A first fascinating novel in the UK for another of Sweden's finest, currently
riding the best-seller lists there with his latest book.
Nesser debuted as a published writer in 1988, but it was not until 1993 with
his second book, that he came up with his series policeman, the chess-
playing Chief Inspector Van Veeteren. As you might guess from that name,
Van Veeteren is not a Swedish policeman. In fact he is normally based in
Maardam, a fictional city in a fictional country with something in common with
the Netherlands or even Germany.
Borkmann's Point is the second in the series, first published in Sweden in
1994. Van Veeteren is on vacation, feeling his solitude after apparently failing
to build the necessary bridges with his teenage son Erich, out on parole from
a current prison sentence. Van Veeteren's boss rings him with news of a
double axe murderer in the nearby town of Kaalbringen, and instructs him to
lend his expertise to the local force.
What follows is a classic police procedural as the Morse-like Van Veeteren, first insisting on –
and getting – his own man (the un-Lewis-like Münster). He then meets the
local chief of police, and begins to assess the strengths (and weaknesses) of
the local team. But as Van Veeteren gets to grip with the evidence in the
case, and further painstaking investigations take place, it becomes apparent
that the team is going nowhere in spite of their best efforts, including that of
bright young policewoman Beate Moerk. Later Nesser will inject some
dramatic developments (one or two, it has to be said, feel a little forced)
before finally bringing the book to an unexpected, moving and highly
ingenious conclusion. Such ingenuity, in fact, that it is no surprise therefore to
find Colin Dexter's enthusiastic endorsement on the cover.
Nesser avoids the angst of many of his Scandinavian contemporaries. His
prose is stylish and vivacious, his characterisation subtle and economic, yet
always relevant. Laurie Thompson's highly readable translation serves him
well. Recommended. I look forward to the next.
DUST-JACKET WARNING: one of those dramatic developments I mentioned (two thirds
of the way through the book) is revealed on the jacket, along with an unnecessary explanation of the
book's title which otherwise would have been quite a nice joke on the reader. Please ignore (the jacket I
mean, not this note!).
