two lovers. Could it be that Verhaven had been judged by character and not by evidence all those years ago, was it never on anyone lips he may have been innocent? Maybe Verhaven really did commit those crimes and now this lastest killing is someone's act of revenge at long last. The only way to solve this present case was to review old documentation with complicated history of what now could be a few near perfect murders.

This Swedish series is coming to us translated out of order and quiet some years later. The Return I certainly prefered much more to the pervious novel, one small drawback for me, I felt some other police characters part of Inspector Van Veeteren team needed to be a bit more developed, you get the feeling you touch base with them but something is being held back, still we may learn more as the translation series goes on.

One character that really shines through in this book is Van Veeteren, after his serious surgical procedure his in a lighter philosophical mood with more humor and irony surfacing; and with that wonderful no nonsense attitude that I just happen to love, he couldn't go wrong. He also faces the prospect in this one of taking the law into his own hands, as he realizes the flaws in the justice system. Van Veeteren overstepping certain boundaries is very intriguing to read.

Another reason I found The Return more enjoyable would be the jump back and forth in time looking at different angles into a close-knit community with changes taking place and testimony from witnesses being broken down. We as the readers are let lose for a while, staying one step ahead of the police, the author gives to us a little extra piece of information on a certain date and time line, I found that very clever and interesting.

Håkan Nesser the Author worked as a teacher in Uppsala before turning his hand to writing Novels. In Sweden, his detective stories around Inspector Van Veeteren has received numerous honors. After reading this Novel I'm looking forward to future books in translation from this Author.

Wonderful psychological thriller. Recommended.

Andrea Bowhill

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Nesser at his best!

Kept me on the edge of my seat!
Well written. Great characters. Great story.
Loved Brookman Point as well.

Another great Scandinavian writer

Another excellent example of mystery writing that does NOT depend on sex, violence and four letter words to tell a story that keeps you wondering about the outcome. You soon feel you know Van Veeteren and the conditions he works under as if they are old friends. You really feel the chill and damp of Scandinavian winters.

A real policier

One of the great things that has happened in mystery publishing over the past few years, is the flood of translated books from overseas which has given American (and other Anglophone) readers a new world of social and political perspectives through the genre. Hakan Nesser is one of these recently translated authors and a very good one, he is. "The Return," part of his Inspector Van Veeteren series, has the feel of an authentic police investigation throughout. The reader is taken through many routine interrogations in a murder investigation which only very gradually add up to a solution to the case. The case itself is bizaare and convoluted, involving the murders of three people, including a convicted murderer recently paroled from prison. While the central figure in the book is Chief Inspector Van Veeteren of the Maardam police, his junior colleagues get most of the story space here and their characters are well developed and credible. Oddly, though author Nesser is a Swede, his story is set in a small city in The Netherlands.

This is classic detective story that will be appreciated by any fan of this domain of fiction.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is forced to unlock the secrets of a nearly perfect murder in this taut psychological thriller.

On a rainy April day, a body—or what is left of it—is found by a young girl. Wrapped in a blanket with no hands, feet, or head, it signals the work of a brutal, methodical killer. The victim, Leopold Verhaven, was a track star before he was convicted for killing two of his ex-lovers. He consistently proclaimed his innocence, however, and was killed on the day of his return to society. This latest murder is more than a little perplexing and Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is determined to discover the truth, even if it means taking the law into his own hands.

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