The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup

Series: N/A
# of Pages: 528
Publication: September 3rd, 2019
Source: Library Audio
Genre: Nordic Noir/Thriller
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The heart-pounding debut from the creator of the hit Scandinavian television show The Killing. If you find one, he's already found you. A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a chestnut man-a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts-which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery-a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister's daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago. A tragic coincidence-or something more twisted? To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man's gruesome clues. Because it's clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over. And no one is safe.

Two of my "unspoken" goals for this year are to read more translated works and bigger books (500+). The Chestnut Man definitely fulfilled both of these goals and I had heard so many amazing things about the book and the author. I'm rather late jumping on the bandwagon of reading Nordic noir books, but I must say my first venture into the genre was thrilling and captivating.

The Chestnut Man brings together two detectives, Thulin and Hess, as they attempt to figure out the individual behind the gruesome deaths that have been occurring around Copenhagen. While the deaths themselves are perplexing, the detectives find the cases even more difficult to solve when the fingerprint of a missing twelve year old is found on the calling card of the killer: a chestnut man. It becomes even more complex once the reader discovers that the twelve year old was pronounced dead a year prior to the murders. 

I wasn't prepared for such a gruesomely detailed work of fiction. The author is the writer of the t.v. show The Killing so you can tell that he's all about writing scenes in a detailed manner that gives the reader a brilliant image of the plot and characters. It's this way of writing that seemingly adds to the length of the novel, but not in a negative way. I appreciated listening to every single detail because it genuinely made me feel as though I was watching a t.v. show. Some aspects of the book were so detailed and gory that I found myself clenching my teeth and removing my headphones. It was such a marvelous listening experience. 

While I didn't find myself extremely attached to Thulin or Hess, I did find their interactions to be interesting. They balanced each other out as characters and made the complexity of the case intriguing to the reader. I found myself "working" with them to figure out why the individuals were being murdered so brutally and how the fingerprint of the young girl ended up on the chestnut man. To be honest they drove the plot and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The reveal at the end of the book was one that I could never have seen coming if I wanted to. Sure, it made sense in the context of the rest of the book when I thought about it, but the writer was so gifted in keeping it a secret until the very last moment. And to be perfectly honest that's exactly what I need in a mystery or thriller; a surprise ending or twist that I didn't see coming. 

If you're interested in a gritty, gruesome mystery/thriller I would definitely recommend checking this out. The audio wasn't the best experience but it definitely helped with the length. I don't know if I would recommend this as a starting point for those interested in Nordic noir as a genre, but it definitely is a good book.