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28th out of 102 books
—
185 voters
The Torso (Irene Huss #3)
Part of a human torso washes up on a beach near Göteborg, Sweden. It is so mutilated that gender is only established by DNA testing. A similar crime, now several years old, remains unsolved in Denmark. Detective Inspector Irene Huss is dispatched to Copenhagen to liaise with police. Then a third corpse is discovered. This time it’s identified. It is a girl Detective Huss k
...morePaperback, 352 pages
Published
April 1st 2007
by Soho Crime
(first published 1999)
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Last May I was lucky enough to hear Helene Tursten when she visited San Francisco (in the company of Hakan Nesser, Kjell Eriksson and Inger Frimansson), reading from her most recently translated novel, The Glass Devil.
I highly recommend her well-plotted policiers, enjoyable especially because her star detective is a unpretentious policewoman, a happily-married wife and mother without any of the barbed dysfunction of DS Jane Tennison, but with Tennison's drive and intelligence. (Don't get me wron...more
I highly recommend her well-plotted policiers, enjoyable especially because her star detective is a unpretentious policewoman, a happily-married wife and mother without any of the barbed dysfunction of DS Jane Tennison, but with Tennison's drive and intelligence. (Don't get me wron...more
Oct 12, 2012
Anna
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of noir Scandinavian crime
Shelves:
2012
I like dark stuff like Harry Bosch or Harry Hole, and have been struggling to find either dark enough stuff written by a woman or where the protagonist is a woman. I think Tursten gets clsoe to what I'm looking for. Probably even closest to what I'm looking for (and I just have not found the perfect thing yet).
The crimes in the book are vile and very dark. The detective, Irene Huss, is not dark herself, but she attracts the dark people in the story. And while there are elements of other Scandina...more
The crimes in the book are vile and very dark. The detective, Irene Huss, is not dark herself, but she attracts the dark people in the story. And while there are elements of other Scandina...more
Helene Tursten’s The Torso was published by SOHO Crime way back in 2006. SOHO Crime is, purportedly, an independent publisher of crime fiction. It is not tied with Vintage, Grove Press, or even Penguin Books. The aforementioned are, of course, some of the most prominent publishers in the world. SOHO Crime is commendable for bringing non-English writers to a more mainstream reading market. For one, Ms. Tursten is Swedish and it would seem that it may take forever to have her books translated in E...more
The Torso is to date my favorite book in the Irene Huss series; it is much darker in tone than either of the previous two novels (Detective Inspector Huss and Night Rounds), the plot is very well constructed, and the investigation takes center stage, with little else to distract from the main storyline. Frankly speaking, I couldn't put this book down.
Tursten captures the reader's attention within the first three pages with the discovery of a human torso inside of a garbage bag. Already busy with...more
Tursten captures the reader's attention within the first three pages with the discovery of a human torso inside of a garbage bag. Already busy with...more
This is the second book translated from this author and it starts out with a torso in a bag being found on a beach in Sweden. The only clue to the identify of the body is a tattoo, and the body, as well as dismembered, has been horribly mutilated.
This crime is soon connected with a similar mutilation murder in Denmark, so the investigation moves between Goteborg, Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark with Irene Huss and her colleagues working closely with Danish police. The mutilations are pretty gra...more
This crime is soon connected with a similar mutilation murder in Denmark, so the investigation moves between Goteborg, Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark with Irene Huss and her colleagues working closely with Danish police. The mutilations are pretty gra...more
I've come to expect dark writing from Scandinavian writers, but this one is exceptionally gruesome. Dealing with the subject of necrosadism, this is not a murder mystery for the fainthearted. A torso, just that, a torso with all distinguishing features that would even indicate the gender having been carved out and internal organs removed, is found in a washed up black trash bag.
The Swedish criminal investigation department are completely baffled and without distinguishing mark, limbs and a head...more
The Swedish criminal investigation department are completely baffled and without distinguishing mark, limbs and a head...more
I'm enjoying this series set in Sweden. The Torso is rather gruesome but not relentlessly so. Humour, personal conflict, doggies, and vivid descriptions of Goteberg and Swedish life add welcome counterpoints and keep one engaged. I also like the peek this series gives into a different society and culture. There is far more misogyny and objectification of women in Sweden than I would've expected of a socialist country. And I learnt that Scandinavian countries are not all one vast blonde sameness...more
The opening the terrible. The finish is weak. The bulk of the book is somewhat more interesting. Irene Huss is a decent character, but nothing compared to Erlendur, Wallander, Winter, van Veeteran et. al.
