The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
I’m always on the lookout for a new mystery series, so I was thrilled when my cousin Harriet suggested the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen.
The first novel in the series, The Keeper of Lost Causes, introduces veteran Homicide Detective Carl Morck of the Copenhagen police department. In a thinly veiled demotion, Morck is appointed to the newly formed cold case unit, a department of one tellingly located in the basement of police headquarters.
Initially, Carl is fiercely unenthusiastic about his new job, but his natural curiosity and unquenchable police instincts get the best of him. With encouragement from his assistant Assad, he heats up the five-year-old case of a missing politician.
Carl and Assad are expertly drawn, engaging characters in the Holmes and Watson tradition, but the crime was so scary that I had trouble getting through the book.
Scandinavian mysteries are typically dark, but The Keeper of Lost Causes has the creep factor of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, pages of which I was forced to skip! Harriet assures me that the Department Q series gets better. If you try one, let me know!
2025 UPDATE: Dept. Q is a new Netflix television series based on the novel. Starring the brooding Matthew Goode as DCI Morck, it is still scary, but I fast forwarded through the sinister bits.