Lucifer's Tears (Inspector Kari Vaara, #2) by James Thompson

Nov 17, 2011 Lou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, mystery-thriller

Same inspector new setting and a new case of murder of the most foul. Life for inspector and his wife seem to have taken a turn for the worse, since the time of the murder case from book 1 Snow Angelshas passed. His wife Kate was pregnant with twins in the previous book and now is pregnant with another child. His life is bleak, he is suffering with migraines and has compulsory appointments with a shrink. The last murder case has taken a lot out if off him and he is forever struck with a guilty s...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Raven rated it 3 of 5 stars

Inspector Kari Vaara is back who despite his move away from the Finnish backwater which saw some horrific events in the first book 'Snow Angels' again finds himself embroiled in murder and personal torment. Whilst juggling the demands of a particularly savage murder case, the investigation of possible war-crimes, a heavily pregnant wife, his truly irritating in-laws and his gung-ho new partner, he is also grappling with a deterioration in his own health which even he can't assuage with copious a...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Lizzy added it

This review was written by Mark Kearney and posted by Lizzy Mottern

Nordic detective fiction has finally produced its version of Donna Leon, the New Jersey-born American expat who lives in Venice and writes novels in English about an Italian cop, novels that have never been published in Italian. Kentucky-native James Thompson has lived in Helsinki for a dozen years and this is his second novel featuring Inspector Kari Vaara and his American wife Kate.

The novel quickly immerses the reader in seven...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Anita rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: police-procedural, mystery, favorites

Inspector Kari Vaara has moved with his very pregnant wife to Helsinki, where he is now one of the homicide team. Kari is forced to undergo psychiatric sessions after his previous case, and torments himself thinking he caused the death of the twins he and his wife conceived previously through undue stress. To further his agitation, Kate's brother and sister come for an extended visit, puttinig more stress on his household. He investigates the gruesome beating and tortured death of Iisa Filipov,...more

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May 25, 2012 Rebecca Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: global-detective-fiction

I read these James Thompson books out of order (by accident) and I think that wasn't the best idea. This book is much better than the other two. It weaves together several threads: a gruesome murder of a wealthy woman, Finland's complicated relationship with Nazi Germany and events of WWII, Vaara's headaches that won't go away, his American wife's pregnancy which has the added stress of coming after a miscarriage, and a visit by her brother and sister who have come to "help" her when the baby co...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lucifer's Tears is the second installation of the Inspector Vaara series, and picks up where Snow Angels left off. We again find Kari in the middle of a gruesome murder investigation filled with sex and secrets. Unlike Snow Angels, in Lucifer's Tears, Kari investigates multiple cases at a time, including whether or not a renowned war hero engaged in war crimes.

Once again James Thompson dreams up a twisted reality for Inspector Vaara. This series is NOT for the faint of heart, or for those offend...more

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Feb 28, 2012 Bonnie Brody rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kari Vaara is back on the job. After taking a bullet to the face in his last book, Snow Angels, he is back to working on new cases as a police detective with his partner Milo. As Lucifer's Tears opens, Kari is assigned two investigations. One involves a murder and the other is bringing an alleged war criminal from World War II to justice. Meanwhile, Kari's wife, Kate, is eight and a half months pregnant with a baby girl. After losing twins in her last pregnancy, both Kate and Kari are very appre...more Kari Vaara is back on the job. After taking a bullet to the face in his last book, Snow Angels, he is back to working on new cases as a police detective with his partner Milo. As Lucifer's Tears opens, Kari is assigned two investigations. One involves a murder and the other is bringing an alleged war criminal from World War II to justice. Meanwhile, Kari's wife, Kate, is eight and a half months pregnant with a baby girl. After losing twins in her last pregnancy, both Kate and Kari are very apprehensive and nervous that everything goes right this time. Both of them feel responsible for their prior loss. Kate has invited her brother and sister over to Finland from the United States to be there for the birth and this creates a whole new set of problems for Kari.

The murder victim is named Iisa Filippov, wife of Ivan Filippov. Ivan is twenty-four years Iisa's senior. She was found tortured to death, lashed and whipped, covered with cigarette burns. She and her friend Linda are known for playing kinky sex games with videos and sex toys. Iisa and Linda also liked to dress up the same with the intent of looking like the retro sex symbol Betti Page. It is uncanny how much they looked alike. There is a lot of pressure on Kari to pin the murder on a man named Rein Saar but Kari does not believe that he is the murderer. Investigating this case opens a can of worms. People all the way at the top of the food chain are involved. Kari needs to watch his back and he is not very good with politics like this. On top of that, his partner Milo is a loose canon. He likes to play with guns and weapons and doesn't always use them judiciously.

