Lucifer’s Tears by James Thompson
Inspector
Kari Vaara is back and instead of being the chief of police in a small town
above the Arctic Circle he is now a detective with homicide in Helsinki. Kate, Kari’s wife, is thrilled to be in
bustling Helsinki but Kari never missed the city. However he would do anything to make his
pregnant wife happy. Kari is assigned a
partner, an outcast like himself, but a unique individual unlike Kari in many
ways. The duo pick up a murder in their
first few days of the job and what looks clear cut is anything but simple. Kari must decide what resolution he and his
conscious can live with as he solves the murder, investigates a national hero
for war crimes and deals with a prolonged visit from his brother and
sister-in-law.
Thompson
manages to keep all the storylines interesting and ties them up well. How the murder investigation is resolved is
great because it’s unlike anything I’ve read before. The best part of the book for me was learning
the ways Finnish culture, law, everything, is different than here. Get accused of a crime in Finland and your
arresting officer doesn’t like you?
Doesn’t matter if you aren’t guilty, they can keep you for days just
because they want you there. Having a
baby? All new mothers receive a care
package from the government with enough clothes for your child for a year plus
diapers and other necessary baby items.
The glimpses of recent Finnish history, especially concerning activities
during WWII, were very interesting as well.
