I came, I saw, I did not conquer. McCall Smith is one of those authors I just can't really comprehend. I thought, with this being a new series I might have more luck but I'm still baffled and a little confused. Readers who like his style, however, will love this new detective. It is quirky and charming and very appealing, it's just not for me.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Rather Joyous Escapism…
The first in the Detective Varg series and a gently amusing and witty mystery with a likeable and quite charming protagonist. Gentle, easy reading for some rather joyous escapism.

I hugely enjoyed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe and (not as much but still had fun with) The Sunday Philosophy Club. So when I saw this, I jumped at it.

But I didn't like this. Both No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Isabel Dalhousie series have a warmth to them and I felt as if Detective Varg didn't. Maybe I put too much pressure on this book but I didn't warm and connect to this title the same way I have with Isabel and the great Precious Ramotswe.

I’ve loved some of Alexander McCall Smith’s writing, but find as the series go on the can get a bit to formulaic. So I thought I’d try a new series, but sadly this just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the characters and I didn’t understand what it was trying to do. Never mind.

I really enjoyed the tone of the writing here but the plot felt very episodic and disjointed - ultimately, this is a book in which not a great deal happens! It tells the story of the eponymous department of sensitive crimes; a branch of the Swedish police force that investigate unusual or delicate cases. We follow Ulf Varg as he tries to find a missing girl while pining for his colleague and becoming exasperated with another. I like the characters here, but this book felt very much like a prologue or an introduction where the sole purpose was to present us with the characters that we would follow in a future instalment. As a result, the plot was just very lacklustre. I would be interested to read another book in the series, but I would be disappointed if the narrative wasn't more interesting in future.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

As a long-time fan of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, I was really excited to read the first installment of Alexander McCall Smith’s new Detective Varg series. The blurbs for this “Scandi blanc” novel were hilarious so I was ready for more cheerful, detective fun. On this, the book definitely delivered. It was absolutely delightful.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes was a unique take on the ever popular genre of Nordic Noir, bringing a lot of light heartedness to a usually quite dark realm of fiction. I liked the characters, I liked the quirky cases, and it was a quick, fun read which is what I usually expect from the author’s books. He’s certainly got a winning formula.

In terms of feeling particularly Swedish, though, it felt more like I was just reading more of the No. 1 Ladies series. Nothing about this made it feel very Swedish and to be honest, the way most of the characters spoke and thought was very similar to those in the Botswana based books. I have to wonder if that really is how people go about things in Sweden or if the author decided to stick with personality traits that have already worked for him. Because of this, the cases seemed to get solved pretty quickly and without any actual proof. It seemed a bit like “This is probably what happened, case closed!” So don’t go into this thinking you’re getting a massively detailed detective story with deep characters.

I read McCall Smith’s books when I need a break from the normally heavy stuff I read because I can always count on them to be thoroughly pleasing. I can see these books becoming another go-to for me when I need a purely fun read with endearing characters. I’ll definitely be reading the next one!

Alexander McCall Smith is a great writer with a number of famous series’ so I was intrigued when I heard he was writing a scandi-crime series.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes is very different to your typical crime novel, As always with McCall Smith, the characters can all be described as quirky, and the crimes themselves are very unique. If you are a fan of his previous work I think you will like this, as a quick simple read.

I would like to see the characters developed more in the future, and maybe a more in-depth look at the crimes the department investigates. Although there are 3 cases in this book ,they are over very quickly.

I have never read any Alexander McCall books before, but have always heard great things. This was a strange book, not bad, just strange. It took me a little while to get into it, mainly because of the strangeness of it. A quirky and somewhat humorous crime novel which had me chuckling in parts and eye rolling in others. Likeable, lovable characters which was surprisingly enjoyable. A refreshing change to read something a bit more light hearted.

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group for an eARC via NetGalley of this delightful novel and start of a new series by Alexander McCall Smith.

It is described as an alternative to Scandi Noir: Scandi Blanc. As someone who has been an enthusiastic reader of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, and many others, I was very pleased to find an author as accomplished as McCall Smith poking gentle fun at the genre.

The novel follows three investigations assigned to the Department of Sensitive Crimes, which is based in Malmo, Sweden and headed by Detective Ulf Varg. It is quirky and charming throughout and a good introduction to the characters and setting.