Arvid is a very elderly man who is being accused of war crimes in Finland during World War II. The Finnish people have been taught that they are not guilty of any war crimes, that they withstood the German pressures and did not participate in any anti-semitic activities. It appears that Arvid and Kari's grandfather served together in the same unit and Kari learns a whole new history of Finland, one that shocks him and changes how he views his grandfather.

Meanwhile, Kate's brother John is getting into all kinds of trouble. He is a terrible alcoholic and drug user and Kari has to rescue him at the most inopportune times. Kate's sister Mary is a bible thumper and the whole family has to be careful about everything they talk about in front of her. Additionally, Kari is suffering from unrelenting, acute migraines that leave him drained and in agony. He finally visits his brother, a physician, to get some medical help for this problem.

Kari is an insular man who likes to keep to himself. He sees a therapist for his post-traumatic stress following his last case but basically trusts no one but Kate. He has had a nasty childhood that has left him scarred and angry and he has chosen to tell no one about what occurred. He comes to realize that this is not the best route to take and he wants to open up to Kate.

This is a multi-dimensional book - a thriller, murder mystery, family saga and history book all in one. It is a fascinating and thrilling roller coaster ride of a read and James Thompson does not disappoint. He knows Finland and its people - he lives in Finland but he was born and raised in the United States. It seems like the Scandinavians are going through a renaissance in crime novels, and this is a wonderful addition to the genre.
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Jul 16, 2011 Bernard Mcdonnell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another book about an inspector. Right...well let's not jump to conclusions too fast. I had to move away from American writers for a while to enjoy how a Finnish inspector may solve a crime using his wits and experience and not fully relying on muscle to work through a resolution.
Finland, a country formed by Lucifer's tears, is a country that I know little about. Thompson works his magic to make me enjoy living in the heat of North Texas vs. the winters in Helsinki.
Murder, explicit sexuality, h...more

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May 01, 2011 Sheri rated it 4 of 5 stars

I would actually give this 3 1/2 stars, inbetween liked it and really liked it. Book 2 of the police Inspector Vaara from Lapland. By now he has moved to Helinski because his American wife wanted to be in more of a city atmosphere. In the last book she was expecting twins but lost them, implied that it was due to the stress of his job. We start the story with her expecting again. It is about a year later.
He has multiple murders to solve, all going at once. His language is just as colorful as t...more

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May 01, 2011 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-audio-books, 2011-mysteries

Lucifer’s Tears, by James Thompson, B-plus, narrated by H. Ryder Smith, produced by Recorded Books, downloaded from audible.com.

In this, the second book in the Inspector Vaara series, the inspector has given up his job in his home town because it is too isolating for his wife, Kate. They move back to Helsinki, where he becomes an inspector of homicide. However, since he is new, he is assigned the worst shifts, like the middle of the night. While Helsinki is a much better fit for Kate, who finds...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Cleverly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Omg. I tend to have a pretty bad mouth when I am not teaching, but GEEZ! Every few sentences in this book has some curse word in it! The curse words are the ones that even I blush when I say them out loud or I use acronyms for so that people who aren't in the know, don't know what they mean. Overall, the plot was juicy! Kari Vaara, a male inspector for the homicide division of the Helsinki police department, is the low guy on the totem pole. He is covering several cases throughout the book. The...more

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Apr 20, 2011 Lynn Harnett rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Finnish Inspector Kari Vaara investigates another gruesome sex crime (after his debut in Snow Angels, now out in paperback), but this time he’s in Helsinki rather than his beloved Lapland homeland.

“Kaamos, the dark time, is short-lived. The light coming and going so fast depresses me. I miss the long Arctic darkness. Already now, in January, we have daylight from around nine a.m. until four p.m.”

At least Helsinki is having a real winter rather than its customary gloom of “icy gray mud,” but that...more Finnish Inspector Kari Vaara investigates another gruesome sex crime (after his debut in Snow Angels, now out in paperback), but this time he’s in Helsinki rather than his beloved Lapland homeland.

“Kaamos, the dark time, is short-lived. The light coming and going so fast depresses me. I miss the long Arctic darkness. Already now, in January, we have daylight from around nine a.m. until four p.m.”

