Book Review "I'm the new boy!" With resolute strides he stomped in the middle of the floor, where he remained standing while the snow from his enormous tennis shoes formed little puddles around his feet. His legs wide apart, as though to conceal the knock-kneed cross formed by his legs, he threw out his arms and repeated: "I'm the new boy!" Perhaps Holt's most intricately plotted novel so far, Death of the Demon takes us into Norway's foster care system and provides interested readers a glimpse into the social welfare state's dealings with troubled families. A theme explored by Larsson's magnificent Millennium series featuring the stunning Lisbeth Sanders, foster care systems in social welfare states provide an exquisite garden of plot material for Nordic crime writers, a fact Holt takes equal advantage of in this series instance.Hanna Wilhelmsen, post-promotion, accepts an additional struggle as she comes to terms with her new position within the police department. Unwilling to relinquish her detective skills and when Agnes Vestavik, the head of a foster care home is murdered Hanna is seen involving herself in the investigation, not as chief, but as detective sending hopeless ripplings throughout the police department and investigative officers as conflicting responsibilities overlap and possibly threaten the investigation.Holt continues Hanna's development and uses the foster care system as a means for further introspection by Hanna into her own sexuality and brings to the forefront the question of children within a lesbian relationship. The relationship of Hanna and Billy T. strengthens and lends credibility to the subversive lesbianism Holt introduced in her first two novels of the series.Approaching Nesbo's undisputed skills in handling multiple plots, Holt expertly takes us into multiple story lines focused on the inhabitants of the foster care home in which the initial crime takes place. Creating tangential plot lines that come together in a stunning conclusion, using characterization as the lens that focus the reader's progress is now a hallmark of Anne Holt.Unfortunately, I have to stop reading this series as the remaining novels set between her hugely successful 1222 and this third in the series have not yet been translated into English.Other reviews on mine in this series are:Blind GoddessBlessed Are Those Who Thirst--------------------------------------------------------------------Series ReviewAnne HoltAnne Holt was born November 16, 1958. A Norwegian author and lawyer she has worked for the Oslo Police Department, practiced as a lawyer where she started her own law practice in 1994, served as Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland and subsequently resigned from that position for health reasons. Prior to this period, in 1990, she was employed by The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) where she pursued journalism and was for a time anchor woman for the news program Dagsrevyen.In 1993 she made her debut as a novelist with the crime novel Blind Goddess. As with many translated novels Holt was cursed with her series being published out of order. With a hands-off attitude towards her publishers, Anne Holt had to wait until her 8th novel in the series 1222 before reaching an English speaking audience (Amazon actually reported this as #1 in the series!). Blind Goddess was in this case the 2nd novel to be published into English.“Reached via email from the home she shares in Oslo with her partner and daughter, Holt says her publishers made the decision to translate the books out of order.” - Laura DeMarco, The Plain DealerAllying herself more along the lines of Jo Nesbo of whom she says: [He] is far more socially critical, realistic and ‘Scandinavian” in style: than say Stieg Larsson whom Holt considers straying into the fantastical and unbelievable, no matter how compelling as Lisbeth Sanders and the Millennium series may be to Holt. As with many Scandinavian writers Holt does not forget to pay homeage to two other authors: “I don’t think any of the most popular crime writers in Scandinavia today can evade affinity with Sjowall and Wahloo, who wrote their Martin Beck series between 1965 and 1975. That duo in many ways founded what is now often - somewhat imprecisely - called ‘Scandinavian socially realistic and socially critical crime novel.’” Holt prefers to work on three series at a time. This seems fairly straightforward given that the starting point for Holt is always the story idea, which in turn gets populated by characters. Consequently, it doesn’t always follow that a story can be applied, for example, to the character of Anne Wilhelmsen and therefore is more applicable to a character in another series. For this reason, Holt usually has multiple crime series going on at any one time.Having a story to tell is critical to Holt’s writing. The novels take place within a particular class of society: the wealthy, the highly educated who live in a social democratic welfare state. Norway is one of the richest nations in the region and was considered relatively safe until organized crime moved in peddling its inhumane wares and, sadly, when in 2011 terrorists converged on Oslo and brought Norway into the international spotlight killing nearly 100 people. Readers of my previous Scandinavian reviews will have undoubtedly noted references alluding to not only the Nordic crime writers’ predilection towards using the genre to expose social and political issues, but to take these issues and wrap them into a psychological narrative where the crime isn’t so much one of “who-dun-it” but more one of ”why the hell did this happen?”