Is there any end to the number of excellent Scandinavian mystery writers? Helene Tursten joins the top rank along with Henning Mankell and Stieg Larssen.
Her central character, Irene Huss, is an Inspector in the Goteborg, Sweden, murder squad. She has a husband and 2 teenagers. The book starts with the discovery on a nearby beach, of a tattooed torso. The clues advance the plot, until it's learned that there was a similar murder in Copenhagen a few years back. Irene is detailed to go to the Danis...more
Her central character, Irene Huss, is an Inspector in the Goteborg, Sweden, murder squad. She has a husband and 2 teenagers. The book starts with the discovery on a nearby beach, of a tattooed torso. The clues advance the plot, until it's learned that there was a similar murder in Copenhagen a few years back. Irene is detailed to go to the Danis...more
A thoroughly compelling crime novel that I enjoyed considerably more than its predecessor. Although her life is very different from that of Kurt Wallander and most of the other protagonists of Swedish crime novels that I've read, she and her colleagues here are every bit as alive and complex and well-developed (and she certainly drinks every bit as much coffee as Kurt Wallander, if not more). The unspeakable crimes create a sense of very high stakes as Irene and her colleagues attempt to uncover...more
When a torso so badly mutilated only DNA testing can reveal the sex, Goteborg Detective Inspector Irene Huss embarks on a chilling chase to catch a necrosadistic killer. Interestingly, there is a striking similarity in Huss's mutilation-murder and the murder-mutilation of a prostitute in Denmark several years earlier. Huss must traverse between Goteborg & Copenhagen in search of a killer who seems to become more & more active as time goes by...and to strike closer and closer to Irene her...more
Jun 28, 2011
Baseni
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
krimis-skandinavische
"Vor Göteborg findet eine Spaziergängerin einen Müllsack, Inhalt: ein quasi halbierter Torso. Unterleib, Arme, Beine und der Kopf fehlen. Einziger Hinweis ist eine asiatisch anmutende Tätowierung. Die Polizei steht vor einem Rätsel, Hilfe kommt von der untersuchenden Pathologin, sie sieht Verbindungen zu einem ähnlichgelagerten Fall in Kopenhagen. Irene Huss von der Mordkommission und ihre Kollegen in Göteborg und Kopenhagen dringen immer weiter in ein Labyrinth homophiler Beziehungen, teilweise...more
This book was good, but in a very creepy, creepy way. It was full of suspence and necrophilia things... I like mysteries a lot but this one kind of messed with my head. It may have been because it was the first super graphic kind of book I read that kept up throughout the entire book.. go figure, it's a murder mystery, right? But maybe I'm just not mature enough to read it.. so I didn't enjoy it too much towards the end. Although looking at this novel in a mystery sense, it was good, if you can...more
I do love the Scandinavians, and this one was not nearly as bleak as the type trends, despite the really rather grisly premise of this mystery. You can guess the killer's MO from the title. The writing is fine, and the main character terrifically likeable and mentally whole, unlike many of the popular police inspectors introduced in many mysteries today. I was loving the experience of reading about Göteborg and Copenhagen and was liking the characterizations, but a false note was introduced late...more
Gruesome. You don't get to know the victims enough to be upset, so the appalling gruesomeness is not my main complaint. I considered the author a good writer when I read her first book, but in this one her plot fizzles out after the perp is identified but before he is dealt with. The cop never exchanges as much as one word with the perp -- very unsatisfying. She also implausibly reveals critical information to a friend, and that causes problems. I don't think I will read another by Tursten even...more
This is the 2nd of 3 books by this author, and it's even better than the first. Excellent crime drama, with the main character being a female detective with a husband and two teenagers. Most murder mysteries are somewhat predictable, but this one surprised me several times. The style is very Swedish - and by that I mean that you get more info than you actually need - but not nearly as long-winded as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Love this author!
Wow, what a disappointment. The beginning of this thriller had such great potential, but at the end I feel it failed to live up to the international mystery/thriller community's praise. The writer tried to create two different story lines that intersect at the scene of the crime. However, one story line disappeared from the chapters and then reappeared close to the end with a sad attempt to show vital it was to have this other story line for the book. It just didn't work.
