This was one of those books where either something got lost in translation,or it just wasn't the right book at right time for me.
It had some great ideas,and some interesting characters,but I felt it dragged slightly and I never really got into the story.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.

I do enjoy Nordic Noir; the different places, the different climate and culture and weather. However, I did find this novel to be a tad on the slow side. Set in Denmark, Copenhagen, Gregers Hermansen, a first floor tenant in Esther de Laurenti's apartment building, stumbles across the mutilated body of Julia Stender who, with her flatmate Caroline, occupied rooms on the second floor. Esther lived on the third floor. Caroline is away for the moment - Julia's blood is everywhere and an intricate carving has been made into her face.

Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are the detectives assigned to investigate. This is the first investigative team Jeppe has led since returning to work from sick-leave; ostensibly caused by a back problem but truthfully because of his impending divorce. The situation becomes complicated when a close, male, theatrical friend pf Esther. Kristoffer, appears to have been murdered. Not least of all when the manuscript of a novel she is writing closely resembles Julia's murder. Only she and the members of her private writing group know her plot - could anyone else?

There's a lot of focus on the relationship between Jeppe and Anette - love/hate? They are so different to each other. Anette and her husband plus two dogs are her life - she doesn't need children and she seems to have an inherent dislike of anything she views as decadent; Jeppe's wife is divorcing him after years of trying for a child and does all he can to avoid taking calls from his mother. Esther de Laurenti drunkenly admits to having a child adopted and, well, Julia has a secret past as she studiously avoids her father's phone calls.

There are quite a few red-herrings enlisted to support the story but I didn't feel any were of real substance - I did guess the involvement of the perpetrator half-way into the book, although not the full circumstances.

Not sure if I would wish to read any furtherance of Jeppe and Anette if written in the same vein. A bit disappointing really.

Who is out for revenge?

I liked this, but unfortunately not as much as I had hoped I would. It seemed slow in places and didn't have the pace that I was looking for to keep me interested all the way through.

The lead police detectives complimented each other well, but I can't say I cared for either of them. One was slightly self centred and egotistical, the other just a bit meh.

Although the storyline held premise, I don't believe it delivered and had so much more potential.

That being said, I was interested in the setting, Denmark, and the movement between the different scenes in the chapters.

I'd not read this again, but I'm glad I had read it. I would recommend this to someone who isn't looking for fast paced, but wants a slow burn detective mystery.

Scandinavian countries seem to provide the background for murder stories and this one is in Denmark. It is an original idea, well developed, written and translated. There are several themes to stop the reader guessing the outcome too soon! Jeppe and Anette are the two lead detectives, a couple with contrasting private lives and with a need to score off each other in their professional contact. House owner Esther de Laurenti has an elderly male lodger as well as two young women, one of whom, Julie is murdered. That starts a chain of events in which apparently harmless supporting characters are found to be involved with each other in sinister ways. These characters are well portrayed. The investigation is made more interesting when it is discovered that Esther is writing a book which mirrors recent events. The ending is dramatic and satisfying. This is a thrilling read and I recommend it.

I am afraid this was a miss for me. Despite the very interesting plotline, it failed to capture my attention and couldn't keep me reading for long. The narrative pace of the novel was very slow and i felt we were going off tangents again and again. I couldn't complete this novel despite trying twice.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this book in return of my honest opinion.

This is a book about catching a murderer but it involves several settings. The police, the theatre and the misery of damaged relationships are all woven together.
I was somewhat disappointed as I wasn't keen to pick the book up and see what happened next. The whole story was so divided into the various settings that I struggled to identify with any of them and I find myself irritated with the main police character as he seemed to be endlessly sorry for himself and therefore self-centred, suffering enormous guilt when this leads to potential disaster.

I really enjoy Nordic Noir and was excited by the premise of The Tenant.

Unfortunately I felt a little let down, the book wasn't as gripping as I had hoped.

Julie Stender is found dead in her apartment, her face brutalised with a pattern carved into her face, Coincidentally her landlady, Esther is a crime author and is writing a book where Julie is the victim.

The lead detective is very atypical, Jeppe is in the process of getting a divorce and recovering from a breakdown, his partner is married and that's about all we know about Annette's private life, oh and they like to bicker like an old married couple. Do we really need to know about Jeppe's libido??

On the whole it was OK and I would read more in the hope the characters have developed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton UK for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't dislike this novel but I didn't love it. A great premise and investigation but it all read a bit slow and plodding. There are some great characters particularly with the police and the crime is graphic and looks set to be a great investigation. There's plenty of procedural and inner thoughts to get a hold of as you are more often than not, in the police#';s shoes when it comes to finding out what happened. Copenhagen features but it's not the Scandi Noir type of thriller I was expecting and you don't really get a sense of the Danish capital. I might want to avoid downtown after this though. No, hang out, thank goodness the building and crime scene in the book aren't real.

Good enough to make me want to read more but this was too slow for a Nordic/Scandi read.

#TheTenant #NetGalley
A good read with required suspense.
When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. They very quickly establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her complex landlady, Esther de Laurenti. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist - and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she's writing, the link between fiction and real life grows more urgent
But is Esther guilty or merely another victim in a far more dangerous game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women's pasts to discover the secret that links them both.
Its narration as well as characters are good. I loved it but it was a little bit slow.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder Straighten for giving me an advance copy.

Wasn't really memorable and after finishing a chapter I would immediately forget what happened. Nothing stuck for me. Definitely a disappointment for me.