The Keeper of Lost Causes [Hardcover]

The Scandinavian invasion continues with Jussi Adler-Olsen's "The Keeper of Lost Causes," translated from the Danish by Tïina Nunnally. The protagonist, Carl Mørck, is a deputy detective superintendent who has just been "promoted" to Department Q, of which he is the head and sole employee. His remit is to handle "cases deserving special scrutiny." Mørck is a chronic troublemaker ("lazy, surly, morose") who talks back to his bosses and does pretty much what he wants to do. He has never completely recovered from a tragic shooting that left his two partners dead and paralyzed respectively, and he still feels guilty that he could do nothing to save his colleagues. His wife left him, but she still badgers him; he has no social life to speak of; when he assumes his new position, he is relegated to a windowless basement office where, his superiors hope, he will remain out of sight and out of mind.

Everything changes when Carl demands an assistant. He gets a lot more than he bargained for--a Muslim named Assad who is a jack-of-all trades: Assad dons rubber gloves to clean thoroughly, makes bad coffee, drives like a madman, and acts like a Syrian Sherlock Holmes. Carl is content to put his feet up, smoke cigarettes, and do little or nothing, but Assad digs into the case files. He shows an amazing aptitude for locating valuable nuggets of information, gaining cooperation from secretaries and bureaucrats, and goading Carl into acting like a detective. This unlikely duo soon become obsessed with an extremely challenging cold case--the disappearance five years earlier of Merete Lynggaard, a beautiful, talented, and dedicated up-and-coming politician. Did Merete fall overboard while she was a passenger on a ferry? Did she commit suicide? Or did someone abduct her? If the latter, who would want to hurt this kind and compassionate woman? With the help of his able factotum, Carl emerges from his lethargy and makes up his mind that he will find out what really happened to Merete.

"The Keeper of Lost Causes" is an addictive read. Who can resist flawed heroes who underachieve until they find some reason to put forth their best effort? Carl is an excellent investigator when he is not busy wallowing in self-pity or having panic attacks. Adler-Olsen uses flashbacks effectively to recount Merete's torturous ordeal. She shows amazing spunk and resourcefulness as she squares off against villains readers will love to hate; they are sadistic, vengeful, and remorseless fiends who enjoy inflicting agony on their helpless victim. It is entertaining to observe Assad and Carl squabble and fuss like kindergarten children (Carl does most of the fussing) until the pair eventually learn to work together productively. This is a darkly humorous, poignant, twisty, and engrossing novel that thriller fans will eagerly embrace.

It's been a while since I've read a perfect book-- "The Keeper of Lost Causes," is absolutely phenomenal. The protagonist, Carl (I won't try to spell his last name because it has letters not on my keyboard) is destined to become a cherished lead character in the detective/murder mystery genre.

I don't know what is in the water in Scandinavia, but it sure seems to produce stellar writers. The story line may not be unique-- rough, gruff police detective who alienates everyone around him and is sent off to pursue and close 'lost cause' or cold cases that nobody expects him to actually solve. Of course it proves impossible to put Carl down and keep him down.

The main murder case in the book is absolutely chilling. It's not your standard predictable and gruesome serial killer. This is some bent and twisted stuff and it took me until about 3/4 of my way through the book until I started to put things together. The book is told from both Carl's and the victim's perspectives and the change of voice from chapter to chapter is incredibly well done.

Carl's character alone would have been enough for me to give this book 5 stars (or 6 if I could have!). But the book abounds with interesting, humorous, and 3-dimensional minor characters. From Carl's kind-of-ex-wife Vigga to his new assistant Assad, there is no shortage of fun to read interaction and dialogue. Of course the political situation in Denmark is also fresh (to me, at least) and interesting.

Like so many other American mystery readers I've been searching for other authors in the vein of Stieg Larsson. I think this book by Adler-Olsen is not only as good as the Larsson books, it may actually be better. I like Carl's personality and found his cynical (yet still oddly optimistic) style very engaging and frequently laughed out loud. I have my fingers crossed that all of Adler-Olsen's books will make it into the English language. If not, I may actually be compelled to learn Danish....

As close to perfect as a mystery can get, this award-winning novel by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen provides an exciting and unique plot, and characters with whom the reader will identify. The novel is complex but not impossible to follow, and it is also genuinely heart-breaking in places without being sentimental. Warm and often very funny, it is also serious since Adler-Olsen creates an underlying thematic structure which gives a powerful kick as the novel comes to its conclusion.

Copenhagen Police Detective Carl Morck is an emotional mess. One of his partners was killed in a recent incident in which Morck was shot, and the other now lies hospitalized, paralyzed from the neck down. Described even on a good day as "lazy, surly, morose, always bitching, and [constantly] treating his colleagues like crap," Morck, upon his reluctant return to work, has not been welcomed back by anyone. When a new department, called Department Q, is created to work on "cases deserving special scrutiny," especially unsolved cases, the Chief of Homicide appoints Morck to run the one-man department--from the musty basement of the station.

His assistant is the ingenuous and charming, Hafez el-Assad, from Syria, who surreptitiously begins to investigate on his own. As time goes on, and Assad magically pries out information from the grumpiest of the secretaries "upstairs," he often yields remarkable new insights, eventually reawakening the professional curiosity of Carl Morck. Front and center is the case of Merete Lynggaard, vice-chairperson of the Social Democratic party, who was accompanying her mute and handicapped brother on a ferry when she suddenly vanished. After nearly five years, no trace of her has ever been found, and her brother, institutionalized, remains mute.

Alternating with Morck's point of view is that of a missing woman, imprisoned in a pressurized room by someone she has never seen. As Assad keeps using his mysterious talents to ferret out information to help Morck, the Lynggaard case becomes ever more complicated, and since Morck is still dealing with post-traumatic stress and guilt from the shooting, the reader looks forward to the scenes in which Assad, ingenuously, keeps asking questions of Morck, adding a light touch to what would otherwise be a grim and grisly plot involving the torturers of the unfortunate prisoner.

Assad is both heroic and a naïve, serving as a contrast to the personal misery of the other characters, misery which is imposed on them, not by fate, but by other people. Accidents and, essentially, the rolls of the dice mean the difference between escape from disaster and death, permanent disabilities, psychological traumas, and unexpected changes. There are, however, questions about Assad's own background, and his story will probably be featured in the remaining three (so far) novels in this series, not yet translated into English.

As the author examines the various aspects of power which permanently affect all people, he raises questions about government, policing, and man's expectations--and whether man should, in fact, have any expectations at all. When faced with pressures from those whose power is vastly superior to one's own, how far can someone go to protect his own integrity before caving in to power? Do those in power have ethical and moral obligations toward those they are serving? Though the answers may seem obvious, issues of everyday survival make absolute conclusions less assured. Mary Whipple

(Note: This novel is known in the UK as MERCY.)

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