A fast-paced thriller that keeps you gripped, even as it follows the usual formula of wrong turns, a renegade cop and an extraordinarily competent killer. You can tell the author has written for TV, as the murders were pretty gruesome for a book. The different characters and storylines took a while to get my head around, but they eventually wove together for a very satisfying ending. The Danish setting was a nice change from the usual British and American locations.

1989. Detective Marius Larsen travels out to Orum's Farm. Animals have broken through the fence, roaming the neighbour's fields. Farmer Orum needs to sort this out. When Larsen arrives at the farm what he is faced with is horrific...

Move forward to present day Copenhagen. Detective Naia Thulin works for the Major Crimes Division. Her boss, Nylander, tasks her with partnering 'the new guy'. A liaison officer named Hess, stationed at Europol's HQ in the Hague, ordered to Copenhagen for some blunder or other. They are faced with a brutal murder. The victim, Laura Kjaer, 37 years old, has been partly dismembered. A chestnut man figure lies nearby. Forensics uncover a fingerprint on its head. The print of Kristine Hartung. The 12-year-old daughter of Rosa Hartung, Minister for Social Affairs. The girl went missing less than a year ago and a few weeks later a young tech nerd was arrested and, given weight of evidence, he confesses to strangling and dismembering the body. No body parts were ever found. When more horrific murders occur the chestnut figures take centre stage. How can they all reveal a fingerprint of Kristine Hartung?

The Chestnut Man is a complex story with well developed characters. It is dark and disturbing with many horrific scenes. Perhaps though a tad too long as I found myself easily distracted. It did not anchor me to the pages and took me considerable time to read because of this.

Set in Copenhagen, this story follows young detective Naia Thulin, who is assigned a murder case whereby the killer leaves behind a doll made of Chesnuts. Soon afterwards, a second woman is found murdered along with a chestnut doll next to her body. Who is the killer? Will Thulin solve this case before somebody else loses their life?

I requested this book to read from Netgalley as the synopsis drew my attention and I really thought I would love it. Unfortunately, that was not the case! Upon first beginning the book I realised it was a translation however it was not translated brilliantly and I could notice that the first language this book was written in was not English. The poor translation put me off from the beginning. I also found that there was so much going on and so many characters and plots that I struggled to keep up and understand which character and plot the author was discussing. I also found that the plots would switch very suddenly in the middle of a chapter, with very little distinction which made it difficult to keep up with. It did not captivate me and took me a while to read as it felt more of a chore to pick it up. I feel like this is such a shame because the plot really does appeal to me and I feel like it could have been done so much better.

I ended up pretty thoroughly annoyed with The Chestnut Man. To be fair, it’s not a genre I would normally read and I wouldn’t have touched it if it hadn’t been by the man who created the excellent TV series The Killing. This means that fans of the serial-killer genre may like it far more than I did, but for me it was just a series of tired old clichés strung together, albeit strung together quite well for much of the book.

In Denmark, a series of sadistic killings (of women, naturally) is marked by the killer’s trademark Chestnut Man left at each scene. A maverick cop, sent back to the Copenhagen police after his insubordinate behaviour annoyed his Europol bosses, suspects that these killings may throw doubt on the solution to the murder of the daughter of a prominent politician a year before. There is a Race Against Time to catch the killer before...I’m sure you get the picture.

I read this while I was ill and needed brain-off entertainment. The first 400 pages didn’t do too badly on that, but I just ticked off the clichés as they went past: the maverick cop and his ill-matched partner who begin to form an attachment; the boorish, sexist police colleague; the vain, unheeding boss; the killer who is always One Step Ahead and Plays Games With The Police, child abuse as a cynical plot device, the female investigator under threat...and so on and so on. I could just about live with all that, but the final 100 pages became so silly that I lost patience, and I especially disliked the corny old Cornered Killer Climax In Which The Killer Explains Everything To The Victim scene (yeah, right), which in this case is largely repellent, misogynistic torture porn. The explanation scarcely holds together and the psychology is pretty silly, so coupled with the ludicrous implausibility of subsequent events it made me very irritated indeed.

I had expected something deeper and more thoughtful from Sveistrup, but The Chestnut Man is just another bog-standard Scandi serial-killer thriller. There’s no superbly original central character like Lisbeth Salander to lift it above the ordinary, and nor, of course, does it benefit from a brilliant screen performance from the likes of Sofie Grabol or Sofia Helin which made The Killing and The Bridge such classics. Fans of the genre may enjoy this, but I’m afraid I didn’t.

