4.5 stars

The construction of this story was incredible. The small details thrown throughout the story ended up being so important at the end it it, and everything clicked. The 'prologue', which was kinda confusing and you couldn't quite understand its purpose at first, made so much sense in the explanatory chapter. Plot- and writing-wise this book is absolutely a 5 star read.

I'm keeping back half a star based on my pure enjoyment of the story. First of all, it's rather out of my comfort zone. Secondly... Well, how to enjoy homicides?

Not only that, but the mood of the story was very dreary. Main character, Harry Hole, isn't the brightest person you could meet. Low-key an alcohol addict, gloomy persona, with implied health issues caused most likely by stress and disappointment of life. His relationships with other people are... odd, to say the least. He is a very distant person and doesn't let too many people in, but also isn't that good in keeping them in it. As a detective, he's intelligent and sees many connections, but he isn't infallible. In fact, he suspected about four different people before he finally found the killer and I appreciated that.

On that note I really appreciated the motives behind murderer's killings. I was able to kinda sympathize with them, at least understand the reasoning behind their actions. Author did a good job in deceiving the readers and that's definitely a plus.

Overall, I highly recommend reading this book. But maybe from the beginning of the series ;)

[Anecdote: I randomly picked this book since the blurbs on the cover caught my attention. I didn't know it was the 7th book of the series until my mom told me... But except for some details from Harry Hole's life I didn't have any troubles keeping up with the story. At times I was a bit confused, but I could conjecture those events.]