Ever since the blockbuster success of Stieg Larsson's trilogy, American shelves have been awash with a tidal wave of Nordic noir. Authors like Mankell and Nesbø prove there are pearls in that surf, and readers can count Jørgen Brekke's Dreamless, the second book in his Odd Singsaker series (Where Monsters Dwell), among them.
The dual time periods in Dreamless add a twist that will enliven mystery fans weary of formulaic plots. Eighteenth-century police chief Nils Bayer is delightfully foul and filthy. He's trying to find the killer of Wingmark, an intrepid troubadour with a penchant for dice games. Meanwhile, in modern-day Trondheim, Norway, Chief Inspector Odd Singsaker has his own murders to solve. A vicious serial killer is murdering young women in a gruesome way--he removes the victims' larynxes and leaves behind music boxes that play only a single piece of mysterious music.
In addition to hunting a sadistic murderer, Singsaker is struggling to recover from the removal of a brain tumor, which took place in the first Singsaker book--both with the help of his American wife, Detective Felicia Stone. The meat of the mystery revolves around an elusive folk ballad from the 1700s, "The Golden Peace," rumored to have the power to lull even the most troubled soul to sleep--but only if sung by the right voice. Brekke uses this enigmatic song in a compellingly layered novel to wind up music boxes as well as the reader. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher