The Sanctuary--the fourth of Danish writer Katrine Engberg's books revolving around mismatched Copenhagen detectives Kørner and Werner--name-checks a very different series: American crime writer Ed McBain's beloved 87th Precinct novels. The nod is fitting: if there's any justice, Engberg's series will gain something like the stature of McBain's.
The novel, translated by Tara Chace, begins in Copenhagen's Østre Anlæg Park with the discovery of a body, or at least half of one, in a suitcase. This time, Copenhagen Police detective Anette Werner must lead a murder investigation without her partner, Jeppe Kørner, who is on leave and trying to get over a heartbreak by working as a lumberjack on the Danish island of Bornholm. Also visiting Bornholm is series regular Esther de Laurenti, an elderly Copenhagener and confidante of Jeppe: she's writing a biography on a famous deceased anthropologist and has been invited by the family to stay at the woman's house to do research.
As Anette's, Jeppe's and Esther's story threads lengthen toward their inevitable twining, readers will experience anticipation and dread: anticipation at the gasp-inducing third-act surprises they've come to expect from Engberg and dread at the knowledge that The Sanctuary marks the end of this stellar series. Like predecessors The Tenant, The Butterfly House and The Harbor, The Sanctuary leverages the unnatural fit between the detectives at its center, although this time the hard-charging Anette reveals an uncharacteristic soft spot for Jeppe: "He might look like a lumberjack, but on the inside her partner was still a shy, sensitive plant." --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer