#ATBR2020 Review: The Tenant by Katrine Engberg @jessmapreviews
The Tenant
by Katrine Engberg
Thank you Scout Press for these copies.
Publisher: Scout Press / Gallery
Publish Date: January 14, 2020
Hardcover
368 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Suspense, Mystery, Thriller
When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist—and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.
But Esther’s role in this twisted scenario is not quite as clear as it first seems. Is she the culprit—or just another victim, trapped in a twisted game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women’s pasts to discover the identity of the brutal puppet-master pulling the strings in this electrifying literary thriller.
My Review:
With being so unbelievably busy with work this week, I read this book sporadically and I wonder if that made any difference in how I felt about this than if I had read it in one sitting (which is the way I prefer to read honestly). I liked this read but I didn't love it. Here's why.
The plot is nothing too unique. Girl found dead. Let's find out who did it. Jeppe and Anette are on the case. I did like their relationship and banter but am curious why more was spent on Jeppe and his personal life and none on Anette. (Though I was legitimately happy when Jeppe finally got an erection. *shrug*) The characters are probably the highlight compared to the plot in this read.
It's a fun, moderately paced read - where I was expecting something slower and more suspenseful for some reason. The whole case coming together, along with the bits of personal we get from the characters felt choppy at times but I was still intrigued with the who, what and why... though I did leave just going "ah, ok, cool".
★★★
The plot is nothing too unique. Girl found dead. Let's find out who did it. Jeppe and Anette are on the case. I did like their relationship and banter but am curious why more was spent on Jeppe and his personal life and none on Anette. (Though I was legitimately happy when Jeppe finally got an erection. *shrug*) The characters are probably the highlight compared to the plot in this read.
It's a fun, moderately paced read - where I was expecting something slower and more suspenseful for some reason. The whole case coming together, along with the bits of personal we get from the characters felt choppy at times but I was still intrigued with the who, what and why... though I did leave just going "ah, ok, cool".
★★★
Jessica's Review:
Fans of the Nordic Noir books will absolutely love what Katrine Engberg has in store with THE TENANT. If you're a Jo Nesbo fan, then this is definitely an author to watch. This one ended up locking me until the end, it did take a while for me to really get into the book and the characters. I think going into this I was anticipating more of a thriller than a slower building Nordic Noir type of crime fiction read. So I think that's definitely helpful to know when starting.
A new duo of detectives for the crime fiction world and I'm anxious to see where the next books will take us. I know there are already a couple other books in the series, but we just have to wait for the translations to the US! While I did enjoy the read, I didn't really connect with the characters. I'm hoping that will change as the series progresses - I think this one did a great job laying the ground work for the readers. We get a good picture of the main characters and the detectives, but I have a feeling they'll start to get more developed in books two and three.
I would still recommend this to anyone that loves these types of crime fiction series. I will be keeping an eye out for book two so I can see how things progress and the characters grow!
3 stars
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