The Purity of Vengeance: A Department Q Novel
When your series relies on cold cases, it’s not always easy to craft plots that have both historical interest and an air of urgency, but it’s something Adler-Olsen is very good at—even if he’s getting just a little bit less successful with each successive book. The fourth Department Q novel finds cranky Copenhagen detective Carl Mørck and his quirky but competent assistants, Assad and Rose, puzzling over a seemingly unconnected group of people who all went missing at the same time. We learn the perpetrator and her motive early on; the tension comes from Mørck’s missteps and the dangers he’s blind to. And while this labyrinthine revenge plot encompasses everything from eugenics and right-wing politics to Mørck’s rocky love life, and includes a nifty twist at the end, the seams are starting to show. Police procedure is an afterthought, repercussions almost nonexistent, and the mystery of Assad’s secret life has dragged on too long without meaningful development. Still good reading, but Adler-Olsen needs to tighten it up a little. --Keir Graff