Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Minotaur Books (2009), Edition: First, 368 pages
Description
Already a huge star in Europe and the Nordic countries, Kjell Eriksson has American critics also raving, with almost every review studded with words like "stunning," "chilling," "suspenseful," "haunting," and "brilliant." InThe Demon of Dakar, Ann Lindell and her motley crew of colleagues are faced with a most baffling murder case in which all clues lead straight back to a popular local restaurant named Dakar. The owner, Slobodan Andersson, has some shady connections in his past, and his partner's reputation is equally murky. The kitchen crew is not above suspicion, either. The meat chef is an oddball, to say the least, while unbeknownst to the rest, the newest hire's personal life is a tangled web of lies. Even Eva Willman, the seemingly blameless older woman returning to the workforce as a waitress, has skeletons in her closet. And then the tension rachets up a number of notches as it becomes apparent that one murder has not satisfied the killer in the least. If Ann is to prevent a bloodbath at Restaurant Dakar, she must match wits with a killer whose motives are seemingly completely obscure. But the reader knows the killer well. His crimes are justified from his point of view. Not only that, he's a very likable fellow who is only looking for justice. As in all of Kjell Eriksson's compelling spellbinders, though, justice entails a frantic race to the finish, a race without rules and fraught with danger. Winner of the Swedish Academy Award for Best Crime Novel.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member FicusFan
I read this book for myself, and because it was part of the series we were reading for a RL book group. It is the 3rd and last book in the Ann Lindell series that has been translated into English. I had already started the series before my book group picked it.
This book is actually the 7th in the
This is a mystery set in modern day Sweden, in the city of Uppsala. It is for me, the best of the 3 It is still bleak, slow and features recurring characters full of ennui, but the addition of the Mexicans make it almost normal.
The Dakar in the title refers to a restaurant. It is one of two that are run by drug dealers, Armas and Slobodan as a front. They import drugs from around the world, break them down into smaller packs and then have local dealers push the drugs in Uppsala's neighborhoods. The police are unaware of the operation.
The Mexicans are 3 brothers, simple, poor, farmers, 2 of whom were fooled into carrying drugs - thinking they were packages of important papers. Angel died in Germany when the police chased him and he ended up in front of a train. Patricio was caught at the airport in Sweden and is in prison serving a 7 year sentence - since he did not talk about who paid him to carry the drugs.
Manual who didn't participate, comes to Sweden to see his brother in prison and to find out what happened to Angel. Manual is told about Armas, Slobodan and Dakar by his brother and he goes in search of these men. He feels they owe money to Patricio and Manual can use it to make his time in prison better, or for their mother. Manual is a POV character, and very concrete in what he wants, and what he thinks.
Eriksson uses the Mexicans to show the poverty, oppression, and hopelessness that makes the offer attractive to the 2 brothers. The older brother, Manual doesn't trust the men, but can't provide specifics about what he thinks is wrong. He doesn't participate, but the others do.
The other POV character is Eva. She is Swedish and a divorced mother of 2 teenagers. She has been laid off from her job at the Post Office and is not working. She hears about a job as a waitress at Dakar, which she gets. She has 2 perspectives on the story.
As a mother of 2 teen boys, she is worried about drugs, and violence in her neighborhood. One of her sons gets involved in it and she is terrified of the police, and of what his life will become. We get to see the destruction of innocent lives when they are lured into something from which there may be no way back.
Her other perspective is as an employee at Dakar. Even though it is a front,it is also a good, working restaurant. Through her we get to see the staff, who are not involved in drugs. They have lives, and dreams and pride in their food and service, but it can all be swept away by the criminality of the owners. Co-workers and friends have their lives and relationships wrenched and ruined since they are not important to the owners, and are mere bystanders to the police.
Then we get Ann Lindell, Police Officer as a POV. She is more concerned with her personal life, her ex-lover, her son, her recent love affair, and her relationship with friend, neighbor and babysitter, than anything else. I have no idea why she seems full of doubts and in search of misery, but she is. She and her co-workers are trying to unravel the mystery and make adjustments for each other and their likes, dislikes, and personal/professional needs.
Various interesting events happen and there is murder and mystery. The books don't end how you would expect them to, but often you are just glad they are over. In this case I was happy with the ending.
The writing is good, but some how the stories are very slow. I liked Eva and the Mexicans, but often feel the desire to slap Ann and the other police officers. Eriksson has very ordinary characters, and the stories are very intimate trips into their lives.
This book is actually the 7th in the
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series, the other books in English are #4 and # 6. I don't know why publishers do that, publish books out of order. Its not helpful for recurring character development and the overall story arc.This is a mystery set in modern day Sweden, in the city of Uppsala. It is for me, the best of the 3 It is still bleak, slow and features recurring characters full of ennui, but the addition of the Mexicans make it almost normal.
