review
Ex-Inspector Jensen has settled into a quiet life in Bruges, his early retirement from the force allowing him to concentrate on his own passions and interests. One of these passions is Annick, the lady with whom he feels he could fall passionately in love if only she would let him. But her independent spirit, all the more fiercely defended on account of her blindness, keeps him at arm’s length, and this although she is expecting a baby conceived on the one night they did in fact spend together. Equally mysterious and fascinating to him is the world of physics, and when the professor of his evening course invites him to a seminar in Iceland, he hesitates – but only for a moment. Once there, his plans for a gentler life are thrown off-kilter by the strange arrangement of the seminar – which involves survival in the frozen wilderness – and a regrettable one-night stand in Rekyavik that will leave scars even deeper than those of the bite the dark beauty inflicts.
Back in Bruges Jensen finds himself drawn into a death and impending murder involving all the characters from the seminar including Annick’s best friend, in an exciting dénouement replete with kidnappings, tropical waters and plenty of musings on physics.
Reichlin’s first ‘Jensen’ novel won the German Crime Prize this year. He goes from strength to strength.
All recommendations from Autumn 2009