‘Dark Music’ is the latest thriller from bestselling author David Lagercrantz. Image via Twitter @@AAKnopf
‘Dark Music’: Latest Lagercrantz thriller boasts new detective duo
Bestselling author of ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’, David Lagercrantz’s new thriller features a detective duo inspired by Sherlock Holmes.
‘Dark Music’ is the latest thriller from bestselling author David Lagercrantz. Image via Twitter @@AAKnopf
Swedish author David Lagercrantz has made a name for himself as the literary successor of famed thriller writer Stieg Larsson. Larsson is behind one of the most famous mystery trilogies in the world: the Millenium Trilogy, made of up the novels The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.
After Larsson’s death, Lagercrantz took the baton and continued writing the fourth, fifth and sixth instalments of the Millenium series. The Girl in the Spider’s Web, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye and The Girl Who Lived Twice all went on to became bestsellers.
Leaving behind the world of Larsson, Lagercrantz has taken on a new challenge. His latest thriller, Dark Music, is the first instalment of his own murder mystery series. With a layered mystery at its core and an unforgettable crime-fighting duo, Dark Music is not one to miss.
UNLIKELY DETECTIVE DUO CARRIES LAGERCRANTZ NOVEL
The true crime world has not shortage of unlikely crime fighting duos. From Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes and Watson to Stieg Larsson’s Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, readers love detective duos.
David Lagercrantz knows this and his latest thriller Dark Music (translated from Swedish by Ian Giles), while a compelling mystery, is carried by the unlikely friendship and teamwork of Professor Hans Rekke and detective Micaela Vargas.
These two characters could not be more different and this is what makes this duo a top team. With dark humour, fast-paced writing and a twisty mystery, Dark Music gives readers a new team to root for.
If the novel did not have such a great combination of characters, it would not have been as good a mystery.
While the mystery is compelling, the writing style leans a bit chaotic. The reader is sometimes left feeling a bit confused. This could just be Lagercrantz’s writing style, or it could have something to do with the fact that Dark Music is a translated work. Sometimes, things do get lost in translation and in Dark Music, the story got a bit muddled at times.
This does not take away from the fact that this is a mystery that will have you hooked. With stunning descriptions of Scandinavian cities and intriguing characters, Dark Music is a perfect Christmas gift for the true crime fanatic in your family.
‘DARK MUSIC’ SYNOPSIS
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Professor Hans Rekke is a world authority on interrogation techniques. He was born into wealth and power and has a picture-perfect wife and daughter. But he also has a fragile psyche that falls apart under pressure.
Micaela Vargas is a street-smart police officer. She is the daughter of Chilean political refugees, grew up in the projects on the outskirts of Stockholm and has two brothers on the wrong side of the law. She is tenacious and uncompromising, and desperate to prove herself to her fellow cops.
Micaela needs Hans’s unique mind to help her solve the case of a murdered asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. Hans needs Micaela to save him from himself. Together, they need to find the killer before they’re both silenced for good.
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Lagercrantz is a Swedish journalist and bestselling author. He studied philosophy and religion, before obtaining a degree from the Gothenburg School of Journalism. He worked as a crime reporter for four years at the Scandinavian newspaper Expressen, where he covered the most prominent murder cases in Sweden during the late 80s and early 90s.
Lagercrantz made his book debut in 1997 with the story of Göran Kropp, a Swedish adventurer who summited Mount Everest with neither oxygen nor Sherpas, only one week after one of the worst disasters ever on the mountain.
The book was a success in Sweden and abroad and paved the way for an illustrious writing career. He has gone on to write several bestselling crime novels.
Dark Music is published by Quercus Publishing and is available from Exclusive Books stores for R363.
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