At least Helsinki is having a real winter rather than its customary gloom of “icy gray mud,” but that’s about the only thing that’s proceeding satisfactorily in his new life as hero of the hour. His new partner, Milo Nieminen, is inexperienced, cocky, brilliant and possibly a psychopath, and their first murder is an apparently open-and-shut torture beating.

Iisa Filippov’s death was reported by her lover, Rein Saar, who says he had been knocked out on his arrival home and woke covered in blood beside his dead lover. Filippov was married to a Russian-born construction company owner and Saar was her horseback-riding instructor. “ ‘We were meeting for the purpose of engaging in sex,’ “ Saar states, “ ‘We had fun together.’ “

Vaara is inclined to look further, particularly after meeting her cold fish of a husband and his buxom secretary. But Vaara’s boss, a crony of the husband’s, insists Saar is guilty and Vaara must move on to a more important case – a case with historic roots and implications that could shake the country to its foundations.

One of Finland’s WWII national heroes, Arvid Lahtinen, 90, is being accused of war crimes while stationed at a POW camp run with the Germans. Assigned to investigate, Vaara learns more than he wanted to about Finnish wartime expediencies and about his beloved grandfather’s possible involvement.

Meanwhile his pregnant American wife’s brother and sister are coming to stay until after the baby is born and Vaara’s migraines are growing so bad he barely sleeps.

An American living in Finland, Thompson keeps a lot of balls in the air – political, personal, cultural, moral – while moving his story along at a brisk pace. Smart, soul-searching and protective, Vaara is a principled, complex and haunted narrator living in a culture affected by its strange arctic beauty and extreme climate.

Atmospheric, eccentric, and deeply absorbing, the Vaara novels will appeal to anyone who enjoys the brooding Scandinavian novels of Steig Larsson, Henning Mankell or Arnaldur Indridason.
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Mar 27, 2011 Caitlin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

Since Stieg Larsson's success, publishers have been handing out Scandinavian crime fiction like candy. As with all things some of it as good and lots of it sucks. Lucifer's Tears falls into the good category.

It's a police procedural that is set in Finland. Its main character, Kari Vaara, is scarred both inside and out. He's your basic hard-drinking, smoking, brooding detective character - we've seen this character a zillion times before, it's a staple of the genre. I remember when I started read...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Luanne Ollivier rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read James Thompson's first Inspector Vaara novel - Snow Angels- last year. I loved it and was thrilled to see the next book - Lucifer's Tears - in the series.

Inspector Kari Vaara has moved from the far north of Finland to Helsinki. His American born wife Kate is expecting their child any day. Their first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and Vaara is terrified that the same will happen again. He is trying to stay close to home and keep reasonable hours, but he is the new guy on the Homicide s...more I read James Thompson's first Inspector Vaara novel - Snow Angels- last year. I loved it and was thrilled to see the next book - Lucifer's Tears - in the series.

Inspector Kari Vaara has moved from the far north of Finland to Helsinki. His American born wife Kate is expecting their child any day. Their first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and Vaara is terrified that the same will happen again. He is trying to stay close to home and keep reasonable hours, but he is the new guy on the Homicide squad and he hasn't exactly been welcomed with open arms. He's on the graveyard shift with the other new guy- a wunderkid who seems a bit...off, somehow. But then again, so does Vaara.

He and his new partner Milo are called out to what appears to be a domestic murder. A husband wakes up and realizes he's been sleeping with a corpse - his dead wife. He pleads innocence, that it's her lover they should be after, but the powers that be seem to have the case already solved - with the verdict they want.

At the same time, the Interior Minister wants Vaara to investigate a 90 year old man for war crimes. He wants an innocent verdict, but Germany wants the man extradited as a Nazi war criminal. It gets more complicated when Vaara realizes he has a family connection to the old man's story.

Vaara is battling crippling headaches, insomnia and corrupt leaders on every level. And his wife's brother and sister have just arrived from the US to help with the baby. They're not much help.

Inspector Kari Vaara is just a great flawed character. He's highly intelligent, but sometimes acts without thinking. He constantly defies his superiors, but he gets results. His personal demons drive him, but he is a dedicated husband and soon to be father. Supporting characters are just as well drawn. Milo kept me off balance and I really disliked Kate's family.

The plot has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. Nothing is straight forward and the two cases intersect in a way I didn't see coming. A word of warning to readers - the crimes are graphic in nature.

The setting is yet another character. The history and politics of Finland play a large part in this book. I also found the culture and food references interesting. The cold and the weather are tangible as well.

