I really enjoyed “I’m Travelling Alone” by Samuel Bjork and was looking forward to reading the second novel featuring Holger Munch and Mia Kruger. When a botanist stumbles over a dead teenage girl in a forest clearing; posed in a pentagon, surrounded by feathers and with a white lily in her mouth, Munch is called to investigate the strange murder. This crime leads them to a local home for troubled children, where the girl was staying, and to crimes with their shadow in the past and yet links to a modern technology that only the newest member of the team, computer specialist, Gabriel Mork, has any understanding of.
Holger Munch is relieved to have something to take his mind off the impending re-marriage of his ex-wife. Although the couple divorced many years before, Munch has never come to terms with the failure of his marriage and is deeply depressed. Likewise, Mia Kruger, whose sister died of a heroin overdose is also unable to cope with past events. Deemed unstable and unfit for duty, she is being forced to have therapy and only returns to work when Munch says that he needs her.
In a sense, one of the issues with this book is not that it is not fast paced, exciting and full of interesting characters, but that it is both different – but very similar – to the previous novel. The story may be different, but the themes are very similar. In the previous book, Munch was depressed about his divorce and he still is, while Mia Kruger thought about suicide and she still is. That novel was about religious sects, child neglect and mental illness and this book also mirrors many of those themes.
Although I really like the fact that the characters in this series are fleshed out by work colleagues and family members, I think the author now needs to move away from those in the vicinity of Munch and Kruger’s world and move away from storylines which involve, and impact on them, so personally. That aside, I did enjoy much of this novel and I do really like the characters – as depressed, and depressing, as they always seem to be! I have hopes that this is just a difficult second novel and that this will evolve into a series which lives up to the promise of the first book. If you enjoy dark and gritty Nordic Noir, then this will certainly be for you – but I suggest you read, “I’m Travelling Alone,” first, as that really explains the characters motivations and sets the scene for this novel.