Tursten's genre, the murder procedural, details the day to day discoveries until finally solving the crime. The Swedish team remains the same, but this time Irene moves between Sweden and Denmark. I've come to like her varied Swedish detectives. This is the third Tursten novel I've read. It was much more disturbing as far as the murders (the victims were cut apart--hence the title), but the mystery was intriguing enough that it kept me going trying to figure out the murderer and motive.
I liked...more
I liked...more
The title says it all. It's about identifying who belongs to the torso found in the water. I just love the characters that Tursten brings to life. Her books keep you engaged and move you right along. Even stuffy Supt. Andresson is amusing to track, esp. when he has to deal with the medical examiner. The trail leads through other countries which is always fun to read about.
Another excellent entry in the Detective Inspector Huss series from Sweden. Grade A police procedure with a kickass female detective. Combine Copenhagen, gay sex shops, necrophilia, and serial killers with a moody Swedish detective and that's the book. It's pretty good if you're into that sort of thing. I couldn't put it down but I had to read something light afterwards.
While it was a little long and kinda slow to read, I did really enjoy this one. The content-- gay relationships, murder and dismemberment and such---can be a little strong for some folks. but for a murder mystery, it had grit and mystery and a few twists as well as the emotional capital built up through personal relationships. If you like Swedish Mysteries, you'll like this one a lot.
The title is a little gruesome, however it is a riveting murder mystery set in Goteborg, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark. Detective Inspector Irene Huss investigates using DNA samples to discover more about the torso, which eventually leads her to go to Copenhagen, Denmark. During the investigation the Detective travels to Copenhagen to follow up on leads and to search for a neighbour's daughter. There are many twists to this story.
A page turner? Yep. Once I'd gotten to know DI Irene Huss in the first crime thriller of this Swedish series, I couldn't stop. This one adds some grisly details... and a torso does present quite a few difficulties as far as identification. Same comfortingly-real-but-Swedish home scenario interwoven with the sleuthing. Another great read.
Brutally forceful in its depiction of some seriously violent crime, but handled with far more sensitivity than is usual in gore-heavy mystery. I also appreciate the rare show of a police officer actually accepting reasonable precautions for safety, which makes a refreshing change from the typical cowboy-up, go-it-alone strategy popularized in film and TV.
Because of availability from the library, I read this one first - made not difference. Just RAN right off to get the next ...and the back track to the first was no less a good read _ in which review I rant my pleasure w/ finding this series.
Let's here it for public libraries!! AND books available in eBook format.
Let's here it for public libraries!! AND books available in eBook format.
Very intense and exciting crime thriller. The book balances the personal life of inspector Irene Huss and the very involved criminal investigation that she is involved in to track down a brutal serial killer. The killings in this book are quite gruesome (as the title suggests). The plot is very well structured and it keeps you guessing. I very much liked the sense of paranoia and how unclear it becomes who Irene can trust. The book shifts between Goteborg and Copenhagen and there are a number of...more
Brilliant novel.. Nobody writes mysteries like the Scandinavians do.. The language was very simple and I was hooked from the start. Although the plot involves creepy things like necrosadism, at no point did I find the writing exploitative. And the protagonist Irene Huss, is no superwoman, just a good police officer, who works with her colleagues to solve murders.
This was an incredible read. Very horrible and very fascinating. One of the most chilling police procedurals I've read in a long time. Irene Huss, the detective inspector is a strong interesting character. All of the characters were well-drawn and three dimensional. The plot keeps you turning pages.
This book is my favorite from Helene Tursten's Detective Inspector Huss series. Very well written and translated, the story is chilling, very graphic and not for the faint of heart. One of the best Scandinavian police procedural series I ever have read, and I highly recommend all three.
Even though the subject matter was fairly gruesome, I liked the flow of this book a lot better than the first one. The little side vignettes about family life, Swedish culture and food were a nice break from the "crime novel" aspect of the book. Overall, a good story.
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Helene Tursten (born in Gothenburg in 1954) is a Swedish writer of crime fiction. The main character in her stories is Detective Inspector Irene Huss. Before becoming an author, Tursten worked as a nurse and then a dentist, but was forced to leave due to illness. During her illness she worked as a translator of medical articles.
Series:
* Irene Huss
More about Helene Tursten...
Series:
* Irene Huss
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Sep 29, 2009 02:14pm