"My home, Finland. The ninth and innermost circle of hell. A frozen lake of blood and guilt formed from Lucifer's tears, turned to ice by the flapping of his leathery wings."
James Thompson's story is interesting as well. He was born and raised in eastern Kentucky, but has lived in Finland for 12 years now. He is also fluent in both Swedish and Finnish.

Fans of Michael Connelly would love Kari Vaara. Any yes - if you've finished all the Steig Larssons, you'd enjoy this series as well.
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Mar 06, 2013 Mary Gilligan-Nolan rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the second book I have read in this series and I have noted that the reviews were in general quite good on this. However, I think it was o.k., but not one of the best books I have read recently. I find the character of Inspector Kari Vaara confusing and the plot went from having potential to be unrealistic. Kari is in one breath, a good cop who is incorruptible and then in the next, a maverick who uses dubious methods. The language is pretty rough and crude, and don't get me wrong, I'm n...more

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Jun 10, 2011 S.D. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller

This is the follow-up to SNOW ANGELS featuring Inspector Kari Vaara. It is set in Finland and seeing that it is 100 degrees here in Chicago now, it was refreshing to read about 20 degree below zero weather. A woman is tortured and murdered and the main suspect is the man covered in blood lying next to her. But Kari isn’t so sure since both the victim and her lover, Rein Saar, had a taser used on them. Kari turns his attention to the victim’s husband who is having an affair with his secretary, bu...more This is the follow-up to SNOW ANGELS featuring Inspector Kari Vaara. It is set in Finland and seeing that it is 100 degrees here in Chicago now, it was refreshing to read about 20 degree below zero weather. A woman is tortured and murdered and the main suspect is the man covered in blood lying next to her. But Kari isn’t so sure since both the victim and her lover, Rein Saar, had a taser used on them. Kari turns his attention to the victim’s husband who is having an affair with his secretary, but Ivan Filippov is well-connected with the city’s movers and shakers and Kari’s boss is eager for Rein Saar to be the sacrificial lamb. When Kari discovers Iisa Filippov engaged in a lot of S&M with numerous men and filmed it, he begins to wonder which of the movers and shakers might be on film. As if having a wife (Kate) due any week and her relatives visiting, including a brother John who is a little reckless isn’t enough, Kari is asked to investigate one of Finland’s national heroes to clear up any perception that Finland had anything to do with the murder of Communists and Jews during WWII. In his investigation Kari learns his own grandfather might have been part of it. Toss in a young partner who is trigger happy and Kari has his hands full.

Like its predecessor, LUCIFER’S TEARS is not for the faint at heart. It is brutal, graphic, a lot of sexual content, but it is riveting and thought provoking. Just learning about Finland is a treat. For one thing, Kari’s brother is a neurologist and wants Kari to have an MRI to find out why he is having so many migraines. In Finland it takes nine months before you can get an MRI. As Kari’s brother says, “you could die while you wait.” When John confesses he lost his teaching job back home for sleeping with a student, Kari says he should have worked at a Finnish university because you can sleep with your students. Pregnant women in Finland also receive a “maternity package” from the government or 400 euros to buy baby things. The maternity package includes clothes, snowsuit, hats, mittens, socks, diapers, etc. And you can keep the box it came in as a crib until you can buy a proper one. When John learns every maternity package contains the same items he is surprised every kid would be dressed the same for their first year. He says “That sounds like something Chairman Mao would have thought of.” The government will also pay women to stay home with their baby for the first nine months. Society doesn’t consider a woman a good mother if she doesn’t spend at least three months at home with her baby. Out of curiosity I looked up the tax rate in Finland. It is 46% plus a value added tax of 23%. You will notice when reading both books that the citizens, at least the men, do a LOT of drinking.
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May 23, 2012 Shomeret rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: around-the-world, mystery-thriller, my-reviews

WARNING: If you have serious problems with spoilers, don't read this second book in the series first as I did. It contains major spoilers for the first book, Snow Angels, including whodunit. Spoilers never bother me, but I thought I would issue a warning to other readers.

I found this to be as noir as Scandinavian mysteries written by Scandinavians. The detective, Inspector Vaara, is the closest to being a hero of all the characters, but he's capable of losing control of himself. This is understa...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Phil rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries

I can understand a reader's impatience or confusion if s/he read Lucifer's Tears before Snow Angels. The two books really flow, the first into the next, into a perfect set-up. Reading Book Two before Book One is indeed a mistake.

