Review: The Ice Princess

[livingdeb]

Due to an impending trip to Norway, I decided to read some books from Norway. But the first thing I found to help me find some was a list of recommended Nordic mysteries from my library, most of which are not set in Norway and most of which are not directly available at my branch of the library.

I did find Karin Fossom's The Caller, but the crimes are psychologically horrifying and the rest of the book is not enough fun. I only recommend it for criminals who don't understand just how much impact their crimes might be having.

But I also found Camilla Läckberg's The Ice Princess (2010), set mostly in a small town in Sweden, which had some really fun parts. Like this little conversation:

Writer: "Art and fine wine. Two areas that remain complete mysteries to me."
Art store owner: "And I can barly write a shopping list. We all have our specialities."

Another conversation, this one between two cops:

'You know better, Lena--he's not a "perp" before he's found guilty and convicted. Until then he's just as innocent as the rest of us.'

'I sure as hell doubt that. I'd bet a year's salary that he's guilty.'

'If you're so sure, then you would bet more than such a negligible sum.'

'Ha ha, very funny. Joking with a cop about salary is like tripping a cripple.'

And my favorite passage:

Inside the door he stopped short. Never in his entire life had he seen so many Santa Clauses. Everywhere, on every available surface, there they were. Big ones, little ones, old ones, young ones, winking ones and grey ones. He felt his brain go into overdrive to handle all the sensory input flowing towards him.

'What do you think? Aren't they magnificent!'

Patrik didn't know quite what to say, and after a moment he managed to stammer a reply.

'Yes, absolutely. Fantastic.'

He gave Mrs Petrén an anxious look to see whether she could hear that his words didn't really match his tone of voice. To his amazement she gave him a roguish smile that made her eyes flash.

'Don't worry, boy. I'm well aware that it's not really your taste, but when one gets old it involves certain responsibilities, you understand.'

'Responsibilities?'

'One is expected to show a bit of eccentricity to be interesting. Otherwise one is simply a sad old crone, and no one wants that, you know.'

'But, why gnomes?

...'Well, the best thing, you see, is that one only needs to put them up once a year. The rest of the year I can keep the place nice and tidy. Then there's the advantage that it brings a pack of children running up here at Christmastime. And for an old crone who doesn't have many visitors, it's a joy to the soul when the little creatures come and ring my bell to see the Santas.'

Interesting philosophy! All very well thought out!

If you were to pick out an eccentricity for yourself, what would it be? I'm thinking the idea I like best for me is dancing in public. Whenever there's good music playing at grocery stores, for example, you might find me dancing.

This is a long and complex novel that won Best International Crime Novel of the Year. So you get to meet lots of interesting characters, most of whom command at least a little sympathy. Not quite all of the lose ends were perfectly tied up, but they were tied up well enough that you could assume that things could work out fine if you wanted to. I figured out some obvious things before some of the characters who should have, so that was annoying, and sometimes the author would tell us that someone had discovered something without telling us what right away, but everything did eventually come out. So, you might like the book or it might be frustrating. I would read more by this author.

And did I learn anything about Sweden? Well, in the small town people sure did a lot of things to save face. Because what would people think? Ugh. They also invited in the police officer for coffee and pastries. Yum! Of course it was cold and snowy and can be hard to get your car started. Gentrification is just as annoying there as anywhere. And, I don't know if this is a cultural thing or not, but on two occasions a character would ask for a social visit when really they had business intentions that they sprung on their friend only after they came together. And they did it on purpose, knowing or feeling that it was mean.

And driving just before sunset yesterday, I found myself realizing: In these places where they hardly get any sun in the winter, the sun they do get is always low on the horizon. Is it the case that the only sun they get is the kind with the annoying glare? If so, that's sad.

Comments

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

I read a bunch of the Patrik and Erica books. Lackberg is good. It seems to me that most Scandinavian fiction is very dark and brutal, which I totally associate with having no sun (with no supporting evidence, of course).

The Harry Hole books by Jo Nesbo are set in Norway. Harry's a chronic alcoholic cop and is a wreck of a human being, but he's a pit bull for detecting and always gets his man. He's all over Oslo and surrounds, so that might be interesting for you. One or two of the books are partially set abroad, so avoid those. I will think about what else I've read that's set in Norway.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Mmm, more Patrik and Erica books! And I managed to start with #1! It looks like others are available to me from various libraries around town.

I have read The Snowman, which I now see is Harry Hole #7. I wasn't wild about him in that book, but now will happily try others. Which I now see are mostly available at the local university library. If I like them, I'll read them all; not ALL my books have to be set in foreign countries! Though, yes, it makes sense to focus on the Norway-locus ones first.

Thanks for the info!

In other Norway media news, I've also read Kon Tiki (as a kid), though it's mostly not actually set in Norway.

There are probably fun books about Vikings, too.