Book 2 in the Munch and Krüger series, this book follows ‘I’m Travelling Alone’.
From the back Cover:
When a young woman is found dead, the police are quick to respond. But what they find at the scene is unexpected. The body is posed, the scene laboriously set. And there is almost no forensic evidence to be found.
Detective Mia Krüger is a woman on the edge – she has been signed off work pending psychological assessment. But her boss has less regard for the rules than he should. Desperate to get Mia back in the office, Holger Munch offers her a deal.
But the usually brilliant Mia is struggling and the team are unable to close the case. Until a young hacker uncovers something that forces the team to confront the scope of the murderer’s plans and face the possibility that he may already be on the hunt for a second victim.
My Thoughts:
Firstly, the formalities – if you haven’t read book 1 in the series, can you read this one without feeling lost? A resounding yes, you get a substantial amount of information about the characters, while it doesn’t spoil the previous case, the opening of this book really brings you up-to-date with the lives of the characters. As the cases in each book are separate, this book can be enjoyed as a standalone, however, I highly recommend you read book 1 first because it’s awesome!
The plot in this book is not as complex and does not have the same level of subplots as book 1, it is however, equally unsolvable. While I enjoyed this element as it made this book a real mystery, it was so unsolvable, it was almost in the background. The case itself was definitely odd, but when reading a series, I can’t help but compare the book to the one before and here I found this case just didn’t hold my interest like the case in the previous book – I think it was because there wasn’t enough subplots to piece together or wonder how/if they will come together at the end, that combined with the case seeming so unsolvable, no real clues, it ending up taking a back seat…
A back seat to what you ask? To the characters, in particular Mia Krüger, what I really like about this series, and the main reason I would recommend this book is for the brilliant cast of characters, Bjork has made his characters feel so real, their backstories are interesting, you really feel like you get to know each and every one of them. Just like in book 1, Mia is my favourite character, and I would continue to read each and every book she features in. Contemplating suicide but numbing the pain with drink and drugs; she’s still battling her demons, and as much as I want her to overcome this battle, the dark place she’s in, her thoughts, feelings and actions make for great reading. As mentioned in the blurb “the usually brilliant Mia is struggling,” so here we don’t get to see her brilliant case solving skills in full effect (read book 1 for that) but nonetheless, she’s one of my favourite fictional characters, both vulnerable and strong at the same time and I wish her well.
I could write pages and pages if I spoke about each character in depth, as they are all extremely well developed, so much so, you never get confused or forget a character because you feel you know Mia, Holger Munch and the rest of the police team so well. It doesn’t matter that there are lots of characters in this book. This book is all about drawing you into the mind of the detectives.
The Owl Always Hunts at Night has that dark, moody atmosphere Noir is so well known for, a wonderful translation from the Norwegian by Charlotte Barslund; it’s always a pleasure to return to Norway.
*This book is published by Doubleday, an imprint of Transworld Publishers; my thanks to Becky Hunter for providing me with a copy*
This book is available to buy from: Amazon UK / Book Depository (release date: 09/03/17)
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You can find my review of I’m Travelling Alone: Munch and Krüger #1 here.
I love Mia; cannot wait to read this one! Awesome review, as always!
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Thanks! You’ll be reading it soon 😉
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YA I WILL!
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I just finished reading this novel. I haven’t read the first novel but I agree that it would be better to read that one first. Mia is great, or so everyone is saying, but at the start of this book I didn’t see much of it, I only got to know her now, depressed and taking pills so I didn’t really understand all the credit she was getting. I did enjoy this novel though, it was intriguing and the case is definitely very odd!
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Mia really is great, she’s still vulnerable (drinks and drugs) in book 1 but you definitely really get to know her and see her case solving skills! I’d recommend reading it, I enjoyed this one but I definitely prefer book 1. And yes Bjork really does think up unusual cases lol
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Aw, I love Mia and and Holger Munch! I miss them so much! I cannot wait for this one (even though it doesn’t come out until June, which is torture)!
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😳 June, that’s quite a wait 🙈 Hopefully it’ll be on Netgalley before that! I like Munch but this series, for me, is definitely all about Mia!
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Sometimes subplots really create depth to a book so it sounds like since the first one had those it was a better read. Great review as always, love the title of this one to!
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Until I read this one, I didn’t realise how much I truly enjoyed all the subplots in the first book. I did enjoy this one but I did prefer book one, plus you get more Mia in book 1 lol
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Excellent review, I was debating about this one, but I think I might choose to read the first one!
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Thank you. Oh yes definitely read book one, you never know, Mia might draw you in and you’ll end up reading this one too 😂
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I have a copy of this book, it is next on my list to read. I haven’t read the first book, so I’m glad you say this is a good read despite not having read the first one.
Amanda.
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I’m not usually a fan of reading sequels without reading the first book but honestly Bjork gives you so much, you’ll be fine. Although I highly recommend reading book 1, it was my preferred of the two – this one is still good though, if only for the character of Mia alone lol
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