The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen

First published in Denmark in 2010; published in translation by Dutton on December 31, 2013

The difficulty with revenge, particularly when served cold, is that people change. What seems like just retribution may turn out to be a harsh judgment visited upon a repentant transgressor who seeks (and deserves) forgiveness. The lesson of The Purity of Vengeance is that revenge is a dish best not served.

Between 1923 and 1961, a number of women in Denmark who were deemed genetically inferior -- ostensibly "feeble-minded," the women were often regarded as dangerously promiscuous, particularly if they became pregnant -- were institutionalized on an island called Sprogø. There they were subjected to forced abortions and sterilizations. This dark history provides the foundation for The Purity of Vengeance.

The woman seeking revenge is Nete Hermansen, who (with good reason) blames six people for the various misfortunes she has suffered throughout her life. In 1987, a couple of years after her angry husband dies in an accident that she survives, Nete writes a letter to each of the six with a promise to make them wealthy. During the course of the novel, we learn what those individuals did to Nete and what Nete did to them.

Interwoven with Nete's story is a missing persons investigation that takes place in 2010, undertaken by Carl Mørck, who is still stuck in the basement with Assad and schizophrenic Rose, his underlings in Department Q. And interwoven with the story of the investigation is the story of Curt Wad, who is still practicing medicine at 88, talking Nordic women out of having abortions while doing quite the opposite with women he regards as coming from an undesirable heritage. Wad is the driving force behind Denmark's Purity Party, a political movement of calcified ideas that is gaining ground in 2010.

The Purity of Vengeance does the things a good crime novel needs to do, and a little more. The plot is engaging although, until the very end, not particularly surprising. It nevertheless has a degree of depth that most thrillers lack. Building upon personalities established in the earlier Department Q novels, the characters have substance. Carl revisits (and continues to be haunted by) the moment of cowardice that branded him in The Keeper of Lost Causes, and we learn a bit more about the mysterious Assad (although just enough to make him even more enigmatic). Carl is going through some domestic drama (involving both his ex-wife and current girlfriend) that Jussi Adler-Olsen approaches with a light touch, preventing the novel from getting bogged down in maudlin issues of domestic strife. Even the vilest criminals have sympathetic moments, making them believable characters rather than caricatures of evil. Nete's motivation for her appalling behavior is especially easy to understand.

The downside to this novel is that it's longer than it needs to be, and the second half starts to drag a bit, but the pace picks up as the story nears its chilling conclusion. The Purity of Vengeance is a worthy addition to the ever-growing collection of Scandanavian crime fiction.

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The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Published by Dutton on August 23, 2011

The Keeper of Lost Causes imagines that Denmark has created a new department for the investigation of unsolved crimes.  Homicide investigator Carl Mørck seems the perfect choice to head Department Q, in part because he will be working with only one other person, a mysterious Syrian named Hafez el-Assad whose chief duty (at least initially) is to clean the floor.  Mørck is not well liked by other homicide cops; he’s become even more difficult since he and his two partners were shot at a crime scene.  Mørck carries the guilt of one partner’s death and of the other’s paralysis.  He blames himself for his inaction, a sentiment that is widely shared within the department.  Midway through the novel Mørck is forced to confront his buried emotions -- particularly after he begins to experience panic attacks.

The first chapters of The Keeper of Lost Causes shift between 2007, as Mørck sets up Department Q while trying to avoid any actual work, and 2002, when a member of Parliament named Merete Lynggaard disappears from a ferry.  Merete’s mentally disabled brother Uffe was suspected of murdering Merete but her body was never recovered and Uffe was never charged with the crime.  Merete’s presumed drowning in the Baltic Sea becomes the first Department Q file to claim Mørck’s reluctant attention.  Despite Mørck’s desire to wall himself off from life, Assad prods Mørck until his curiosity compels him to seek answers to the questions posed by Merete’s disappearance.

Jussi Adler-Olsen has a wicked imagination.  Few writers have made me feel the utter helplessness of a victim’s plight with such skill.  Adler-Olsen portrays the psychological impact of captivity and isolation over the course of time in scenes that are both subtle and powerful.  In that regard The Keeper of Lost Causes reminded me of The Collector, John Fowles’ masterful examination of a victim’s response to subjugation.  While you won’t find Fowles-like prose in The Keeper of Lost Causes, Adler-Olsen’s workmanlike writing style is more than adequate to the task.  And if Adler-Olsen’s characters lack the depth of Fowles’ characters, they are still more complex and interesting than the stock characters found in most thrillers.

Adler-Olsen builds tension methodically before delivering an exhilarating climax.  The motivation for the crime against Merete seems unlikely in the extreme, but given that damaged people are often prone to irrational behavior, I suppose it is within the realm of possibility.  In any event, the plot is inventive. Given the exceptional storytelling displayed in this novel, Adler-Olsen has me looking forward to the next Department Q mystery. 

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