The G File. Hakan Nesser (Writer) Laurie Thompson (Translation) Pan Books (2003)

A woman is found dead in an empty swimming pool, there is nothing to suggest foul play and nothing to suggest an accident either. There is just a body and a location. The complicating factor is the woman's husband, Jaan G. Hennan, a man Chief Inspector Van Veeteren has an unhappy previous knowledge of. An investigation fails to advance beyond the bare facts of the case. Fifteen years later  private investigator, who had been involved in the initial case, is reported missing by his daughter. Evidence suggests that he has solved the problem of of how G murdered his wife, and Van Veeteren emerges again from retirement to assist with the investigation into the disappearance. The story is moves through the two investigations as the first one haunts the second,the reveals are cunningly staged and the plot unfolds quietly right up to the entirely satisfying conclusion.
This book is much more about the cast than the mystery, although the mystery is a brilliantly designed one, action is never to the foreground. The cast are all given a lot of time to think, act and reflect on the investigations they are involved in as well as their lives. This gives the story an expansive and unhurried feel that allows the simple plot to naturally draw in the cast and never feel to frail.
The structure of the book is smart, each section is relatively self contained, they are centered on episodes fifteen years apart but the same cast grapple with a murder in each case and the ghost of the first investigation hangs heavily over the second. Hakan Nesser neatly deals with the weight of unfinished business and the effects of multiple pieces of unfinished business between Van Veeteren and Jan G Hennan complicates matters.
Van Veeteren is a great character, cranky and determined, he is both inside and outside of the investigation, an ambiguous situation that reflects the route of the investigation. There may have been a crime or not, the investigation may be chasing something  or it may be just trying to recover from past failures, when the situation is neatly and nastily resolved Van Veeteren is at the centre of the events. What Hakan Nesser does really well is to show how the rest of the cast are never that far behind Van Veeteren, they are getting to the same place just a little more slowly and the sense that the book is never a one man show. The extensive supporting cast are capable, competent and very engaging. The conversational style of writing that Hakan Nesser uses allows for the cast to sprawl across the investigation and include their wider lives without feeling that the book had lost a focus.
The translation by Laurie Thompson is transparent, this is very clearly a Swedish story, the use of Swedish terms is beautifully judged to support the Swedish nature of the story without ever locking out the reader. Thoughtful, deeply engaging crime fiction at its peak, a pleasure.

Woman With Birthmark. Hakan Nesser. Laurie Thompson (Translation) Pan Books (2010)

Vivid and compelling crime story that has smart structure,superb cast and powerful emotional undertow. A man is shot and investigation reveals that he had received odd phone calls prior to his murder, when a second man is murdered in the same way and having received similar calls the police struggle to find the connection and the killer. As the police investigation proceeds two other men realise the the cause of the deaths and the fact that they too are in danger, unwilling to involve the police they plan their defences. The reveals are superbly staged, the various strands of the story are brilliantly drawn together to a bitter and satisfying conclusion.
The most striking aspect to the story is the way Hakan Nesser solves the story problems in deeply satisfying and unpredictable ways.Two of the cast know they are being hunted and they know why, this does not release the tension as surprise murder becomes a deadly battle of will and wits. The police investigation is thoughtful and competent, it drives the story as a nearly random factor in the deadly duel between the hunter and the hunted.
The cast are vivid and sparkle with life, all of them are given the space to emerge as fully fledged characters, the reader becomes involved with them all. Inspector Van Veeteren has a cranky forcefulness that is entirely engaging, the woman who finally finds a life purpose in revenge is brilliant, believable and finally, truthfully unheroic. The men she hunts are discovering that actions can have consequences very much after all thought of them had gone, they struggle to understand just how utterly their lives have been torn asunder. A must read.

The Mind's eye. Hakan Nesser. Laurie Thompson (Translator). Pan Books (2009)

A hugely enjoyable and mordantly funny crime story. Janek Mitter awakes from a drunken sleep and finds his wife murdered. He has no memory of the night and no idea what happened to his wife. He is sent to an asylum for assessment and a fragment of memory returns. He is murdered in his cell. Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren investigates the two murders, sure that the key lies in the past of the murdered woman. The investigation uncoils at a steady pace, the plot threads are cleverly played out, the reveals very well staged and the conclusion equally sad and satisfactory.
DCI Van Veeteren is a superbly cranky and compelling character. He is a competent and professional policeman who is deeply committed to his work. He has a natural depth of perception allied to considerable experience that makes him impatient with his colleagues and frequently with himself. The rest of the cast are well developed, Van Veeteren does not dominate the book. The rest of the police are allowed to be competent and effective, they are critical to the investigation. Janek Mitter is a very engaging character, he is given a complicated and credible response to his situation and a sharp and resilient approach to dealing with it. His trial is very cleverly constructed and brilliantly written set piece. The least developed character is the killer, trapped by past events and compulsions, there is little scope for development.
Hakan Nesser has written the book with a sardonic tone that is a pleasure to read. The action is framed with snarky editorial comments that do not either overwhelm the action nor throw the reader out of the story. They are a flavoursome addition to the story, they add strongly to the telling. Superb.