(My thanks to Penguin Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)

A girl disappears and presumed dead and someone convicted for her murder. But, one year later her fingerprint is found on chestnut men found at murder sites. What does this mean, is she alive? What a brilliant thriller when you wonder how all these events and characters are linked together. A great read, enjoy.

What a rollercoaster of a read, it is a dark and sinister tale involving violent murders of young women, set in Copenhagen
A womans body is found near her house, one hand apparently sawn off whilst still alive. Close by a little figure made from chestnuts is discovered.
Forensics identify a finger print on it.. That of the daughter of Rosa Hartung, the minister for Social Affairs, who disappeared over a year ago without trace.
With the prints linking the two cases it seems the man serving time in a secure unit may not infact have murdered Rosa`s daughter, confession or not.
The police investigation delves into both cases and as more bodies turn up the race is on to discover the identity of the serial killer.
A complex plot that flows well, a totally engrossing chilling read with twists and turns to keep you guessing.
If your a fan of tense thrillers this is definitely one for you.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

I'm a big fan of The Killing and Scandinavian thrillers in general so I was very excited to get on with The Chestnut Man. For the most part I enjoyed it, but I did feel that the narrative at times lost momentum and floundered a bit. There seemed also to be a rush job at the end to explain how the killer managed to pull everything off then an additional epilogue to wrap up loose ends. Our villain at times seems a little too far fetched and lucky to be entirely believable so sometimes I did struggle to stay invested. I thought it was a brave move to include such unashamedly evil characters and truly gruesome moments. I certainly won't look at chestnuts this Christmas in quite the same way.

I thought this was an excellent book. It was well written with interesting characters and full of suspense. There were red herrings, twists and turns and you never quite knew what was going to happen next, who suspicion was going to fall on. It is quite violent and maybe not for the squeamish. I felt very satisfied at the end. that the solution was plausible and not something pulled out of a hat. I would recommend it to all lovers of murder and detective stories.

The Chestnut Man is the first novel from the writer of The Killing. For the record, although I’ve heard everybody raving about The Killing I have never watched it, nor do I know the first thing about it, so I’m not going to be comparing to it in this review.

The Chestnut Man is your run of the mill detective story/police procedural but doesn’t completely commit. It’s supposed to be gritty, gory and with no reliable character to trust but in the end I wasn’t shocked or moved. There’s nothing particularly taxing about the novel, and the events were interesting to a point but I didn’t really care about any of it. It’s pretty formulaic in that every time you think you’re getting somewhere in the investigation, something throws a spanner in the works.

I’m not sure whether it was just the format that I read it in from NetGalley but it switched from one character to another so quickly that I kept getting confused, then decided to roll with it and stopped putting too much thought into what I was reading. It has enough twists and turns to keep me occupied but I cared so little about the characters.

Also, I’m not sure if it’s the translation but there were little British phrases that just didn’t fit with the way the characters were talking. I can’t comment on this novel culturally, as it’s set in Denmark and I have no experience of the literary or social culture there, but there seemed to be these casually sexist and racist remarks in the book too that made me feel uncomfortable. I’m guessing (hoping) they are supposed to be illustrative of a character’s personality but I felt they didn’t add anything to the narrative.

Overall I was completely indifferent to this book. I have to admit that I got to about 70% and skim read it to the end and it didn’t take that long. I’m not sure I’d recommend it. To give it it’s due the book is a debut and there is a tiny spark of talent hidden behind stereotypical characters, and with a bit more time I think Sveistrup could turn a good story.

As someone who predominantly reads crime novels I’d been expecting to enjoy The Chestnut Man, and I certainly did!
There are strong similarities to The Killing TV show, which was written by the author; a strong female single mother and a tenacious rebellious man are investigating, there’s a political element and there are sub-plots, red herrings and well rounded minor characters.
There are a number of grisly unpleasant details associated with the crimes but these aren’t dwelt upon and didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this complex thriller.
A great winter read!

I was absolutely gripped by this book. From the start, I couldn’t put it down, and read far too late into the night. It was Scandi Noir at its very best. It was fast-paced and gritty, with one event followed swiftly by another, and with interesting central characters, police officers Naia Thulin and Mark Hess, both of whom were flawed in a very human way, and consequently felt real people. If you like Scandi Noir, you will love this.

The story begins with a horrific murder in Denmark thirty years earlier, and then moves to the modern day, and the discovery of the gruesome murder of a young woman. Be warned! This novel is not for those with a weak stomach.

