I was absolutely gripped by this book. From the start, I couldn’t put it down, and read far too late into the night. It was Scandi Noir at its very best. It was fast-paced and gritty, with one event followed swiftly by another, and with interesting central characters, police officers Naia Thulin and Mark Hess, both of whom were flawed in a very human way, and consequently felt real people. If you like Scandi Noir, you will love this.

The story begins with a horrific murder in Denmark thirty years earlier, and then moves to the modern day, and the discovery of the gruesome murder of a young woman. Be warned! This novel is not for those with a weak stomach.

The woman, a mother, was murdered close to her house, and one her hands sawn off while she was still alive. The figure of a small chestnut man, made of chestnuts and matchsticks, has been left at the murder site. A fingerprint on the chestnut man links that crime with an unsolved case from the previous year, that of the missing daughter of a politician, Rosa Hartung, Minister for Social Affairs. The body of Rosa’s daughter had never been found, but the case had been closed after the suspect confessed to the crime and was locked up in a secure unit. With the discovery of the fingerprint linking the two cases, the police start looking again at the earlier case, and the hunt for a killer begins.

The plot is very clever and very skilfully worked out, and it will keep the reader turning the pages. I couldn’t put it down.

I thought the translation so well done that I completely forgot that I was reading a novel in translation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the novel.

If you're a fan of the 'Scandi noir' genre, then this is a book for you: it's gritty, dark and gruesome in the best possible way. The crime is violent and grim, the setting is seedy, the characters are flawed and damaged and the stakes keep getting higher and higher as the story progresses.

The translation is a little clunky in places, but the story makes up for it.

I really enjoyed this book. It took a few chapters to get into the story as the scenes were being set, but then I was hooked and couldn't wait to pick it up in any spare minutes.
The story is complex and the various strands are carefully woven together. There are scenes which are really scary as it seems that the mystery is being solved, and then the story moves further on towards its conclusion.
As the end approaches several surprising twists develop. The storylines are almost all finished off but it doesn't feel too "tidy" It feels satisfying but with a worrying concern about the future!

I was really excited to read this book unfortunately it didn't really live up to expectations. All the right ingredients are there and it's a perfectly reasonable plot just a bit predictable. I also struggled to identify with either detective.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

It was a well-written book and kept me guessing throughout. The characters were well described and the plot was clever. I enjoyed reading the thriller although it some of the violent descriptions were not for the faint-hearted.

This book started off a little slower than I hoped for, the story starts back in Denmark 30 years ago with a murder scene and quickly jumps forward to the present day. We meet two brilliantly different characters in Thulin and Hess who I instantly wanted to know more about. They are trying to solve a murder where a chestnut man figure is left behind at the scene.
This dark Scandi thriller is definitely not for the faint hearted, the murder scenes are gory and messy and this book seems to be aimed as avid thriller readers.

This is a dark thriller which works well.
It does have a slow start but stick with it as it is a worthwhile read.
The characters are strong and the plot line intriguing. Not for the faint hearted!

Someone what of a slow burner of a book but you just need to stick with it, you will be glad you did, if you enjoy police procedural/psychological thrillers, this is one for you. Definitely one for TV!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the debut novel from the creator of the excellent TV show, The Killing, and it does not disappoint. It is a clever mix of police procedural, politics and family drama. It kept me completely gripped until the end.

Detectives Naia Thurlin and Mark Hess are investigating the killing of a woman whose hand has been sawn off prior to her murder; beside her body is a chestnut man, a figure made out of chestnuts and matchsticks. This odd little figure connects the crime to a closed case from the previous year, the missing daughter of a prominent politician. The assumption is that she has been murdered, although her body has never been found. Shortly afterwards another woman is found murdered in a similar fashion. Thurlin and Hess are now in a hectic race to find the killer.

The plot is very clever and moves at a fast pace. The writing is excellent and the ending is very satisfying. It also leaves the possibility of a sequel which would be very welcome. Be warned this is a fairly gruesome book, although the violence is not gratuitous.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

It took me a while to get into the book, I felt a lot of characters appeared very quickly without a back story, so had to really concentrate, then all of a sudden the book fell into place. Although would say that a couple of passages 'felt clumsy' like that hadn't been translated properly or something had got lost in translation.

