I've rarely enjoyed a police procedural as much as I did this one. A man is killed, violently, while sleeping off a drunken night out, in his bed. His wife finds him and will a little delay calls the police. Who could have done it? The doors were unlocked, but that was typical. Nothing was taken, and the violence suggests something personal. Munster starts investigating the friends, the family, and any other connections he can find. It's as if he's pulling up a whole rotten tangle of ropes and weeds long drowned in the canal. Excellent. ( )

Van Veeteren is absent for the majority of the book having taken time off to run a bookshop. As a consequence Münster and Moreno come to the fore and more is learnt about them. The murders didn't seem to be the focus or perhaps the repetitive nature of much of the police work made this seem mundane. There is something to Nesser's writing style that will lead me to read more in the series. ( )

Nesser tillhör mina absoluta favoriter. Härligt språk blandat med en riktigt skön och torr humor. Härliga karaktärer och riktigt bra intriger. ( )

Vier Rentner feiern in einer Kneipe ihren Lottogewinn. Reichlich angetrunken machen sich die vier auf den Heimweg. Stunden später ist einer von ihnen tot, hinterrücks erstochen in seiner eigenen Wohnung. Kommissar Münster übernimmt den Fall, denn Kommissar Van Veeteren hat sich für ein Jahr beurlauben lassen und arbeitet in einem Antiquariat. Doch keiner seiner Kollegen glaubt, dass er von der Ermittlungsarbeit lassen kann. Und in der Tat holt sich Münster schon bald Rat bei Van Veeteren, denn der Fall wird immer mysteriöser. So präsentiert sich die Witwe des Opfers als Täterin und legt ein Geständnis ab. Van Veeteren ist überzeugt, dass sie lügt...

(Four retirees celebrate their lottery win in a pub. Drowned in drunkenness, the four are making their way home. Hours later, one of them is dead, stabbed in the back of his own apartment. Commissioner Münster takes over the case, because Commissioner Van Veeteren has taken a leave of absence for a year and works in a second-hand bookshop. But none of his colleagues believes that he can let go of the investigation work. In fact, Münster is soon consulting Van Veeteren, because the case is becoming more and more mysterious. So presents the victim's widow as perpetrator and makes a confession. Van Veeteren is convinced that she is lying ... )

Nesser is af en toe Breugheliaans in zijn schildering van personen en dialogen! ( )

This novel is listed as number six in Nesser's Chief Inspector Van Veeteren series, but the Inspector plays only a peripheral role. Instead, most of the focus, and most of the burden of detection, falls on Intendent Munster, who was Van Veeteren's right hand man until the Chief Inspector retired. Now, Munster has to handle a case around the brutal murder of an old man, complicated by the disappearance of two other old people. The first half of the book doesn't take us very far, focussing on the investigation and on Munster's complicated personal life. The second half, however, picks up speed and interest, leading to an ending that surprises and surprises again. Overall, it's worth reading even if you miss the Chief Inspector; the characterization is strong, the plot grows more and more compelling, and the pages keep turning. ( )

It was Ok... I found the pacing didn't quite work, so much slow build up and even the outcome unfurled slowly... ( )

Brutal murder, unsympathetic victim, two missing persons, few clues. Just the thing to keep the reader going. There were so many twists and turns and lack of dots to connect. It could have been frustrating. Instead, I was intrigued until the end and surprised by the resolution. ( )

I struggled through the first half of this book because it was boring. I hope that this was a fault of the translation. There wasn't much dialogue and it may be that the translator couldn't handle subtleties of narration. The second half read more smoothly and the book was satisfying in the end. ( )

An Inspector Van Veeteren mystery, but mostly without Van Veeteren. He's not on the case; in fact he's ensconced in an armchair, with a glass of wine and a boo, in his favorite bookstore, yet he still solves the puzzle first, without ever seeing the scene, or interviewing anyone. Nesser has a great style, presenting information in small chunks, but linking and looping it all to a satisfying conclusion. Even though I like my Nesser with a full dose of VV best, Munster is a great character, and a pleasing alternative, especially when he channels VV's teachings. ( )

Borkmann's Point is still Nesser's best after my reading of this, the sixth in the "Van Veeteren" series. Be warned: Van Veeteren plays only a cameo role of no consequence in this, a pity in my view, I like his character. Otherwise it's a solid enough read, with a good plot, is atmospheric if somewhat slow paced, and as ever with Nesser characterisation is strong. What makes Nesser's books all the more interesting is that the 'why' of the crime is as important as the 'who dunnit' aspect. ( )

If I hadn't already been such a fan of the series, I might have abandoned this book half way through. There are only so many times that I want to read about interviews with the same people, with the same stonewalling results, and it got boring and didn't advance the story. The writing is great, with subtle humour, but the book should have been much shorter. The second half of the book did have me turning the pages. But I was not surprised by the ending, and found that one of the murders lacked a credible motive, considering the horrible butchery of the crime, and the lack of affection expressed by the family involved in it all. Van Veeteren only had a very minor roll in the story, as he had retired to run a used bookstore. Bring back Van Veeteren. ( )

Love the Van Veetern novels

Book Description
Release date: May 21, 2013 | Series: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Intendent Münster, Inspector Van Veeteren’s right-hand man, and his beguiling colleague Ewa Moreno take center stage in the latest shocking thriller in Håkan Nesser’s internationally bestselling series.

The final day of Waldemar Leverkuhn’s life begins auspiciously: With three friends, he wins a modest sum in the lottery. But it ends, after a celebratory dinner, with him belligerent, drunk, and stumbling home to his bed, where he is brutally stabbed to death with a carving knife. The case seems to be going nowhere, until the reserved, weary widow confesses to the killing. When the Leverkuhns’ formidable neighbor goes missing, and then turns up gruesomely murdered, Münster and his team find a few, wispy clues that suggest her death is connected to Leverkuhn’s—clues that lead to a dark and terrible secret.
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