David Lagercrantz is probably best known, so far, for writing the sequel trilogy to the Millennium trilogy. He has declined to continue the Millennium franchise and is embarking on a new venture, of which the first instalment has been published in Sweden. I am sure the English version will follow soon, and it seems it is already translated into Dutch and Portuguese. The genre is detective/thriller and he has created an interesting duo in Hans Rekke and Micaela Vargas.
"Summer of 2003, and Iraq has just been invaded by the US. In Stockholm, a football referee with Afghan roots is found beaten to death. Hot-tempered Giuseppe Costa, also the dad of one of the players, is arrested for the murder in what looks to be an open-and-shut case. But Costa insists that he is innocent and the Chief of Police decides to consult Professor Hans Rekke, a world renowned expert on interrogational techniques. If there is anyone that can crack Costa, it is him.
But nothing turns out as the police expects. Rekke welcomes the investigational team to his grand family home in Djursholm. In a vertiginous display of reason, he discards the preliminary investigation completely – and shortly thereafter the whole case falls to pieces. Costa is released, and the police suddenly find themselves without leads. Only Micaela Vargas, a young community police officer from Husby, who has been let into the investigation as an act of grace, refuses to let things rest. She tries to get hold of Rekke, but he won’t return her calls.
Then Hans Rekke and Micaela Vargas meet again, under dramatic circumstances. The odd couple decides to solve the case that appears increasingly like an enigma, and which leads them to CIA’s hunt for terrorists, and the Taliban’s war against music. What kind of a man was the referee? Is he a victim, or a perpetrator?
Obscuritas is a clever and exciting page-turner where nothing is what it seems."
It's an incredibly exciting story. An Afghan football coach, given asylum in Sweden, is killed in a suburb to Stockholm. The investigation into the case leaves the police without a culprit, and even a suspect. Eventually, the traces lead the police outside the borders of Sweden. Who exactly was the football coach? Was he a terrorist? And, in that case, who wanted to kill him?
Lagercrantz builds up the atmosphere and story with a skilled pen. His two protagonists are opposites. Hans Rekke, is a well-known psychology professor (with bipolar tendencies), and a background as an intellectual, wealthy man. He has a unique ability to interpret people and make conclusions. Micaela Vargas, is a young police woman, down-to-earth person. She has a chilean background and poor upbringing in Husby (a suburb to Stockholm) and her brother is probably a criminal. Vargas and Rekke balances each other, and somewhere along the way they find each other despite their differences. Together they build a team à la Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
The novel is exciting throughout and it is difficult to put it down. The story has been integrated in real life events which makes for interesting reading. In addition, Lagercrantz has picked up a piece that is probably not so well known; namely, the Taliban's attempt to ban music. It forms the background to the story and it is a touching one. This mix of detective work against a more serious story is what raises Obscuritas above the average crime novel.
It's superb. I have not read his three Millennium books, but this detective story makes me want to read more by him. In addition, he ends the book with a fantastic cliff hanger that leads to book number two. It will be difficult to wait a year for the sequel.
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