Lucifer's Tears, is filled with repressed feelings throughout that are on a knife's edge from exploding at any point (and at times they do). (Garrison Keilor had made a career making jokes about repression among the descendants of Lutheran Norwegians in Minnesota; he co...more

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Dec 23, 2011 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-general, kindle, crime-thriller

3.5 Stars

This is the second novel by Thompson that I’ve read, and again enjoyed it very much. I really dig Inspector Vaara as the main character, and I love the fast-paced manner in which Thompson writes, weaving together multiple storylines and characters without being overly confusing, and tying up all of the loose ends by the end of the story. I also think the little tidbits about Finnish culture and customs that are thrown in are fascinating, such as the glimpse into the sauna customs, the a...more 3.5 Stars

This is the second novel by Thompson that I’ve read, and again enjoyed it very much. I really dig Inspector Vaara as the main character, and I love the fast-paced manner in which Thompson writes, weaving together multiple storylines and characters without being overly confusing, and tying up all of the loose ends by the end of the story. I also think the little tidbits about Finnish culture and customs that are thrown in are fascinating, such as the glimpse into the sauna customs, the attitude toward alcohol in Finland, the tidbit about the cabbage leaves in the end of the story (I’ll have to ask a Finnish friend if that’s true), and the generous amount of maternity leave and the “maternity package” given by the government. I assume that all those tidbits are probably thrown in because Thompson is an American living in Finland, so he must somehow know that non-Finnish readers would appreciate those little interesting nuggets of info.

Although I really enjoyed Lucifer’s Tears, I admit that I enjoyed the first book in the Inspector Vaara series, Snow Angels, better, for a couple reasons. First, Snow Angels was set in Lapland, which was a very exotic place for a story to be set, thus making it inherently interesting to me. Lucifer’s Tears is set in Helsinki, which is still foreign, but not quite as exotic. I did enjoy reading about some of the places in Helsinki that I saw when I visited the city earlier this year (like hotel Kamp and other areas mentioned in the story), but as far as a setting for a crime novel, it was just a big city in the midst of a nasty winter. Finally, one of the reasons I enjoyed Snow Angels so much was the lack of pointless or boring backstory and ‘sidestory’, if you will. Lucifer’s Tears included various storylines, which I thought was great, but one of them encompassed quite a bit of history about wars and other scandals involving Finland, Germany and Russia, which was just really boring and pointless to me. Although I did enjoy Arvid’s growing relationship with Kari and I especially love what Arvid did in the end of the story, I could’ve done completely without the Arvid storyline which necessitated all of the snoozeville history.

Overall, this was a fast, interesting read, and I’m already looking forward to the 2012 release of the next book in the series, Helsinki White.
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Nov 21, 2011 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, apl

Inspector Kari Vaara is a fresh ~~addition~~ sort of exception to the classic, nearly cliche of the Nordic noir detectives (middle-aged, divorced or with catastrophic relationships, often with really annoying children from the previous relationships, with alcohol problems, and with Harry Bosch-type issues with authorities). This is the 2nd in the series, but it's no harm to start with the second volume - the books are not as much bound in order as e.g. the Millennium or Harry Hole books are.

In this...more Inspector Kari Vaara is a fresh ~~addition~~ sort of exception to the classic, nearly cliche of the Nordic noir detectives (middle-aged, divorced or with catastrophic relationships, often with really annoying children from the previous relationships, with alcohol problems, and with Harry Bosch-type issues with authorities). This is the 2nd in the series, but it's no harm to start with the second volume - the books are not as much bound in order as e.g. the Millennium or Harry Hole books are.

In this book, inspector Vaara is asked to investigate some affairs from the 1940s, a suspected Finnish war hero is suspected of war crimes. Another case he gets to investigate with his new, annoying partner (and please don't call the handicap of the partner asperger since it's nothing but social ineptitude and nerdness) is a brutal murder of Iisa Filippov, a Finnish trophy wife married to a Russain-origin suspected mobster. There's the ugly, depressing reality with the police work and the society, and then there is Kate, the wife. Vaara tells the story in first person, and with the English versions of the books I've been told the versions of the story are very different, like with the first book. Kate helps Kari reflect the world around him, making it easier to comprehend for the US readers than the average Finnish crime story would be (not that they really translate them... I can name all Finnish crime books that have been made available in English in the past 80 years in the fingers of both hands). Much like with Peter Decker (Fay Kellerman), there's the work, then there's the family life. Kari is very protective of his family; Kate and a future daughter #1. Violently protective would be the right word. The Vaaras also get visitors, Kate's younger sister and brother, for weeks around the birth of their daughter. Both siblings get occasionally rather annoying, and the Vaaras being both very strong type A personalities would help develop even more drama. (But please read to see how much there is, or how it's resolved).