In keeping with the ‘Scandi Blanc’ theme it is a gentle read with no gruesome deaths. I also appreciated Varg’s interest in philosophy and art history. The description in the text of a work by Swedish artist, Isaac Grünewald, was very memorable and allowed me to discover the work of this artist.

After reading I immediately bought the Detective Varg short prequels, ‘Varg in Love’ and ‘The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists’. I look forward to reading further books in this whimsical series.

A light easy read. I have preferred some of the authors other series more but still found this book enjoyable.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A quick and witty read, though a little trite for my taste. The lip reading dog was an interesting plot object.

A somewhat whimsical little tale that I found a little too meandering for my taste. But entertaining to a degree especially with its lip reading dog! Worth a read as a short diversion but I don't think I will be looking for more of the same sadly.

I am rather biased as I do love Alexander mccall smiths many books. They are always refreshing in a gentle whimsical and wise way. This is no exception. Perhaps a little light on plot but still intriguing at times and enjoyable characters. I do look forward to the next one in this scandi blanc series.. I did wonder how this different genre would work but in some ways the closest similarity in style is with the ladies detective agency. I was so happy to review this book and gladly recommend it as a good read

I must be one of the few people who has never read an Alexander McCall Smith book. Not one, even though I have been to Botswana several times on business in a previous life and was delighted when the first Mma Ramotswe book appeared, drawing attention to a lovely country. When this first book in a new series (presumably) appeared, I asked for the opportunity to read and review it.

I found the style was reminiscent of Hemingway – very simple and direct. Somehow – and I’m unsure how AMS managed this – the dialogue felt Scandinavian. I think it’s the sentence structure – the sentences in the book tend to be short without many sub-clauses. Maybe shorter Anglo-Saxon/Germanic words than longer Latinate ones? The narrative voice has no compunction about long sentences with clauses and sub-clauses – it’s just the dialogue that’s simpler. It’s very cleverly done. Respect to AMS, as modern youth might say.

The book covers three cases investigated by the Department. Are they so sensitive that they merit a special department? No. The first one is assault / GBH; the second verges on wasting police time; and the third is sensitive only insofar as the Police Commissioner’s relatives are involved. Surrounding the cases are a couple of themes: Ulf and Anna’s feeling for each other – suppressed, since you ask; and the illness (depression?) of Ulf’s dog, Martin.

I remember the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation releasing long TV programs that showed, for example, the driver’s eye view of a train journey from Bergen to Oslo. The pace was slow because the process being shown was slow. There was no editing and if the journey took 7 hours, the program ran for 7 hours. The book seems to follow a similar philosophy in that AMS allows characters to make small-talk for as long as they want, even though it’s nothing to do with the matter in hand. I think it’s fair to say that nothing exciting happens. Some might describe this as charming. I was sometimes charmed but mostly irritated. I found myself pleading “Get to the point” when I felt the conversation was veering off-topic for too long. Our expectations of dialogue in novels are different to our expectations in real-life. In real life, we are happy that we humans talk of inconsequential things as part of the process of bonding or simply creating a pleasant situation. In novels, we expect characters’ actions and words to have a purpose, e.g. to progress the plot or to impart information to the reader. And in this case, I’m reading a ruddy book, so I expect a purpose to the meanderings!

I loved AMS’s skill’s with language and sentence structure. I wanted Ulf and Anna to be happy together. I thought the way the defendant was depicted in court was wonderful and I savoured the skill with which that was done. Ultimately, though, although I now can see that AMS is a highly-skilled writer, I don’t feel engaged enough to look out for the next volume. I consider it a three-star book on the basis of plot and reader engagement but am raising it to four stars for the author’s skill with words.
#TheDepartmentOfSensitiveCrimes #NetGalley

Long-time followers of The Bookbag will know I’m a die-hard fan of AMS. So you can imagine my excitement at reading a brand new book in a brand new series, described by the author himself as Scandi Blanc (as opposed to Scandi Noir)! Here we meet a new detective named Ulf Varg, who works in the Department for Sensitive Crimes, solving those crimes that perhaps fall outside the usual police parameters. This particular book deals with crimes including someone who is stabbed in the knee, the disappearance of an imaginary boyfriend, and a case of potential werewolves. They’re the crimes that perhaps nobody else would bother to deal with, and I rather enjoyed them, especially the stabbing where you find that actually, you identify with the person who committed the crime, rather than the victim.

