søndag den 17. maj 2009

Håkan Nesser, Kvinde med modermærke (2007)


Denne fjerde Van Veeteren-krimi begynder med en trøstesløs begravelse, og hovedpersonen fortæller os, hvordan det passer glimrende med hele hendes mors triste og mislykkede liv. Det står også klart, at hun er ved at give sig i kast med en eller anden form for mission for sin mor, og som hun siger: ”måske er der flere, der kommer til at græde over hendes bortgang. Med tiden.” Endelig oplever hun at have et formål med sit liv, og at det pludselig er meget nemmere at holde sig fra stofferne.

Kort efter begynder en række mænd at modtage mystiske telefonopringninger, hvor de bare hører en gammel popmelodi fra 1960erne – og nogle dage efter bliver de myrdet.

Kriminalkommissær Van Veeteren er fraskilt, har store problemer med sin voksne søn, og kan godt være både tvær og humørsyg, når han pludselig bliver kaldt ud i en mordsag. Lyder det velkendt? Måske, men Van Veeteren har et liv udenfor jobbet, hvor han nyder god litteratur, vin, musik og hyggeligt selskab, for eksempel over et spil skak, mens han spekulerer over, om jobbet som kriminalkommissær er ved at gøre ham for kynisk.

Den svenske forfatter har ladet hele Van Veeteren-serien udspille sig i et fiktivt område som ofte diskuteres ivrigt af Nessers fans. Både person- og stednavne klinger imidlertid hollandsk, og den valuta, der benyttes er gylden.

Og så en hilsen til læsere, der hævder, der ikke er humor i Nessers bøger:
”Hej. Jeg har hummer, vin og roser. Det er til dig alt sammen, hvis du er her inden er er gået en time.”
”Det er jo mandag,” svarede kvinden i den anden ende.
”Hvis man ikke gør noget ved den slags,” sagde Reinhart, ”så bliver det ved med at være mandag resten af livet.”
”Okay,” sagde kvinden. ”Jeg kommer.”


Det er min personlige erfaring at Håkan Nesser kan nydes på enhver dag, og her er min anmeldelse af Borkmanns punkt.

Håkan Nesser, Woman with Birthmark (2009)
This crime story, which is the fourth in the series, begins with a dreary burial, and the main character informs us that this ties in well with her mother´s dreary, wasted life. It is also clear that she is embarking on some kind of mission for her mother, and as she says, “… I sincerely hope that several more will be mourning soon.” Finally her life has a goal, and it is much easier for her to stay away from the heroin.

Soon after a number of men begin to receive mysterious phone calls. All they can hear is an old pop song from the 1960s – and some days later they are killed.

Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is divorced, has a troubled relationship with his grown son, and he can be sullen and moody when he is suddenly called out on a murder case. Does all that sound far too familiar? Perhaps, but Van Veeteren has a life which is not related to his job. He enjoys good literature, wine, music and good company, and often returns to the question whether his job is making him too cynical.

The Swedish author has chosen a fictive area for his Van Veeteren series which is often discussed by his fans. The names of characters and places ring Dutch, and the currency which is used is guilders.

And now a quotation for readers who cannot find glimpses of humor in Nesser´s books:
“Hi. I have lobster, wine and roses. It is all for you if you are here within an hour.”
“But it is Monday” said the woman at the other end.

“If you don´t do something about things like that,” Reinhart said, “it will be Monday for the rest of your life.”

“Okay,” she said. “I´ll be there.”


In my experience Håkan Nesser can be enjoyed on any day. Here is my review of Borkmann´s Point.

6 kommentarer:

Anonym sagde ...

This sounds great. Is there an English translation?

Dorte H sagde ...

Lu: yes, you can get it via Amazon, but only in hardback so far. You can probably get the first one in the series, "The Mind´s Eye" in paperback. I have read half a dozen or so in this series and enjoyed them all.

seana graham sagde ...

That quote is not only funny but wise.

Dorte H sagde ...

Seanag: yes, I agree. This is not a series you laugh your way through, but most of the characters are thoughtful, and there are these quiet moments of humour.

betteskov sagde ...

I love Nesser, but have only been able to lay my hands on the first two van Veteeren novels -I really enjoyed them! I cannot believe that anyone could miss the humor in Nessers books. It is very understated, but nevertheless always present (in my opinion, there might be almost too much understated humor in the Barbarotti novels, but that is another story).
A good question for international readers: does the type of humor used by Nesser only make Scandinavian people laugh or chuckle?

Dorte H sagde ...

Jane, that is a really good question! I am going to use it in a blog post tomorrow, and hopefully some of my other readers will comment.