Like Snow Angels, there is a lot about Finland and Finnish culture. I would definitely recommend the book (and the series) for anyone interested in that country, and especially for anyone who's going to live there for a while. Plus for those who love the different police procedurals, noir, and classic crime around the world.

My favorite character in the book is Arvid, the war hero suspected of war crimes. I can also very clearly recognize a few types around my life like Kate's sister and brother, and even the Vaaras in their type-A-ness.
I enjoyed the book but it seemed slightly less exotic to me than Snow Angels (then again, I did go to high school five minute walk from Kari's favorite corner pub mentioned in this book). Another thing that slightly got on me was the slightly too much talk about some female and pregnancy issues. I guess those kind of make sense for the story and the characters, but I kind of would enjoy some things a bit more vague and less detailed. It'll be curious to see how the characters develop in the next book - as Kari will once again have some changes in work, those should show somehow in the next story.(less)

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Apr 07, 2011 Giovanni Gelati rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow, it is Thursday already and we are moving like a bullet train headed for a big day on Saturday. Our second Improvised Digital short Story will be happening then and I am totally amped at the prospect of working with a fine group of authors on this next project. We will start at 8am on Saturday and hopefully be done everything by 3pm.I am giving each author a time limit of 1.5 hours to put together their 1,000 to 1500 words of the story. Basically within a nice 8 hour time span we will create...more
Wow, it is Thursday already and we are moving like a bullet train headed for a big day on Saturday. Our second Improvised Digital short Story will be happening then and I am totally amped at the prospect of working with a fine group of authors on this next project. We will start at 8am on Saturday and hopefully be done everything by 3pm.I am giving each author a time limit of 1.5 hours to put together their 1,000 to 1500 words of the story. Basically within a nice 8 hour time span we will create 2 new stories, provide cover art for it, edit it, publish it, and then create an audio file of it. Not bad. Tune in and listen; it should be a rip. Now let’s get to today’s novel. Here is what is between the covers:
“Inspector Kari Vaara returns, more haunted than ever, in the follow- up to Snow Angels, "a must for fans of the international crime novel." (Booklist)
The Sufia Elmi case left Kari Vaara with a scarred face, chronic insomnia, a constant migraine, and a full body count's worth of ghosts. Now it's a year later, in Helsinki, and Kari is working the graveyard shift in the homicide unit, terrified that his heavily pregnant wife will miscarry again after she lost the twins just after Christmas.
Kari is pushed into investigating a ninety-year-old national hero for war crimes committed during World War II. The Interior Minister demands a conclusion of innocence, preserving Finland's heroic perception about itself and its role in the war, but Germany wants extradition.
In a seeming coincidence, Kari is drawn into the murder-by-torture case of Lisa Filippov, the philandering wife of a Russian businessman. Her lover is clearly being framed for the crime-and Ivan Filippov's arrogance and nonchalance point the finger at him. But he's being protected from above, leading Kari to the corrupt corridors of power. Soon the past and present collide in ways no one could have anticipated.”
I have not read any of this author’s previous work, so I am a first time reader here. His style I enjoyed, his main character, Kari Vaara, was good. He seems to be your basic flawed, fractured, disgruntled, Dirty Harry type detective but living in a place where people’s names are spelled and said a bit differently. Kari has way too much baggage from a few to many shootings and police run- ins to be anything close to normal. His wife is just as OCD as he is coming from a similarly fractured family from the USA. How wonderful, your basic average couple, needing one of the biggest UHauls ever just to carry their emotional baggage, physical & emotional scars with them from place to place. Parking must be a bitch for them in Helsinki. Is this an uplifting tale? What do you think? I did enjoy the whodunit aspect to it, gaining some insight into another part of the world was cool, reading a new author was nice also. He definitely is a different flav than the rest of what I have been reading. Is it all depressing? No, but I do tend to enjoy lighter fare. I enjoy suspense, thrillers, mysteries, great character driven fiction, but the bummer for me was Kari; he could be much better and more flawed with much less. Does that make sense? For me it does, maybe I am off base; to me, less is more. I would not pass up the read and I am hitting it with four stars: there is some good action and many twists. Give me your opinion on this novel, I would enjoy the feedback. Thanks, I looking forward to hearing from on this and seeing you on Saturday.
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Apr 16, 2012 Eva rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: scandi-and-nordic-crime

One can see that Nordic history related to the WWII is still alive: Henning Mankel's Return of the Dancing Master, Camilla Lackberg's Hidden Child, Jo Nesbo's Redbreast and now James Thompson's Lucifer's Tears. It was my second book by Thompson and I must say I liked it better than the first one although I had some doubts that elaborating the topic I know from other good books he may slip into cliches. He did not. It was an interesting combination of quite a few storylines complementing one anot...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Cathy Cole rated it 4 of 5 stars

First Line: The baby kicks against my hand and rouses me from my nap.

