Book Review: The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler-Olsen

About the Book

On her sixtieth birthday, a woman takes her own life. When the case lands on Detective Carl Mørck’s desk, he can’t imagine what this has to do with Department Q, Copenhagen’s cold cases division since the cause of death seems apparent. However, his superior, Marcus Jacobsen, is convinced that this is related to an unsolved case that has been plaguing him since 1988.

At Marcus’s behest, Carl and the Department Q gang—Rose, Assad, and Gordon—reluctantly begin to investigate. And they quickly discover that Marcus is onto something: Every two years for the past three decades, there have been unusual, impeccably timed deaths with connections between them that cannot be ignored, including mysterious piles of salt at the scenes. As the investigation goes deeper, it emerges that these “accidents” are in fact part of a sinister murder scheme.

Faced with their toughest case yet, made only more difficult by COVID-19 restrictions and the challenges of their personal lives, the Department Q team must race to find the culprit before the next murder is committed, as it is becoming increasingly clear that the killer is far from finished.

My Review

This is such a fabulous series! I love the dark ominous feel, and the way the cold cases and backstory are melded into the contemporary character development. The characters are defintely one of the major selling points for me, and seeing Carl, Assad, Rose, and Gideon continue to grow into ever more complex characters is one of the great delights of the series.

So is the ongoing quest to figure out what, exactly, happened to Carl, Hardy and Anker all those years ago… Adler-Olsen has done an amazing job threading the explanation of the nail gun murders throughout the various books, constantly trading revelations for new questions in a way that has continued to surprise and intrigue me.

There’s only one book left and I really how it didn’t take two years to be released because the cliffhanger here demands resolution!!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.