I really like the idea behind the novel, of using the Swedes and their rather sombre, morbid crime series and gently poking fun at it. The characters are quirky, and intriguing. Even smaller, bit-part characters tend to feel very alive and recognisable somehow, and so you find yourself wondering about them as you read & wanting to find out what they’ll get up to next. I initially wondered if the book was a series of short stories, as they began with quite a separate sort of feel to them, but then the storylines begin to cross and merge. I liked that the crimes are a bit odd, and there’s no gore or trauma to deal with here, so no sleepless nights await as you read!

I think you have to be ready for a little silliness (never a problem for me), but in this book’s case, you also need to be ready for quite a slow unfolding. It’s not a long book, but there’s much meandering & thoughtfulness, though not in quite the same charming way as we see in the Isabel Dalhousie novels. In the same that Wallander is quite bleak, and a little bit dull at the same time, this has the same sort of feel to it. I did chuckle that Ulf’s name basically means ‘Wolf Wolf’, and I also rather liked the storyline featuring his dog, and his dog’s depression, as well as Ulf’s ongoing unrequited work/love difficulties.

There are the usual, small moments of gentle humour, and although I was unsure of the story to begin with, it did grow on me. I don’t think that as yet it hangs together as well as his other books, but then this is the first outing for the sensitive crimes team, and perhaps they just need to find their feet a little. There were those quirky moments, but it lacked the warmth of Mma Ramotswe and it did read a little slowly at times, as painful as it is to write that, and it didn’t grab me in the same way that his other books do. That’s not to say I wouldn’t read more, because I would, because I do feel that Ulf has potential, and I’d like to see what other crimes the team end up facing together.

An enjoyable quick read. For the full review see https://joebloggshere.tumblr.com/post/182614222101/the-department-of-sensitive-crimes-by-alexander

I chose this book to read as it looked like something a little different from the normal crime books that I read. I was not disappointed as it was a little bonkers in places and, those that know me know that I do love my reads to be on the strange side sometimes!
We follow Detective Ulf Varg and his team who together make up the Malmo Police's Department of Sensitive Crimes. They are an eclectic bunch to say the least but I will leave you to get to know them as the author intends instead of spoiling things here. Suffice to say, they rub along well and get the job done. I will just say that I do love Varg's relationship with his dog throughout the book.
We kick off with the strange crime of someone getting stabbed in the back of the knee and I followed avidly as Varg and his team got to the rather interesting truth of the matter. If you needed any reason for the department's existence, and the selection of the team's personnel, it's front and centre once this one has been solved. Especially when the follow-up is played out!
Throughout the book, it's almost like the author is poking fun at himself and indeed the crime genre as a whole as the cases get more and more bizarre. But that in itself did make for a very different and original kind of read. A breath of fresh air for me after all the samey type of books I've been plodding through recently. It's also a bit hilarious in places and I did somewhat annoy my brother as I kept interrupting him by reading out some of the good bits. That said, I can see this book as being a bit of a marmite book. You'll either love it or hate it - not much in between!
Yes, it did border on the ridiculous at times but that was pretty much the point. And it was fun in its weirdness, if that makes sense, and I did find myself warming to Varg very much along the way. So much so that I really can't wait to see what Malmo's finest throw his way in book two.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes definitely a different Scandinavian crime story. It was funny and interesting. I didn't know what to expect at first but i really enjoyed it. I hope he will write another detective varg story soon.

Gentle, whimsical

I've greatly enjoyed all of Alexander McCall Smith's earlier books, particularly the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I was very keen therefore to read this work.

Ulf Varg leads the Department of Sensitive Crimes based in Malmo. The team of 4 investigate crimes that don't fit with the flow of mainstream units, such as a stabbing in the back of the knee, and the disappearance of the daughter of a diplomat.

The story flows gently. As investigations are tackled, there are frequent digressions, often philosophical.

Though this book is very much in the style of McCall Smith, I found it much slower to engage with, and though it did come to hold my attention it somehow lacked the appeal of his other series.