The tenant /

When the young and vivacious Julie is found murdered in her Copenhagen flat, sad-sack police investigator Jeppe Korner and his gregarious partner, Anette Werner, swiftly narrow down the list of suspects. After all, Julie's landlady, Esther, was writing a murder mystery with a plot that is eerily similar to the crime. And Esther was close with Kristoff, an odd young man who happens to have slept with the victim a few times . . . and who lacks a proper alibi. But when several other complex characters enter the picture, including Julie's mysterious father, nothing is clear-cut, and Jeppe and Anette find themselves with real work to do. Everyone has secrets, and some secrets are lies. Engberg's debut novel, a sleeper hit in her native Denmark, is sure to attract comparisons to other Scandinavian thrillers, but it lacks some of the bleakness and creepiness that readers may have come to expect from such Nordic noir stars as Jo Nesbø. Layered, character-driven suspense from authors including Erin Kelly and Ruth Ware may prove to be more apt read-alike suggestions.--Rebecca Vnuk Copyright 2019 Booklist

For landlady and retired Copenhagen academic Esther de Laurenti, the protagonist of Danish choreographer Engberg's fast-moving first novel and series launch, the murder of her 21-year-old tenant, student Julie Stender, strikes alarmingly close to home. Not only was Julie attacked just two floors below Esther's flat, but key details of the crime, including intricate carvings on the victim's face inflicted while she was still alive, are sickeningly familiar to her--because they're lifted from the manuscript on which aspiring mystery writer Esther is working. The sometimes uneasy juxtaposition of realistic characters like feisty Esther and the perennially bickering detective duo assigned to the case with the unabashedly artificial--think a subsequent victim discovered mid-ballet in a theater chandelier--runs throughout. The undertow from the overly ambitious plot drowns any sense of plausibility, but Engberg's sparkling cast and palpable evocation of a society U.S. readers will find similar yet foreign keep the pages turning pleasurably. Agent: Niclas Salomonsson, Salomonsson Agency (Sweden). (Jan.)

A vicious killer follows a writer's murderous manuscript to the letter in Danish author Engberg's U.S. debut.It's only been about a year since University of Copenhagen professor Esther de Laurenti retired, and she's been writing a novel, something she's always dreamed of. When Esther's tenant, 21-year-old Julie Stender, is murdered, Esther is shocked. Heading up the investigation is Copenhagen detectives Jeppe Krner and his partner of eight years, Anette Werner, and it's proving to be a doozy. The murder was particularly heinous: The killer stabbed Julie and carved strange designs into her face and, frustratingly, seems to have been very careful not to leave any physical evidence at the scene. Of course, as investigators start digging into Julie's life, they discover some suitably shady secrets in her past, and it's suggested that one of her boyfriends might have felt scorned enough to resort to murder. Perhaps it was her new boyfriend, who is supposedly a much older, sophisticated man. Too bad nobody knows who he is. When Esther reveals that the details of the murder closely mirror her work in progress, it opens a whole new avenue of investigation, and when Esther attempts to draw the killer out, it puts her firmly in the crosshairs. Engberg's background as a former dancer and choreographer gives a boost to her considerable flair for the dramatic (keep an eye out for a theatrically staged murder at the Royal Danish Theater) and highlights a strong focus on Copenhagen's creative community; even Jeppe wanted to be a musician before he became a cop. His fairly recent divorce almost ruined him, and Anette's upbeat and pragmatic style is no small annoyance to her moody partner, which is played for light comic effect (as is Jeppe's reawakening libido), leavening the heavier subject matter. Overly familiar plot elements keep this from being a standout, and some twists require a significant suspension of disbelief, but Engberg's fast-paced narrative is bolstered by an interesting and quirky cast as well as an intriguing setting.A bit over-the-top but still a lot of fun. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.