Title: The Keeper of Lost Causes
Author: Jussi Adler-Olsen
Publisher:Â Penguin Group
Source: NetGalley
Chief Detective Carl Mørck survives a shooting while the two officers with him didn’t fare as well. One was killed and the other was sent to the hospital to recover. Mørck has guilt over how he behaved during the incident. He begins arriving late to work and expects to be fired. Instead, he’s given a promotion to head up the newly created Department Q. Department Q is where the lost causes find a home. He’s given several cold cases to work on. When he realizes how much money was budgeted for the special department he insists he needs a department car and a driver who can serve as an assistant. He’s smart and knows his boss placed him out of sight in the basement with the expectation he can be fired at a later date for nonperformance.
I loved the multiple meanings of the title. First Mørck is shoved out of sight into the basement and is given cold cases no one believes can be solved. Then he’s given a Muslim immigrant who smells up the basement with his cooking and doesn’t fit in with anyone else’s idea of an assistant. Lastly, the case he decides to solve is about a missing politician. The only potential witness to the politician’s disappearance is a mute, mentally challenged sibling who no one thinks can communicate.
In the beginning, Adler-Olsen alternates between the present day and the days leading up to the politician’s disappearance. At one point I was so caught up in the storytelling I forgot to look for how their paths would cross. There’s an official book trailer for The Keeper of Lost Causes which gives a lot of clues about the politcian’s storyline.
If you’re a regular blog reader, you’ll know I have a fondness for Nordic thrillers. The Keeper of Lost Causes did not disappoint.
About Jussi Adler-Olsen
Jussi Adler-Olsen was born in Copenhagen and studied medicine, sociology, politics and film. He worked as a magazine editor and publisher before starting to write fiction. So far he has written three Department Q thrillers, which all hit the Danish bestseller lists on publication and stayed there ever since.
The owner of my local bookstore just gave me a galley of this book because she loved it. I can’t wait to read it.
I loved this one as well. It reads like the first book in a series so I’m hopeful there’s another one.