Oops! I Almost Forgot About This One!

TITLE: The Department of Sensitive Crimes (Detective Varg #1)
AUTHOR: Alexander McCall Smith
PUBLISHER: Knopf Doubleday
PUBLISHING DATE: April 16, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: In the Swedish criminal justice system, certain cases are considered especially strange and difficult. In Malmö, the dedicated detectives who investigate these crimes are members of an elite squad known as the Sensitive Crimes Division. 

 These are their stories. 

 The first case: the small matter of a man stabbed in the back of the knee. Who would perpetrate such a crime and why? Next: a young woman's imaginary boyfriend goes missing. But how on earth do you search for someone who doesn't exist? And in the final investigation: eerie secrets that are revealed under a full moon may not seem so supernatural in the light of day. No case is too unusual, too complicated, or too, well insignificant for this squad to solve. The team: Ulf 'the Wolf’ Varg, the top dog, thoughtful and diligent; Anna Bengsdotter, who's in love with Varg's classic Saab (and possibly Varg, too); Carl Holgersson, who likes nothing more than filling out paperwork; and Erik Nykvist, who is deeply committed to fly fishing. 

With the help of a rather verbose local police officer, this crack team gets to the bottom of cases other detectives can't or won't bother to handle. Equal parts hilarious and heartening, The Department of Sensitive Crimes is a tour de farce from a true master.

MY THOUGHTS: I actually read this and April and recently, when reading a companion novella, realized I never reviewed it.  And I did like it well enough and feel it's important to recognize.  Ulf Varg works in the Sensitive Crimes Unit.  I felt that the crimes they investigated were the ones which were a tad off or a little boring.

Overall while I liked the book, it was a different kind of read for me.  The style was extremely verbose and odd (there's that word again) but I think that was because it was a Swedish translation.  The crimes, and this book contained three different ones which strung together into one tale, were interesting enough and I especially enjoyed the quirkiest of them.  The one regarding the missing imaginary girlfriend was my favorite.  Also, Varg has a dog, Martin, who is often watched by the neighbor.  During the novel Martin is being treated for depression and of course, you can guess that I found a soft spot for him.

The one thing about the book I didn't really like is that Detective Varg seems to be in love with his coworker Anna.  To the point where he imagines her family being his.  I honestly don't think he would act on it and to be truthful, at times I felt Anna felt the same way and I sort of found the whole situation weird and creepy.

I understand this author has a very huge following as well as other series which people love.  I don't know that I am that attached to him but I will probably check out future installments of this series.

RATING: 4 PAWS

TITLE: The Strange case of the Moderate Extremists (Detective Varg #0.8)
AUTHOR: Alexander McCall Smith
PUBLISHER: Penguin Random House
PUBLISHING DATE: February 26, 2019

FROM GOODREADS: Detective Ulf Varg from the Department of Sensitive Crimes is often called upon to investigate unusual matters. But rarely is he asked to conduct an inquiry on behalf of his own family. Is such a thing ethical? Adding to Ulf’s moral discomfort is the fact that he does not exactly see eye to eye with his younger brother Bjorn—a leading player in one of Sweden’s rightwing parties, the Moderate Extremists. Still, family is family, so Ulf finds himself working to uncover the mole leaking secrets to a rival party, the Extreme Moderates. All of this in addition to his responsibilities to the Department, which include investigating a case of cat-related sabotage. As always, it’s up to Ulf to close the case . . . even if he encounters unexpected resistance from the victims themselves.  

MY THOUGHTS: So honestly, if this hadn't just been a 90 page read, I don't know if I would have continued it.  Once again Varg and his partner are investigating some unusual crimes.  I didn't really care too much for the one involving his brother. a member of the Moderate Extremists, but the one featuring the cat sabotage was pretty fun.  So I guess you could say it evened out.  Martin appeared which is basically my high point of the series.  I'm going to have to see what the next one is about before I commit to reading it.

RATING: 3 PAWS

COYER CHALLENGE UPDATE: An author with three names.