I got this a few weeks ago while stocking up a bit at an Audible sale. (I think this is the last book of the haul.) I was interested because not only is it a nominee for Best Scandinavian crime novel (Petrona Award) but it’s also by a Finnish author and I’m part Finnish.
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The Exiled
by Kati Hiekkapelto (Finland)
2016 / 300 pages
read by Julie Maisey 9h 29m
(Translated by David Hackston)
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Anna Fekete is on vacation from her job as a detective with the Helsinki police force and she goes to her native Serbian village to see her mom and family. But her purse is stolen and then the thief is found dead by the river -well – Anna just has to look into this.
The police certainly don’t seem interested in the murder – she’s got her purse back, what’s the problem? They resent this cop from Finland interfering. As she probes the case she comes across a lot of curiosities. There was a small girl with the thief. There is a huge influx of Romani immigrants. Also, her father was a police detective in this town but he was murdered years prior. The case is apparently not completely closed.
Anna is a cop – she’s not married and not involved with any one man. This irritates her mother to no end. Great character – I wish Audible had the full series but they’re supposed to work as stand-alones so we’ll see.