This book is the second in Adler-Olsen’s Department Q series. It’s Danish super noir.
Someone has put a file on Carl Morck’s desk. It’s the case of two murdered teens, brother and sister, from 20 years ago. The only thing is, it’s been solved. Nine years after the murders, Bjarne Thøgerson confessed. He was part of a group of students who were originally suspected of the crime—Ditlev Pram, now the owner of several hospitals; Torsten Florin, a famous designer; Ulrik Dybbal, a stock market analyst; and the deceased shipping magnate, Kristian Wolf. The other member of this group was Kirsten-Marie Lassen, who has disappeared. Of the group, only Bjarne did not come from wealth.
So, Carl wonders, was Bjarne innocent of the crime, or did he take the fall for the others? He has become wealthy in prison, which might indicate the answer.
In the meantime we learn that the above-mentioned group of powerful men—who prove to be vile human beings—are searching for Kirsten-Marie Lassen, whom they call Kimmie. That’s because she has proof that they committed not just the double murder but scores of beatings of random strangers and some other murders. Kimmie is now a homeless person who is hiding from them.
As Carl and Assad investigate, they are blocked by their boss because the case is closed but also because someone is bringing pressure from above. There is a spy in the force, and Carl is being personally threatened.
This is really a grim entry into the series, not because of the investigation but because of the activities of the super-rich, soulless bad guys. Also, FictionFan mentioned to me that she quit reading the series because it made Assad into a figure of fun. I’m not quite seeing that yet, but the Danish characters seem to be quite bigoted, even Carl at times.
What? Me Read? 
This sounds like it would not be a book for me. I don’t like grisly and/or detailed crime novels. I did recently try my first ever noir novel read though and I would be willing to read more from that genre as long as they aren’t grisly or detailed on the crime end. I’m a highly sensitive person so that would just be too much for me. 🙂
Yes, this is definitely Danish noir.
I seem to have lost my taste for really grim crime over the last few years. Maybe it’s all the real-life horrors we’ve been going through! Yes, I didn’t like the way Assad was portrayed, although I think that was a few books later – as usual I didn’t read the series in order.
So far, so good.