Annika Bengtzon of the Evening Post is minding her own business, pursuing an old unsolved murder case, when her estranged sister Birgitta goes missing. Annika has been seeing a shrink for her panic attacks, probably related to childhood abuse and the traumatic death of her first boyfriend. Otherwise her new life with Jimmy is cause for joy ... until her boss Schyman gives her early warning that the Evening Post will soon close down its print edition, becoming an online presence only—deeply regretted by both of them. Jimmy’s position in the Justice Department makes him the boss of Annika’s ex: the bitter narcissist Thomas, who anonymously posts vicious attacks on misogynistic forums. He is writing his own self-serving agenda into the legislation he’s been tasked to prepare. Birgitta’s husband in Malmo is unable to provide any answers about the disappearance; Annika is then drawn to the area of her childhood home, hoping for traces of her sister, finding painful memories.
Policewoman Nina is testifying in Ivar Berglund’s murder trial, desperate for evidence that he was involved in much more than the killing of one man. Not everyone appreciates the significance that Berglund had an identical twin even though he died in Spain years ago. Nina is determined to redeem a damaging slip in her testimony and prove the killer’s guilt. Annika is forced to face her true feelings about old family interactions and resolve those feelings, own them, as we say. In a bizarre way, Annika helps to solve her friend Nina’s problem, not without collateral damage. Gritty or thoughtful, Marklund always serves up unforeseen complications in a complex story. I rather doubt this is the last we hear from Annika! She’s a survivor.
Annika
▪ She had betrayed her own husband when he was at his most vulnerable, tormented and mutilated, and embarked on a relationship with his boss. (73)
▪ “I wasn’t good enough, I was always doing things wrong. Mum was angry, and used to get so upset.” (165)
▪ Had Birgitta had enough of her sick husband and decided to make a new life for herself? (226)
▪ “I apologize for being born. I didn’t mean to be.” (368)
Nina
▪ It seemed almost incredible that there had been a time before DNA. How had any crimes ever been solved twenty years ago? (48)
▪ An intangible feeling of anxiety and powerlessness went with her as she left the court. (63)
▪ “Commissioner Axier Elorza is a very well-known name throughout the whole of Spain,” Nina said. “The sort of name that can open doors.” (271)
▪ This was her Spain, the colours and architecture, the high sky and scorched mountains that sang of her childhood. (340)
Thomas
▪ A democracy is based upon the fact that unpleasant things must be allowed to exist. (36)
▪ Several of them think that freedom of expression means being able to say whatever you like anonymously online. (80)
▪ Thomas stared at his boss, his messy hair, the too-tight shirt. Who the hell did he think he was? (118)
▪ Before the hook, he could glide through a room with a glass of red in one hand, the other nonchalantly in his trouser pocket, his jacket and shirt slightly open, his hair tousled and his eyes full of laughter. (235)
Schyman
▪ He had been stuck in traffic on his way to the newspaper, just like every other morning, when something inside him had snapped. (229)
▪ Whether or not they closed the Evening Post, it was in its death throes. (235)
▪ “First you get him convicted as a serial killer, and now you’re going to get him released. That’s what I call proactive journalism.” (321)
Annika’s friend
“It’s quite interesting, this business of being good enough as you are,” Berit said, inspecting her glasses. “What it actually means is that you never need to develop, that any sort of ambition or change is negative.” (105)
Richard Osman. The Thursday Murder Club. Ebook download from TPL. UK: Penguin/Random House, 2020.
In the time-honoured tradition of the English “cozy”—you know that’s not really my type―this is a refreshing take on the genre. Besides, it’s about a collection of old people using their smarts to solve a few murders, so of course I can identify. At Coopers Chase retirement complex we find oodles of scheduled activities in a lovely setting that incorporates some of the site’s old Catholic convent buildings. In the club of the title, four keen, outspoken sleuths vie to solve cold cases; no louche slouches these: Elizabeth is a co-founder of the club, a former secret agent, although her ally Penny, formerly Scotland Yard, now lies in a permanent coma; Ron had been a well-known labour union leader; Ibrahim was (still is) a psychoanalyst; and Joyce was a nurse who helps us along with her diary entries. Copious amounts of wine and cake are consumed at their meetings.