. Holt in particular is no exception.Massacre at the executive government quarter of Norway ”Increased globalization and extreme developments in communication bring us all closer, and at an ever-faster pace.” Says Holt. “On the other hand, there is an increased polarization because of this situation, both religiously and politically. The literature of a country will - and should - inevitably reflect this.”Though Holt considers herself a political person she makes it very clear that she is not a political writer. The genre, in her opinion, is not meant to provide political solutions but rather political issues are brought to light because in any crime you cannot truthfully explain it unless one casts a light on the society in which the crime takes place.For Holt, there’s the plot and then comes the characterization and especially when constructing a series things can can get surprisingly complex in that her characters are dynamic (unlike Christie’s Hercule Poirot who never changes). Hanne Wilhelmsen grows and becomes more solid and believable as the series progresses in the same way that Harry Hole becomes more solid in Nesbo’s fabulous series. And the longer the series becomes the more difficult the task for Holt as she is limited by not letting Hanne become “out of character”, this while being caught up in a long evolution towards the later novels (in particular 1222 #8) in which Wilhelmsen emerges as quite compelling, a wholly original heroine. Holt says: “I am convinced that crime fiction’s tremendous popularity in many parts of the world, despite the great diversity and variation in the field, is because it deals in universal themes.”Universal themes are those that bind us all together and it cannot escape a reader’s mind that life and death are the axiomatic commonality that most affect us as human beings. Crime fiction is the perfect home for such universal themes. Holt’s challenge is to provide an insight into the drama of human interaction within a large and complex society and in the case of crime fiction within the darker side of that society. In this sense she again allies herself with the work of Jo Nesbo who encapsulates the very best of Norwegian crime fiction: and again as opposed to say Stieg Larsson whom she considers to be more of an americanized, more romanticized if not sensationalized writer with respect to the Swedish society he describes (though YellowBird Productions may have had a hand in this).
Olav is a twelve year old boy with issues. He is very overweight - a fact emphasised by the fact that he’s built like a pear - and has had problems interacting with other people almost from the moment he was born. Because his mother was both unequal to the challenge he presented and unsuccessful in finding the assistance they so badly needed, Olav is being placed in an orphanage, under the care of child-services. From the moment Olav arrives, Agnes Vestavik, the orphanage’s director knows he is going to cause trouble. Olav doesn’t seem to be angry about his situation so much as hate it, and anybody associated with it.When Agnes is found murdered at her desk late one evening, Olav has disappeared from the home without a trace. Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to superintendent in the Oslo police, is given the case, be it with only minimal manpower. Initially Hanne and her team are completely in the dark. There don’t appear to be any motives for this murder and it seems unlikely that the missing Olav killed the director. No matter how big, strong and angry the boy may be, nobody can quite see him as a twelve year old murderer. As the investigation continues, motives for this crime seem to be popping up everywhere. It seems that most people connected with Agnes have a reason to lie to the police about their relationship with the woman. As suspects come and go, the chances that the crime will actually be solved seem to be getting smaller by the day. While Hanne Wilhelmsen is known for her almost infallible instincts when it comes to solving crime it seems that this is one case where they may let her down completely.I love these mysteries. This is the fourth Hanne Wilhelmsen mystery I have read and each and every one of them has been a joy. Anne Holt plots a good mystery and presents it in such a way that the reader gets drawn into the story and the characters more with every page. She also strikes an almost perfect balance between the investigation and the private lives of the recurring characters in her books. With every book in this series we get to know Hanne Wilhelmsen a little bit better and see how she slowly learns to stop panicking about her relationship with Cecilie and her fear that others may find out about it. It is more than just her private life keeping Hanne on her