The Hanging Girl
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
New York Times and internationally bestselling author Jussi Adler-Olsen delivers an exhilarating mystery in the Department Q series, featuring Detective Carl Mørck and his enigmatic assistants, Assad and Rose. In the middle of his usual hard-won morning nap in the basement of police headquarters, Carl Mørck, head of Department Q, receives a call from a colleague working on the Danish island of Bornholm. Carl is dismissive when he realizes that a new case is being foisted on him, but a few hours later, he receives some shocking news that leaves his headstrong assistant Rose more furious than usual. Carl has no choice but to lead Department Q into the tragic cold case of a vivacious seventeen-year-old girl who vanished from school, only to be found dead hanging high up in a tree. The investigation will take them from the remote island of Bornholm to a strange sun-worshipping cult, where Carl, Assad, Rose, and newcomer Gordon attempt to stop a string of new murders and a skilled manipulator who refuses to let anything—or anyone—get in the way.
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The Hanging Girl is the latest in the Department Q series by Denmark's best selling author, Jussi Adler-Olsen. The story opens with Detective Carl Morck and his two assistants being asked to investigate a twenty year old death. The petitioner, a policeman as well, had obsessed over the case for 20 years, unable to prove that the official hit and run determination was wrong. Plates already full, lead detective Morck, declines to take up the old case.
However, a reversal takes place when the petitioner kills himself at his own retirement party and they are drawn into the case. Morck is reluctant but his assistants are intrigued as they take the case over.
The trio investigate and follow leads all over Bornholm Island as Adler-Olsen separately introduces an esoteric group of higher conscious seekers. The group is lead by a charismatic man who runs an enlightenment center for money with the added benefit of providing him with a steady diet of woman. The reader begins to assume that a jealous follower, who eliminates her romantic competition, may be the murderer of the beautiful girl found hanging but the author deploys several twists before the killer is revealed.
The setting for the Hanging Girl is accomplished in a skillful way, as Bornholm Island, seemingly an idyllic island which tourist's overrun, is instead, revealed through encounters, to be a cold distant place whose inhabitants wear chips on their shoulders and are frankly a bit weird.
Carl, Rose and Assad are believable law enforcement partners whose interactions serve to strengthen their characters. Their relationships are well formed and represent the reality of professionals who must work together despite their differences.
Despite the craft exhibited at times, I didn't enjoy the read as I felt it was terminally slow moving and went on for far too long. It was too wordy and some of the dialogue was unbelievable and immature for such an accomplished author.
Dan Petrosini, Author
Latest release - Am I the Killer?
Featured Series
7 primary booksDepartment Q is a 7-book series with 7 primary works first released in 2007 with contributions by Jussi Adler-Olsen, Juan Mari Mendizábal, and 3 others.