The Dakar in the title refers to a restaurant. It is one of two that are run by drug dealers, Armas and Slobodan as a front. They import drugs from around the world, break them down into smaller packs and then have local dealers push the drugs in Uppsala's neighborhoods. The police are unaware of the operation.
The Mexicans are 3 brothers, simple, poor, farmers, 2 of whom were fooled into carrying drugs - thinking they were packages of important papers. Angel died in Germany when the police chased him and he ended up in front of a train. Patricio was caught at the airport in Sweden and is in prison serving a 7 year sentence - since he did not talk about who paid him to carry the drugs.
Manual who didn't participate, comes to Sweden to see his brother in prison and to find out what happened to Angel. Manual is told about Armas, Slobodan and Dakar by his brother and he goes in search of these men. He feels they owe money to Patricio and Manual can use it to make his time in prison better, or for their mother. Manual is a POV character, and very concrete in what he wants, and what he thinks.
Eriksson uses the Mexicans to show the poverty, oppression, and hopelessness that makes the offer attractive to the 2 brothers. The older brother, Manual doesn't trust the men, but can't provide specifics about what he thinks is wrong. He doesn't participate, but the others do.
The other POV character is Eva. She is Swedish and a divorced mother of 2 teenagers. She has been laid off from her job at the Post Office and is not working. She hears about a job as a waitress at Dakar, which she gets. She has 2 perspectives on the story.
As a mother of 2 teen boys, she is worried about drugs, and violence in her neighborhood. One of her sons gets involved in it and she is terrified of the police, and of what his life will become. We get to see the destruction of innocent lives when they are lured into something from which there may be no way back.
Her other perspective is as an employee at Dakar. Even though it is a front,it is also a good, working restaurant. Through her we get to see the staff, who are not involved in drugs. They have lives, and dreams and pride in their food and service, but it can all be swept away by the criminality of the owners. Co-workers and friends have their lives and relationships wrenched and ruined since they are not important to the owners, and are mere bystanders to the police.
Then we get Ann Lindell, Police Officer as a POV. She is more concerned with her personal life, her ex-lover, her son, her recent love affair, and her relationship with friend, neighbor and babysitter, than anything else. I have no idea why she seems full of doubts and in search of misery, but she is. She and her co-workers are trying to unravel the mystery and make adjustments for each other and their likes, dislikes, and personal/professional needs.
Various interesting events happen and there is murder and mystery. The books don't end how you would expect them to, but often you are just glad they are over. In this case I was happy with the ending.
The writing is good, but some how the stories are very slow. I liked Eva and the Mexicans, but often feel the desire to slap Ann and the other police officers. Eriksson has very ordinary characters, and the stories are very intimate trips into their lives.
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LibraryThing member dougwood57
The book jacket proclaims unanimous praise for Kjell Erickson, but I cannot join the chorus. 'The Demon of Dakar' is part-police procedural, part-psychological analysis, part social commentary and nearly always confusing and unconvincing.
A close friend and business associate of a restaurant owner
Erickson's book contains enough characters, ideas for story lines, and themes to fill three books, but he tries to squeeze them all into one book. The result is unsatisfying confusion and half-told stories. And as another reviewer has pointed out, some of the stories are simply implausible. Moreover, the book suffers from a poor translation from Swedish to English. The translation uses clearly incorrect words in some places, stilted wording in others.
Smarter people than me have recommended Erickson's works, so you may want to take a look for yourself, but with all the excellent European crime writers (e.g. Andrea Camilleri, Leonard Sciascia, Sjowall and Wahloo, and Ian Rankin) out there I cannot recommend 'The Demon of Dakar'.
A close friend and business associate of a restaurant owner
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turns up done to death. The reader knows who did it and thus can see the police try to connect the pieces. That the police struggle to do so and then look down seemingly logical, but wrong paths is one of the book's more interesting threads. Erickson introduces a veritable army of characters from within the police department, restaurants, the drug world, a prison escape, flight for the border, and so on and on. Erickson's book contains enough characters, ideas for story lines, and themes to fill three books, but he tries to squeeze them all into one book. The result is unsatisfying confusion and half-told stories. And as another reviewer has pointed out, some of the stories are simply implausible. Moreover, the book suffers from a poor translation from Swedish to English. The translation uses clearly incorrect words in some places, stilted wording in others.
Smarter people than me have recommended Erickson's works, so you may want to take a look for yourself, but with all the excellent European crime writers (e.g. Andrea Camilleri, Leonard Sciascia, Sjowall and Wahloo, and Ian Rankin) out there I cannot recommend 'The Demon of Dakar'.
