The Chestnut Man (2018) By Søren Sveistrup

"Grief is love made homeless...one needs to live with grief and force oneself on."

I knew very little of this Scandinavian noir thriller before borrowing it from my local library service, but the description intrigued me, and the prospect of a dark crime narrative sounded very much like something I would enjoy. I haven't read too many crime books, especially not the more serious ones, so I was interested to see what this one would be like.

"She'd been swallowed up in her own pain for so many years that she didn't notice his until it was too late."

This was a macabre and sinister mystery, with some harrowing events and violent developments. I thought Sveistrup created a growing sense of dread during some of the chapters that was really quite tense and unnerving. The sense of inevitability at a character's fate was chilling, thanks to the little cues and signals left by the author.

"The dead cannot shadow the living."

I will admit, I had mixed emotions in regards to the killer's calling card. It's not to say that it didn't make sense in-world, but it felt more strange than scary. Then again, perhaps that was the point. I enjoyed the various red herrings thrown into the plot - it created a feeling of suspense and unpredictability to the events, which was sustained for the majority of the book.

"Hess had long thought of death with indifference. Not because he hated life, but because existence was painful."

I found the climactic chapters slightly underwhelming, in that they began to feel a little more Hollywood thriller than serial killer story. It wasn't a bad ending to the book, per-se - I did enjoy it - but, I think it lost a little of the realism that had made a fair amount of Sveistrup's narrative so chilling to read. I did like the final chapter though, it was creepy, disturbing, and set up a potential sequel very nicely.

"The dark clouds scatter, and Bekker thinks he might find a way to make the time pass after all."

On the whole, I would certainly say that I enjoyed this read. It was a disturbing but well-written crime thriller, which had some very effective horror motifs and classic crime techniques. I found out just after finishing the book that it has since been adapted into a series on Netflix, which I will certainly endeavour to watch. Furthermore, if there was a sequel to this book, I would very much consider reading it.

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."