Snow Angels, by James Thompson

On the plane down to my parents house for a visit, on the way out of the house I grab a random book for the plane out of my gargantuan TBR pile. It’s Snow Angels, by James Thompson. I honestly don’t even remember when or where I bought it. Nordic noir, from Finland. Thompson was an American living in Finland, who unfortunately died in 2014 at the age of 49.

Snow Angels

A Booklist Best Crime Novel Debut “Don’t miss this one.”—USA Today “A masterful job.“ -Michael Connelly It is called kaamos--two weeks of unrelenting darkness and soul-numbing cold that falls upon Finnish Lapland, a hundred miles into the Arctic Circle, just before Christmas. Some get through it with the help of cheap Russian alcohol; some sink into depression. This year, it may have driven someone mad enough to commit murder. The brutalized body of a beautiful Somali woman has been found in the snow, and Inspector Kari Vaara must find her killer. It will be a challenge in a place where ugly things lurk under frozen surfaces, and silence is a way of life.

https://www.thehawaiiproject.com/book/Snow-Angels-%28Inspector-Vaara-Book-1%29--by--James-Thompson--26180

Snow Angels reminds me strongly of John Burdett’s wonderful Sonchai Jitpleecheep series set in Thailand, in that it gets well and truly inside the head of a different culture, and makes it both strange and accessible, and in the process delivering an intriguing mystery.

Bangkok 8

A thriller with attitude to spare, Bangkok 8 is a sexy, razor-edged, often darkly hilarious novel set in one of the world’s most exotic cities.Witnessed by a throng of gaping spectators, a charismatic Marine sergeant is murdered under a Bangkok bridge inside a bolted-shut Mercedes Benz. Among the witnesses are the only two cops in the city not on the take, but within moments one is murdered and his partner, Sonchai Jitpleecheep—a devout Buddhist and the son of a Thai bar girl and a long-gone Vietnam War G.I.—is hell-bent on wreaking revenge. On a vigilante mission to capture his partner’s murderer, Sonchai is begrudgingly paired with a beautiful FBI agent named Jones and captures her heart in the process. In a city fueled by illicit drugs and infinite corruption, prostitution and priceless art, Sonchai’s quest for vengeance takes him into a world much more sinister than he could have ever imagined.

https://www.thehawaiiproject.com/book/Bangkok-8-A-Royal-Thai-Detective-Novel-(1)--by--John-Burdett--29696

Snow Angels explores Finland, where the winter night can last months, drinking is endemic and suicides are common. Kari Vaara is chief of police investigating the horrific death of a beautiful Somali actress. Is it a hate crime, or something else?

The mystery curls in on itself pretty quickly, where Kari knows one of a handful of people did it, but can’t quite connect the dots to figure out who. The writing is fast paced and the setting sucks me in; I finish the book on a 2 hour plane flight.

Comparisons to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo arise naturally, both because of the books as well as the unfortunate and premature death of the author; if you like one, you’ll like the other. It’s sad that Thompson is gone, but he’s left a few books in the series and I’m looking forward to checking them out.

(and, continuing to play with my latest hack the Book Playlist, here’s a soundtrack to listen to while you read this book)

https://open.spotify.com/user/thehawaiiproject/playlist/13Fpg6NLmDy6OOURnQxjCo