It's been a year since Inspector Kari Vaara solved the Sufia Elmi case, and he's been left physically and emotionally scarred. Now living and working in Helsinki, Finland, his very pregnant wife is adjusting well, but Vaara is not. He is not trusted by his fellow police officers in the homicide unit and finds himself working graveyard shift with another officer who's not trusted either. Vaara suffers from insomnia and with chro...more First Line: The baby kicks against my hand and rouses me from my nap.

It's been a year since Inspector Kari Vaara solved the Sufia Elmi case, and he's been left physically and emotionally scarred. Now living and working in Helsinki, Finland, his very pregnant wife is adjusting well, but Vaara is not. He is not trusted by his fellow police officers in the homicide unit and finds himself working graveyard shift with another officer who's not trusted either. Vaara suffers from insomnia and with chronic headaches that last for weeks.

Vaara's superiors force him to investigate a ninety-year-old national hero for war crimes committed during World War II. The Finnish government is pressing for a conclusion of innocence, which will preserve the country's heroic perception of itself, but Germany (among others) wants extradition. What makes this a sticky case for Vaara is the fact that his own grandfather served side-by-side with this hero during the war.

Vaara is also drawn into the murder case of Iisa Filippov. It is obvious that her lover is being framed for the crime, but while the evidence points towards her arrogant husband, Ivan Filippov is being protected by highly connected members of the police force.

As icing on his cake, Vaara's wife invites her brother and sister to stay with them. With all the different personalities involved, it's not going to be an easy family reunion.

I really enjoyed Snow Angels, the first book in this series, for its depiction of the life and customs of the Fins living at the Arctic Circle, for the character of Kari Vaara, and for the story itself. This second book, with its new location in Helsinki, is a strong and welcome addition to the series.

Once more, the history and customs of Finland are deftly woven into the story, and the murder investigation keeps the pages turning as Vaara has to figure out a way to bring the right man to justice. But as strong as the setting and plot are, it is the characters who truly bring this book to life.

The brother and sister visiting from the United States have overtones of the "house guests from hell", but they are not one-dimensional characters. They both have depth and help to make Vaara's wife come into much clearer focus.

Of course, Inspector Kari Vaara is the most clearly delineated character of all. He is a man who loves his wife so much that he would move from the place he loves to a city that he hates. He is willing to put up with her brother and sister living with them during the last stages of his wife's pregnancy no matter that they are both thorns in his side. He continues to deal with a partner who's often insufferable because he has the feeling that, buried somewhere deep inside, there exists a good cop. And Vaara is the kind of man who must find the truth and who must work for justice, even though it may forever tarnish his memories of a beloved grandfather.

Lucifer's Tears is a fast-paced, involving story with many added extras. Even though it stands alone well, I think you'll want to read these two books in order so that you can get to know Inspector Kari Vaara. The acquaintance is one that I have learned to savor.
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Apr 15, 2011 Tami rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: goodreads-giveaways, 2011

Haven't received yet, just received notice I had won. 3/25/11

Received yesterday, hope to start it soon. 4/6/11

Started last night, 4/11/11

I haven't read the first book, but it seems Kari made an arrest and was able to pick his next job. He has chosed homicide in the town he grew up in. He is given a homicide by his boss to investigate that looks like an open and shut case, which obviously it is not or there wouldn't be a story. A side story of Finlands involvement with the Nazi's and Soviets duri...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, february-12, male-author

Inspector Kari Vaara returns in this book. A woman is found murdered in her lover's flat with her lover beside her claiming he has been hit over the head. Vaara is under great pressure to wrap up the case quickly and arrest the lover. However, he feels this is all too convenient and pursues the case more. He is also told to investigate the war crimes committed by a now 90 year old man and these implicate his grandfather also.

