The Chestnut Man

Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup (translated by Caroline Waight) was a great read, paced well and the author created such believable characters with wonderful depth.

The Chestnut Man is a police procedural with a slow build. It doesn’t drag at all though, rather it builds the tension.

I guessed at the killer with a third of the book still to go, but it didn’t diminish the reading experience, there were so many intricate details woven together to form the horrifying web that all becomes clear at the end.

As seems to be the case with books by Danish authors, details that would be sensationalized by American authors are treated in a more subdued and almost casual way. But expect there to be mentions of child pornography, abuse, and explicit (and fairly gruesome) violence at times.

I listened to this one as an audiobook and really enjoyed Peter Noble’s narration. You can get the audiobook here, or click the button below to get a physical copy.

Synopsis:

If you find one, he’s already found you.

A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen.

His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene.

Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery—a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister’s daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago.

A tragic coincidence—or something more twisted?

To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the Chestnut Man’s gruesome clues.

Because it’s clear that the madman is on a mission that is far from over.

And no one is safe.