Danish Uncertainties

Abstract

The work of the Dane Jussi Adler-Olsen arrived (translated by Tiina Nunnally) in non-Scandinavian countries with a pre-sold reputation, and the author himself arrived with a cluster of awards under his belt: the Glass Key Award for best Nordic Crime Thriller, the Danish Reader’s Book Award and the Danish Thriller of the Year (all for the year 2010). The first novel to be translated, Mercy, sports a dramatis personae of wellrounded characters (including an on-the-ropes copper) and a striking premise. The book is about second chances. Carl Mørck once enjoyed the reputation of a good homicide detective — one of Copenhagen’s finest, in fact. Then a bullet nearly puts an end to his career and his life. He survives, but two of his colleagues are less fortunate, and Carl, as his gun remained in his holster, lays the blame at his own door. As he begins to go off the rails, the imminent termination of his job is clearly in the offing. But to his surprise he is suddenly promoted to the newly created Department Q, designed to deal with ‘cases of special focus’. His ex-colleagues are sarcastic, dismissing the new department as a repository for hopeless cases. It is felt that the erratic Carl is the right man for this non-job. But his first assignment concerns missing politician Merete Lynggaard, who disappeared five years ago, and is believed to be dead.