In his private life Kari's wife Kate is 8 and a half months pregnant a...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Victoria rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-in-a-series, family, finland, mystery-thriller

It is a rare thing for a sequel to be stronger than the book that preceded it, but I think I enjoyed this even more than Snow Angels! I am so impressed - it was just a terrific read! The actual mystery was not so much of a "whodunit" but it kept me turning pages all the same. The Finnish setting was a great eye-opener to a whole new culture, expanding and deepening the setting even more than the first book. The family dynamic added quite a bit to this one, as well. The only two downsides to the...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Carmen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-and-thrillers

Set in present-day Finland, this book tells about corruption in the police force involving the higher-ups. Inspector Vaara needs to solve a murder. He is told whom he should arrest, although it is clear to him that the man is not guilty. While all of this is going on, he is also dealing with dehabiltating headaches, a wife who is due to have a baby, her siblings' visit, and questions about his grandfather's service in World War II. He is also feeling guilty because he feels responsible for his w...more

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Mar 17, 2011 switterbug (Betsey) rated it 3 of 5 stars

he second installment of Finnish homicide detective Kari Vaara has moved from the Arctic Circle to Helsinki, a typically warmer climate, but is laden with the same grim Scandinavian malaise so pervasive in Snow Angels. The laconic Vaara requested a new assignment following the personal trauma and collateral damage of the Sufia Elmi case. His American wife, Kate, is 8 ½ months pregnant, and Kari is plagued with headaches and stress over her pregnancy.

In this story, Vaara is investigating the murd...more he second installment of Finnish homicide detective Kari Vaara has moved from the Arctic Circle to Helsinki, a typically warmer climate, but is laden with the same grim Scandinavian malaise so pervasive in Snow Angels. The laconic Vaara requested a new assignment following the personal trauma and collateral damage of the Sufia Elmi case. His American wife, Kate, is 8 ½ months pregnant, and Kari is plagued with headaches and stress over her pregnancy.

In this story, Vaara is investigating the murder of a woman, Iisa Fillipov, who was married to a debauched business leader in the community. Iisa's extramarital Estonian lover, Rein Saar, is the primary suspect--he woke up with her dead body beside him. Vaara is also asked to investigate an alleged war criminal, and to cover up any trails that lead to affirmation of his guilt (keep Finland spotless). The chief of police and interior minister are pressing this case on him because of his grandfather's possible involvement. that On top of all this, Kate's American siblings are coming to visit.

This is a taut police procedural with a graphic opening and an implausible denouement, an over-the-top climax that is now a hallmark of Thompson's work. This second novel is not quite as atmospheric as his first one, (i.e. climate as character) but it hits the high notes with assurance, and is also a lead-in to the next installment. Vaara's skill at balancing several plot lines simultaneously and braiding them together is exhilarating. Moreover, he saliently blends in Finland's history and social issues to support the story.

This next paragraph is NOT spoiler information--I am merely conveying Vaara's fears at the outset of this novel, together with a criticism of the facts that Thompson alleges. I was bothered by the author's lack of precision in his research of pregnancy. Vaara is worried that his wife will miscarry--a groundless fear, since you can't "miscarry" at full term, you can only give birth. 38 weeks is essentially term. Secondly, the cure for mild preeclampsia at this late stage pregnancy? Induction of labor--but this is not presented as a viable option.

Despite flaws, I enjoyed it--the thrilling and dexterous pace; the bracing prose; Kari Vaara's incorruptible nature against his small corruptions; his anarchist, gun-glee, Mensa partner, Milo; and the snow. Always the snow. You don't have to read these two books in order to enjoy them, but I do recommend it for character progression. 3.5

This review is based on an advanced reading copy I received from the publisher. The views are entirely my own.

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May 29, 2013 Harry Allagree rated it 3 of 5 stars

Technically, I should've read this before Helsinki White, but I misread the copyright dates. Thompson manages to keep you on the end of your seat as he unfolds details in a rather understated way. The character of Arvid is spelled out, as are the characters of Milo & Sulo, and makes their appearance in Helsinki White more understandable. Thompson minces no words in relating the uncertainty, brutality, & moral questionableness of police life, as experienced by young Inspector Kari Vaara,...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio, crime-fiction, mystery

This book was like no other mystery/crime fiction story I have ever read. I totally enjoyed it but found it odd that there was so much humor in it. At least I found myself laughing more than usual. It might have been the double dong dildo that set me off on many occasions but also the characters uninhibited view of less than normal sexual practices. Normalcy in this case is totally subjective of course so it may just be me. I like Inspector Vaara. He reminds me of my husband a bit. He really doe...more

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Lucifer's Tears (Inspector Kari Vaara #2)

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