Mind’s Eye

by: Håkan Nesser

Published by: Pantheon Books (June release)

Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann

Mind’s Eye is the first of the Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren crime novels by Swedish author Nesser. The popular Borkmann’s Point was published in the U.S. in 2007, now they have also published _Mind’s Eye, the first in the series.

High school teacher Janek Mitter wakes up with a killer hangover to find the bathroom door locked, and his wife missing. He uses a screwdriver to break into the bathroom where he finds his wife Eva in the tub, face down and dead. He cannot recall a thing, but he is sure he would not kill her, even though they had a stormy relationship at times.

Janek’s diffident personality works against him – indeed he seems to care so little about what happens to him that he is put in a mental institution when convicted. Inspector Van Veeteren’s team does investigate Eva’s life, and while she had an unusual background–a father who was violent, a twin brother who disappeared to sea and never returned, an ex-husband, and a child who died at age 4 in a tragic drowning–none of this seems to lead to an obvious suspect.

Janek Mitter is murdered in his bed in the mental hospital, and they realize something is up. The police go back over and over Eva and Janek’s life. Their only clue is a letter he wrote from the hospital–a letter they have only heard about from the hospital staff. Janek addressed the mysterious missive days before he was murdered, without using a directory, so it had be an address he knew by heart. Was it to one of his colleagues at the school? A relative or neighbor?

Van Veeteren’s attitude towards his work, his colleagues and his superiors is one of tolerance as he puts up with them, uses them, doggedly pursuing his version of justice.

Nesser’s award-winning novels are set in the fictional city of Maardam, in an unnamed country, which seems very Scandinavian.

Armchair Interview says: Well written and worth your time.