The woman, a mother, was murdered close to her house, and one her hands sawn off while she was still alive. The figure of a small chestnut man, made of chestnuts and matchsticks, has been left at the murder site. A fingerprint on the chestnut man links that crime with an unsolved case from the previous year, that of the missing daughter of a politician, Rosa Hartung, Minister for Social Affairs. The body of Rosa’s daughter had never been found, but the case had been closed after the suspect confessed to the crime and was locked up in a secure unit. With the discovery of the fingerprint linking the two cases, the police start looking again at the earlier case, and the hunt for a killer begins.

The plot is very clever and very skilfully worked out, and it will keep the reader turning the pages. I couldn’t put it down.

I thought the translation so well done that I completely forgot that I was reading a novel in translation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the novel.

If you're a fan of the 'Scandi noir' genre, then this is a book for you: it's gritty, dark and gruesome in the best possible way. The crime is violent and grim, the setting is seedy, the characters are flawed and damaged and the stakes keep getting higher and higher as the story progresses.

The translation is a little clunky in places, but the story makes up for it.

I really enjoyed this book. It took a few chapters to get into the story as the scenes were being set, but then I was hooked and couldn't wait to pick it up in any spare minutes.
The story is complex and the various strands are carefully woven together. There are scenes which are really scary as it seems that the mystery is being solved, and then the story moves further on towards its conclusion.
As the end approaches several surprising twists develop. The storylines are almost all finished off but it doesn't feel too "tidy" It feels satisfying but with a worrying concern about the future!

I was really excited to read this book unfortunately it didn't really live up to expectations. All the right ingredients are there and it's a perfectly reasonable plot just a bit predictable. I also struggled to identify with either detective.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

It was a well-written book and kept me guessing throughout. The characters were well described and the plot was clever. I enjoyed reading the thriller although it some of the violent descriptions were not for the faint-hearted.

This book started off a little slower than I hoped for, the story starts back in Denmark 30 years ago with a murder scene and quickly jumps forward to the present day. We meet two brilliantly different characters in Thulin and Hess who I instantly wanted to know more about. They are trying to solve a murder where a chestnut man figure is left behind at the scene.
This dark Scandi thriller is definitely not for the faint hearted, the murder scenes are gory and messy and this book seems to be aimed as avid thriller readers.

This is a dark thriller which works well.
It does have a slow start but stick with it as it is a worthwhile read.
The characters are strong and the plot line intriguing. Not for the faint hearted!

Someone what of a slow burner of a book but you just need to stick with it, you will be glad you did, if you enjoy police procedural/psychological thrillers, this is one for you. Definitely one for TV!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK – Michael Joseph for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the debut novel from the creator of the excellent TV show, The Killing, and it does not disappoint. It is a clever mix of police procedural, politics and family drama. It kept me completely gripped until the end.

Detectives Naia Thurlin and Mark Hess are investigating the killing of a woman whose hand has been sawn off prior to her murder; beside her body is a chestnut man, a figure made out of chestnuts and matchsticks. This odd little figure connects the crime to a closed case from the previous year, the missing daughter of a prominent politician. The assumption is that she has been murdered, although her body has never been found. Shortly afterwards another woman is found murdered in a similar fashion. Thurlin and Hess are now in a hectic race to find the killer.

The plot is very clever and moves at a fast pace. The writing is excellent and the ending is very satisfying. It also leaves the possibility of a sequel which would be very welcome. Be warned this is a fairly gruesome book, although the violence is not gratuitous.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

It took me a while to get into the book, I felt a lot of characters appeared very quickly without a back story, so had to really concentrate, then all of a sudden the book fell into place. Although would say that a couple of passages 'felt clumsy' like that hadn't been translated properly or something had got lost in translation.

The story opens with the a policeman going to a farm in rural Denmark in 1989, we then fast forward 30 years to a gory murder where a figure called the chestnut man has been left at the crime scene, A fingerprint is found, that of Kristine Hartung, daughter of the Minister for Social Affairs, who had gone missing a year ago, but no body had ever been found,

The detective put in charge of the case is Thulin, a single parent with a daughter, she ends up with a partner called Hess who is a disgraced Europol officer, who is awaiting a disciplinary hearing, but Thulin thinks he isn't going to be a great partner, she thinks he is there biding time.

The story was a real page turner once I got into it, great characters, interesting and well researched story, with lots of twists and turns.

I did not have a clue who the antagonist was, to be honest I was so involved in the actual story that I didn't even think of it until nearly the end.

Highly recommended and hope to read more in this series if ever published.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for giving me the chance to review the book