Don't you live for a page turner?
Seriously I do. I don't want every book to slap me when I think about putting it down. I want the world to go take a dump somewhere else because I'm busy. That's what I want from a book, a film or a song even.
And I'd read good things about Cinderella Girl. One reviewer, the reason I bought the damn book, told me he read it in a day. Impossible to put down, he said and that is high praise, eh?
So we have three threads here. A child called Hanna is abandoned, her mother run off with her baby brother and her father away on business. A young girl is murdered on a ferry trip between Sweden and Finland called the Cinderella. And a mother pushing a child in a pram is mown down and left for dead. That's the story. And I like it. A lot going on, and I know that's going to tax my brain cells, and maybe push them to the limit, but I'm up for the challenge.
And there are a load of coppers having issues of their own. I don't want to belittle the rape, or the harrassment, but rather than add to the story it seems to clatter about in the background like a load of noise. And somehow they stumble on a sole killer to take the wrap for all three threads of intrigue.
Listen, I love the Nordic Noir, but I felt no warmth to this tale. I did worry about Hanna, the three year old child abandoned in a third floor apartment, but I cared nowt for anyone else. This was hard work and the revelation moment, you know that point where you think ‘No’ or ‘Wow’ never came for me.
One reviewer suggested you should read these books in order but that sucks. It’s a stand alone book. There is no number on the cover, there is no series link. I shouldn’t have to sleep with one of the coppers to understand what is going on. It wasn’t obvious for me and I felt no compassion for the backstory that was going on with the coppers. They came across as Keystone cops without the slap stick humor.
I know I’m being tough, but this plot is turgid. And, apart from Hannah, the wee child abandoned in the apartment and the old bird trying to save her, the rest of the ensemble meant nothing to me. Frankly, my dear I just didn't give a damn.
And I had no problem putting the book down. It took me a month to read.