The story opens with the a policeman going to a farm in rural Denmark in 1989, we then fast forward 30 years to a gory murder where a figure called the chestnut man has been left at the crime scene, A fingerprint is found, that of Kristine Hartung, daughter of the Minister for Social Affairs, who had gone missing a year ago, but no body had ever been found,

The detective put in charge of the case is Thulin, a single parent with a daughter, she ends up with a partner called Hess who is a disgraced Europol officer, who is awaiting a disciplinary hearing, but Thulin thinks he isn't going to be a great partner, she thinks he is there biding time.

The story was a real page turner once I got into it, great characters, interesting and well researched story, with lots of twists and turns.

I did not have a clue who the antagonist was, to be honest I was so involved in the actual story that I didn't even think of it until nearly the end.

Highly recommended and hope to read more in this series if ever published.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for giving me the chance to review the book

Opening with a gory murder scene in rural Denmark nearly 30 years ago, we’re left to wonder at its significance as the story fast-forwards to the present day. It’s Copenhagen 2018, a year after the Social Affairs Minister’s daughter, Kristine Hartung has gone missing. We meet Thulin, single mum and unsatisfied Detective in the Major Crime Division who is striving for a promotion to the Cyber Crime Centre. She is teamed with Hess, a commitment phobic and professionally lax Europol agent who has been returned to Copenhagen Police while an unspecified disciplinary matter is investigated about him back in The Hague.

Kristine’s body is never found; someone has confessed to her murder so the case is closed. Rosa Hartung, the Social Affairs Minister decides it is time to return to her professional life and look to the future. Her husband Steen is getting more desperate every day and turning to drink to numb the pain. They have a young son, Gustav who is trying to cope.

When a gory murder happens to a young woman, the killer leaves a mysterious ‘Chestnut Man’ – a traditional doll figure made by Danish schoolchildren each Autumn; a link back to Kristine Hartung is made and our 2 detectives doubt that justice has been done for Kristine as they investigate the new case. Her parents are terrified to hope that Kristine could be alive.

After more murders, twists and turns and chilling side and overlapping stories that made me gasp out loud I was very glad I chose to read this in the privacy of my own home, and not in public. This book put my life on hold for a few days; absolutely engrossing and I feel like I’m emerging from an alternative life, having just finished it! A really intelligent, gripping jigsaw of thrills and emotions – and highly recommended to fans of intricate and well-researched tense thrillers

I am a real avid reader of Scandi crime books. This one,The Chestnut Man ,is up there with the best

Hess a disgraced Europol officer is sent home to Copenhagen where he meets Thulin a young female detective out to solve a gruesome murder case . Hess supports her investigation when a missing girl presumed to have been killed over a year previously has a connection to the murder case.

The story moves with pace .The characters are drawn well and you can empathise with them .

The end is a breathless chase with twists and surprises and finishes too soon for the reader.

Many thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC.
This is a totally absorbing and can't-put=down thriller. Absolutely brilliant. The clever, intricate plot weaves through the pages as well as the reader's mind - no idea at all where the story was leading, but you have no choice but to stay with it, and ride-out the investigation as it happens.
Thirty years ago there is an horrific family slaying at a remote farmhouse in Denmark; forward to present day and Detectives Naia Thulin and Mark Hess are dispatched to investigate the murder of a women whose body is discovered in a play area just beyond her house. Meanwhile, Rosa Hartung, Minister for Social Affairs, is returning to work following the disappearance of her teenaged daughter one year before - her body was never found but the case was closed following a confession to the crime of a man incarcerated in a secure psychiatric unit.
A second murder victim is discovered. How do you connect the gruesome murders of 2 mothers, the closed case of a politician's missing daughter and the appearance of childish 'chestnut-men' left at the crime scenes?
Detective Mark Hess can. Although presently an outcast from his Europol posting, and displaying more than a passing disinterest in actually working on the cases with Naia, he has flashes of almost maniacal brilliance which gradually move the investigations along through many twists and turns, despite simultaneously fighting to get back to his old job and get our of Denmark.
The dialogue is first-rate, I felt like I was watching a film unfold. Having not seen this author's previous work, the first thoughts that came to mind as I read on was that it reminded me to some extent of The Bridge being the only Scandinavian drama I have seen.

Absolutely loved this book. At first I wasn't sure about the relationship between Thulin and Hess but I like how they rubbed along despite each others quirks and foibles. Initially they seemed reluctant to investigate the creepy murders but both eventually became absorbed in their task. I love Scandi-noir so could see this making a good film or even a TV series with this police duo. The plot grabs your attention and I like how the present crimes become embroiled in an older case. Overall, a really good and absorbing police/psychological thriller.

