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MK's Reading Life

Lifelong passionate reader. Mysteries, Fantasy, and Non-Fiction of various sorts. Currently reading a fair amount focused on WWI and the interwar years. (I have no idea why.)

Sophomore slump? The Absent One (Department Q #2)

The Absent One - Jussi Adler-Olsen, K.E. Semmel

The Absent One (Department Q Series #2) - Jussi Adler-Olsen, K. E. Semmel (Translator) 

 

I really enjoyed the first in this series, The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q Series #1) - Jussi Adler-Olsen, and this one was a bit of a let down. There was a snarky sense of humor in the first book that was absent here. Also, there was very little mystery to the mystery. This is one of those stories that spends a great deal of time with the bad guys, so you know what they did, and why, (if there really can be said to be a motive) all along. This has never really been my cup of tea. I would much rather fumble along and discover the who and why with my flawed detective heroes. We don't get to see Inspector Morck until Chapter 3.

 

But while I found this book a bit disappointing, it wasn't without enjoyments. Department Q is growing, and causing more problems to the higher ups. Assad, with a diminished role here, continues to be interesting and, perhaps, even more mysterious. There are hints that we will eventually get to explore the mystery of what happened to Morck and his partners. Rose, the department's newest member, is sadly under-developed, but promising. And the relationships in Morck's life continue to humanize him.  I just wish the book had stayed with these folks and spent less time with the villains. For one, I don't really need, or want to see the crime as it happens, and two, time spent with them means less development of the characters I do care about and have become invested with.

 

I will keep on with at least the next book in the series.