My First Murder by Leena Lehtolainen and Owen F. Witesman

After a student choir's practice session at a Helsinki villa turns deadly, Detective Maria Kallio finds herself in the middle of the action -- and her first murder case. Someone in the group wanted playboy Tommi Peltonen dead, but that's one song these suspects refuse to sing. Behind the choir's jovial facade lies bitter passion, and the victim's seemingly perfect life hid a host of sins that made him a target of almost everyone in the villa. As a young female -- and a redhead to boot -- Maria knows that solving this case will help her overcome her perceived shortcoming in the eyes of her colleagues. But as the case takes startling twists and turns, and friends and foes become interchangeable, will she be able to piece together the clues before the killer strikes again?

My Finland Book Around the World!!

This was interesting. I was surprised to learn that sexism runs rampant in the Professional world in Finland as well. So, that kind of sucks. I liked the characters and plot okay but I have discovered as much as I like thrillers and horror, crime novels just do not do it for me.

BUT was also super excited to learn of the new literary genre called SANDICRIME. Hah! Amazing!

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I found this book annoying at times, but, ultimately, I decided it was a decent mystery.

Maria Kallio is a rookie detective, but for some reason, she is the only person on the Helsinki Violent Crimes Unit when a murder among wealthy young socialites, who are part of a Finnish student choir, comes to the office. Worse, she knows and is somewhat involved with the other members of the choir.

The book progresses as Kallio interviews the choir members, interacts with them socially, discovers their secrets and confronts various choir members as the likely killer. The story does sometimes bury the clue, but eventually the story comes together with a sound and fitting conclusion.

A nice feature of the book is its Finnish setting. Experiencing the Finnish names and setting was exotic in its way. I typically get wrapped up in those kinds of details and get distracted by investigating Finnish geography and culture.

What I found annoying was the main characters constant obsession with the fact that she is a young female in a male occupation. It seemed so dated, but that is explained by the fact that this book was written in the early 1990s. It also explains some of the other odd details, such as the absence of cell phones. What was most annoying was simply the fact that it didn't seem likely that any police department would leave a premeditated murder case to a rookie officer who was short-timing her police career in order to pay for her legal education.

Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable and competent read.