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LibraryThing member kerns222
I like the chatty, almost family, murdering niceness that goes on here. Cozy and comfortable. Just right with a warm chocolate. Lots of people mingling and meeting and only one is killing much--but he has a great reason (the author lets us in on it early): some of the others are real rats. But most
And since I love Oaxaca it was nice to see it pop up--but it was hard to believe that a small landowner peasant, growing a tiny plot of coffee beans, could get the resources to fly to Sweden and then rent a car (details not discussed in the book)--but this is a Swedish version of the Mexicans that I know. Not the real thing.
I hope she researched the other characters from east Europe and Sweden a bit better. But I do learn about restaurant management, bicycling, illegal camping and throat slashing. But only a short bit about the last of these. A good mystery that you *can* put down and go to sleep on time. Not like some of those others that keep you up till you finish at 4AM.
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are OK type mystery folks. And since I love Oaxaca it was nice to see it pop up--but it was hard to believe that a small landowner peasant, growing a tiny plot of coffee beans, could get the resources to fly to Sweden and then rent a car (details not discussed in the book)--but this is a Swedish version of the Mexicans that I know. Not the real thing.
I hope she researched the other characters from east Europe and Sweden a bit better. But I do learn about restaurant management, bicycling, illegal camping and throat slashing. But only a short bit about the last of these. A good mystery that you *can* put down and go to sleep on time. Not like some of those others that keep you up till you finish at 4AM.
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LibraryThing member annbury
An enjoyable Swedish police procedural, not perhaps the best of the lot -- leave that for Mankell -- but solid. The characters, both police and criminals, are convincing and well-rounded, and there is lots of detail about how this that and the other (drug dealing, Swedish police work, etc.)
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proceeds. Too bleak to be a "cosy" -- this is after all Scandi noir -- but a good book for a long rainy afternoon. Show Less
LibraryThing member annbury
A typical Eriksson effort; sprawling, confused, confusing, without a meaningful ending. Don't bother
LibraryThing member Floratina
READ IN DUTCH
I saw this book in the library and as I'm always in for a new author, I thought I would give this book a try.
I was very disappointed by this book. I usually really like Scandinavian detectives, but this one wasn't working for me, unfortunately. I found the plot, if present, not really
I've heard though that this is considered one of his weakest novels, so perhaps I was just unlucky when choosing this book. However, I'm don't plan to read any more of his books in the near future.
I saw this book in the library and as I'm always in for a new author, I thought I would give this book a try.
I was very disappointed by this book. I usually really like Scandinavian detectives, but this one wasn't working for me, unfortunately. I found the plot, if present, not really
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interesting and the story in itself wasn't very credible either.I've heard though that this is considered one of his weakest novels, so perhaps I was just unlucky when choosing this book. However, I'm don't plan to read any more of his books in the near future.
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LibraryThing member JalenV
The Demon of Dakar was my introduction to the Ann Lindell series. I was surprised to get through the first CD before Ann came onstage, but the multiple third-person viewpoints sorted themselves out. The threads started to come together. I was sympathetic to the plight of Manuel, the only one of
I had no sympathy for the partners who hired Manuel's brothers and was actively hoping they'd get theirs.
Eva, the divorced mother who has been laid off from her postmistress job and has two teenaged sons to support, was another appealing character in the case.
The reader knows who is doing what and gets to wonder if and how much Ann Lindell and the other police investigating will catch on, let alone catch the villains. It is a bit amusing when they come to incorrect conclusions.
The more I listened, the more I rooted for Manuel and his surviving brother. The manhunt scenes became intense.
Although I could have done without the epilogue, I enjoyed this book. Mr. Strozier's narration suited the tone.
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three Mexican brothers who had sense enough to turn down the offer to smuggle drugs. One of his brothers died fleeing arrest. The other is in a Swedish prison.I had no sympathy for the partners who hired Manuel's brothers and was actively hoping they'd get theirs.
Eva, the divorced mother who has been laid off from her postmistress job and has two teenaged sons to support, was another appealing character in the case.
The reader knows who is doing what and gets to wonder if and how much Ann Lindell and the other police investigating will catch on, let alone catch the villains. It is a bit amusing when they come to incorrect conclusions.
The more I listened, the more I rooted for Manuel and his surviving brother. The manhunt scenes became intense.
Although I could have done without the epilogue, I enjoyed this book. Mr. Strozier's narration suited the tone.
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Original language
English
Original publication date
2005 (original Swedish)
2008-04 (US)
Physical description
368 p.; 8.25 inches
ISBN
0312366701 / 9780312366704
Other editions
The Demon of Dakar by Kjell Eriksson (Hardcover)