The Butcher of Little Burma

Where did my colleagues go wrong? In the North? Too hard on the killer? Marianne, rest in peace. Barbarotti's beloved second wife has died, and the fifty-one-year-old crime inspector from Kymlinge, Sweden, is suddenly without a support system in his life - he is left with five grown-up children, none of whom were together, and his colleague Eva, fortunately as reliable as a Volvo. To ensure that the derailed policeman is not a liability to the welfare state's safety net in the worst months, the chief assigns him to review an earlier case of a missing electrician who, before his death, had been in contact with a released convict who had already served a long sentence for the murder of her abusive husband on the impoverished Little Burma estate near the city. Bulldog warrior Barbarotti sets about untangling another Gordian knot of guilt and punishment despite the gloom. Finding the truth in a pair of shoddily investigated cases - one closed too quickly by his colleagues at the time and the other shelved for lack of evidence - involves a trip beyond the Arctic Circle. And there, in dramatic circumstances, a law enforcement officer finds out that the alleged butcher does not at all fulfil the image of a brutal murderess... The fifth case of a police worker who discusses fateful issues directly with God and knows how to get under our skin is a psychological treatise on loss and discovery. The arm of justice may wander down winding paths for years, but eventually it will hit the nail on the head. Or rather, in the face of the culprit. "It's rare when a mystery novel can offer as much as The Butcher of Little Burma. It's hard to name another author in this genre who works with language as skillfully as Nesser." - Kristeligt Dagblad (Copenhagen) "The plot again focuses mainly on characters and relationships. The investigation unfolds at a leisurely pace, giving readers a chance to experience the unmistakable style without having to worry about an international conspiracy lurking in the Swedish woods." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Nesser? Not only one of the most skilled Nordic crime writers, but also one of the cleverest magicians weaving stories with many hidden layers and meanings." - Berlingske (Copenhagen) "I like this series, even if this is not quite a mystery. More like a well built psychological story with well written characters. I think [the writer] does it well. It brings the reader more, makes him think about life, overcoming difficulties, about crime and punishment, about revenge. (...) A gradual unraveling of threads, interweaving through time - and all with clarity. An unexpected denouement at the end." - from reader reviews on databazeknih.cz "Looks out over a spectacular landscape. The sun has broken through the morning clouds and can be seen for several tens of kilometres. I'd like to live again, she thinks. Nothing in my life was as it should have been. No, he thinks to himself. If I could start again, everything would just repeat itself. Maybe that's true for all people. We walk from one darkness to another. We make bad decisions, we associate with the wrong people, and by the time we want to turn around and leave, it's too late. Don't stop at the Burma Road!" - excerpt from the text