Very tough read - gruesome murders being investigated by a policewoman with a young, inquisitive daughter, and a seemingly lax partner, who seems to have skills beyond normal' police activity, Hess, imposed on her who begins to tip the balance in the investigations as the numbers pile up. A high level politician is involved, whose daughter had been kidnapped and presumed killed before we begin the novel. A deep crime in past is driving the serial murderer, and Hess seems to be the touchstone to feeling in this one. In Scandi noir novels it is often quick instinctive men who are the lynchpins - they are vulnerable and quirky while the women become more shrill as this woman does here! But it is a highly intriguing and entertaining read despite the atrocities of the killings. Really good!

My initial feeling, about 20-30 pages into the Chestnut Man, was that whilst Soren Sveistrup had proven TV experience in the wonderful The KIllng, this was not necessarily translating into book form - the descriptions of people and place felt cliched and i was rapidly losing patience..
But...
I quickly didn’t care, and was gripped by the twisty-turny plot, the unanswered questions from an old solved case and the familial relationships. Being critical, the characters are often more sketches than fully realised individuals, and there is a somewhat predictable reliance on violence against women to drive the plot.
Despite this criticisms, I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s well structured and pacy, and, perhaps unsurpsingly, feels very visual - there’s a film here at some point.

I haven’t read a scandi noir thriller for a while as they are usually quite gory and at one point the ones I’d read all seemed fairly similar.
However, I gave this one a go as I’d enjoyed The Killing on Tv a few years back and this had been written by the same author.
I found The Chestnut Man a slow burner of a novel and it took me several chapters to really get into the story and feel empathy for the characters.
I did like Hess the cop with a sad and difficult past which is gradually revealed as the novel progresses.
His partner Thulin is also an interesting character and despite neither of them wanting to work together to solve The Chestnut Man murders and the child abduction of the Minister’s daughter, gradually they seem to develop an affinity and the investigation takes off.
There are a lot of unpleasant scenes in the book including torture and mutilation so I would warn potential readers that it is not for the faint hearted.
The Chestnut Man is obviously translated and to be fair there are no obvious problems with this apart from the fact that some of the sections of the novel are quite slow and the language rather longwinded, perhaps due to the fact it was originally written in Danish.
I think that this novel might be the first in a series featuring Hess and Thulin and I’d be happy to read the next book. I could also see it being televised as it did indeed remind me of The Killing, particularly as one of the main protagonists was a Government Minister so there were political implications.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Worthy of more than five stars! Soren is added to a growing list of Scandinavian authors of crime thrillers. The Chestnut Man, an absolute must to read. Probably one of the most enjoyable and fascinating thrillers I have read in a long time. Well recommended, look forward to more from this author!

This was excellent. I didn't see 'The Killing' but my parents were glued to it and so I tried this. Only 4/5 * as it did, in parts, read as quite 'translationese' but the plot was skilfully woven and although the main protagonists were a little inaccessible, they were likeable and I was invested in them. Great reveal and this would be super if developed into TV.

Starts a few decades ago with a gory murder and discovery of two children in the cellar at the scene of the crime. Move to the present day with two more gory and gruesome murders. These may or may not be related to an old case of a kidnapped daughter of a Social Affairs minister. Said daughter was thought to have been murdered, limited evidence for this, but there was an admission of guilt by a suspect, now in prison. All they seem to have in common are the Chestnut Men left at the scenes. The lead Police Inspector on the case is an ambitious young woman and, this time, is partnered with a real 'oddball' He has been suspended from his Europol job on seemingly mental grounds following various cases plus, as we find right at the end, the tragic death of his pregnant wife. Together, or not, they follow leads, red herrings and immensely varied forensic trails. It is very detailed with horrific gruesome descriptions of the crimes - not for the faint hearted. .The various strands all come together well and, although I guessed who the perpetrator had to be in general terms, I had no idea who it was as a person until about the time that the police did. The story took a while to get going but once it had, it bowled along briskly with lots of twists and turns. I would hope that Mr Sveistrup gets a good editor to sort out the annoying inconsistencies such as Sejer-Lassen's name - with or without the hyphen.? I drop a star for the overly gory details. My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy in return for a personal review.