toes in this book though. Having only just been promoted to the more administrative than investigative position of superintendent, the investigator has a hard time finding the right balance between leading her team and being actively involved in the investigation.I really liked the premise of this book. The obvious solution to the murder mystery in this story is so horrible that the reader can’t help being relieved when the evidence leads the investigators in different directions. The story strongly reminds me of an Agatha Christie mystery. There is a very limited cast of suspects, none of whom, initially at least, appear to have a clear motive for the murder. I liked the way in which the investigation slowly uncovered the various motives that did exist and the desperate and silly ways in which those close to Agnes tried to hide existing issues between them and the victim. Presented in this way, the investigation keeps the reader on their toes and never sure what to expect next.Having said all of that, I have to admit that this was probably my least favourite Hanne Wilhelmsen mystery so far. I wasn’t too happy with the almost endless amounts of points of view I was presented with, especially since there were a few that, while interesting, didn’t seem to add a lot to the actual unravelling of the mystery. I also wasn’t entirely happy with the ending of this book, although I can’t say anything else about that without spoiling the story.Despite those two reservations though, I have to say that it is a delight to read a well plotted mystery with properly developed characters and a story-line that provides more than just murder and mayhem. Anne Holt uses her mysteries to give her readers an insight into people and the society they live in without ever trying to get a certain message or agenda across. Her stories will make you think about more than just “who done it” and for that reason alone I will continue reading this series for as long as there are new titles available.
Do You like book Death Of The Demon (2013)?
Not my favorite book of the series. The chapter regarding Hannes's relationship with her partner just didn't fit into the book. I got the impression that Hanne it's not as comfortable with her relationship as she thought she would be. Her flirting with Billy T maybe sending a message to the readers. A 12-year-old boy enters a foster home set up for troubled children. All the employees they are also seem to be trouble in one way or another. Everyone has secrets, the head woman finds some of the secrets out and confronts each of the employees. She is found in her office dead with a knife in her back. The 12-year-old boy runs away and isn't found until the end of the story. The 12-year-old boys mother is a wreck.. Both physically and mentally. There is a twist at the end with a confession by one person and the reality is that the murder was committed by somebody else. A very depressing book all around. I only finished it because I wanted to know who the murderer was and not because it was a page turner.
—Deb
Ačkoliv Smrt démona není moc obsáhlá, je psaná svižným tempem a na kvalitě jí to rozhodně neubírá. Jediné, co vás může od plynulého čtení trochu rozptýlit, je občasný problém s rozlišením některých pohledů. Kdy až po jednom odstavci zjistíte, že už čtete zase o někom jiném. Ovšem to by vás rozhodně nemělo odradit od přečtení tak skvělé knihy, jakou Smrt démona bezesporu je.Jak to u severských detektivek bývá, i zde máme podstrčené sociální téma. Tentokrát jde o závažnou otázku zasahování státu do péče o děti. Máme možnost nahlédnout do myšlenek ženy, která je nucena sama vychovávat dítě bez pomoci svého okolí.
—Maragad
#3 in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series. The final book of the series #8 1222 (2007) was the first translated into English, in 2010. The current entry was written in 1995 but was not translated until 2013.While I find the series absorbing, I thought the translations are much improved since Blind Goddess (1993) which seems to have been written for a British audience. Since I read the books in the order in which they are written, I shudder to think about the much acclaimed 1222 (2007) which was translated 2 years prior to Blind Goddess (1993).Hanne Wilhelmsen is an excellent detective with profession and personal flaws. She is becoming more open to criticism and is improving her management style and her inter-personal relationship with her significant other. I'm enjoying the evolution.Hanne Wilhelmsen series - In a foster home outside Oslo, a twelve-year-old boy is causing havoc. The director, Agnes Vestavik, sees something of hatred in Olav's eyes. When Vestavik is found murdered - with Olav nowhere to be found - the case goes to investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to chief inspector in the Oslo Police. Could the child be a murderer? As police canvass the city for Olav, Hanne orders an investigation of the home's employees. But despite her supreme deductive skills, she is hopeless at delegating, pooling information, and sharing responsibilities. Can Hanne learn to trust others before her bullheaded instincts lead her astray - in the workplace and on the home front?
—Ed