They could not be more gleeful when Coopers Chase yields a few onsite murders. First to go is Tony Curran, bludgeoned to death, the construction boss for an impending, impressive new addition to Coopers Chase—which will displace the convent burial ground. Following him is Ian Ventham, the owner of Coopers Chase, victim of a fentanyl injection during a demonstration against digging up the cemetery. Local cops Chris Hudson and Donna De Freitas are on it like gangbusters, or so they think. Elizabeth’s endless resources seem rather more efficient; luckily they all get along well after some initial misgivings. Throw in extra characters like Ron’s son Jason and Joyce’s daughter Joanna, add Father Mackie, Bogdan the digger, Peter the florist, Gordon and Karen who live on a nearby farm, mix with would-be boyfriends and the odd Cypriot, and it all stirs into a lively mess with several darn good mysteries. Did I mention the bullet-damaged skeleton?
Teasers
▪ He’s all the things that can go wrong with men if you leave them to their own devices. (43)
▪ Anyone who, for any reason, had needed a champion had always been safe in Ron’s tattooed arms. (56)
▪ “What kind of woman would bludgeon someone? A Russian woman, but that’s about it.” (82)
▪ Three friends, drinking beer, at a table covered with money. Why leave the photo by the body? (99)
▪ “He forgets things. He’s very old, Detective Inspector. A very, very old man.” (111)
▪ Ian had looked into the excavation of cemeteries online, and it wasn’t rocket science. (124)
▪ “And you should probably let Donna drive, DCI Hudson. There was an awful lot of vodka in those cakes.” (187)
▪ “And here we are, a boy from Egypt and a boy from Kent, and we made it through it all, and then someone in Scotland made us this whisky.” (313)
▪ “We are not Elizabeth’s gang,” interrupts Ibrahim. (358)
▪ “And since we’re both here, why don’t you play your real cards and see where that gets you?” (452)
▪ “I could get used to this,” says Gordon. “There seems to be a lot of drinking involved.” (472)
▪ He really has been charm itself since he accused her of murder. (485)
Alex Michaelides. The Silent Patient. Ebook download from TPL. USA: Celadon Books/ Macmillan Publishers, 2019.
The narrator confirms what “everyone” (me) suspects about shrinks: “I was on a quest to help myself. I believe the same is true for most people who go into mental health.” [italics added] Psychotherapist Theo Faber is treating the mute artist Alicia Berenson, who famously killed her husband Gabriel by shooting him in the face six times. She has not spoken since. The circumstances leading up to the killing, and her state of mind, are mysteries. Theo is supervised by Diomedes, head of treatment care at the Grove psychiatric unit, along with fellow shrinks Indira and Christian. The Grove may be shut down unless they can demonstrate more success with their patients, but that’s not Theo’s motivation. His need to make a breakthrough in this most challenging case comes from his own empathetic bonding with Alicia. We sense that both had invested all emotional trust in their spouses.
To everyone’s amazement—other experts had tried to break her silence―Alicia responds to him. Immediately after the murder, before the police arrived, Alicia had done a painting of herself that she called Alcestis; the relevance of the Greek myth mystifies Theo. He exceeds professional boundaries by investigating her family background, because she can’t or won’t discuss it—cousin Paul, Aunt Lydia, brother-in-law Max. Furthermore, she hands him her diary of the days leading up to Gabriel’s death. Perhaps it will clarify whether she is indeed insane. In his private life, Theo is increasingly suspicious that his wife Kathy is meeting another man. But his focus is on Alicia who begins to speak, only to him. It’s ingenious, this truly twisted tale.
Theo
▪ I’m a forensic psychotherapist and used to working with some of the most damaged, vulnerable members of society. (24)
▪ “She was telling me not to give up on her. Not yet.” (128)
▪ This doesn’t mean that all abused children go on to become abusers, but it is impossible for someone who was not abused to become an abuser. (208)
Alicia (diary)
▪ The truth is we’re all scared. We’re terrified of each other. I’m terrified of myself—and of my mother in me. (100)
▪ Gabriel is my whole world—and has been since the day we met. (104)
▪ I escaped from that house, and from Lydia—Paul didn’t. He’s still trapped there. (250)
▪ The drugs Dr. West gave me last time nearly drove me crazy. And I’m not going to risk that again. (343)
Others
▪ “You know, Theo, one of the hardest things to admit is that we weren’t loved when we needed it most.” (163)
▪ “No agenda—as a therapist, your only goal is to be present and receptive to your feelings as you sit with her. That’s all you need to do.” (205)
▪ “The bitch painted me. She painted me, without my knowledge or permission.” (220)
▪ “Nonetheless, it’s obvious that her therapy has destabilized her. It’s challenging her too much, too soon.” (312)
▪ “She was always highly unstable, but it was her father’s suicide that did it. She never recovered.” (363)
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