Borkmann's rule was hardly a rule; in fact, it was more of a comment, a landmark for tricky cases . . . In every investigation, he maintained, there comes a point beyond which we don't really need any more information. When we reach that point, we already know enough to solve the case by means of nothing more than some decent thinking.
Two men are brutally murdered with an axe in the quiet coastal town of Kaalbringen and Chief Inspector Van Veeteren, bored on holiday nearby, is summoned to assist the local authorities. The local police chief, just days away from retirement, is determined to wrap things up before he goes.
But there is no clear link between the victims. Then one of Van Veeteren's colleagues, a brilliant young female detective, goes missing - perhaps she has reached Borkmann's Point before anyone else.
Borkmann's Point (2006), full of fascinating, quirky characters and vivid settings, introduces the chess-playing Inspector Van Veeteren and marks the UK debut of Hakan Nesser, a chilling new voice in crime fiction. Borkmann's Point is translated from the Swedish to the English by Laurie Thompson.
About the author: Hakan Nesser was awarded the 1993 Swedish Crime Writers' Academy Prize for new authors for his novel The Wide-Meshed Net; he received the best novel award in 1994 for Borkmann's Point and in 1996 for Woman with a Birthmark (2009). In 1999 he was awarded the Crime Writers of Scandinavia's Glass Key Award for the best crime novel of the year for Carambole (Swedish, 1999). Nesser was born in Sweden and has been a resident of London since 2008. More information on www.nesser.se
About the translator: Laurie Thompson is a British academic and translator noted for his translations of Swedish literature into the English. He is the former editor of the Swedish Book Review and a former lecturer.
The Inspector Van Veeteren series is available on DVD format. Here is an introduction:
Rating: 5/5
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