I'm not sure what I expected when I started reading this, but it wasn't quite what I got! The Wolf is Cecil Winge, a dying lawyer, the Watchman the violent Mickell Cardell. It is Cardell who finds the body, and is drawn to return to the investigation. Both have instincts which prove useful to solving the crime of the mutilated body left in the waters of Stockholm.

It's a pretty bleak story, there's a fair bit of violence (Cardell drinks and fights a lot) and the discovery of what happened to the body is not very pleasant. The characters are sympathetic though, which is impressive writing, and the setting is a good one, albeit grim. The book has three points of view, one is Winge and Cardell, one is a young man who comes to the city hoping to make his fortune and the third is Anna, a young woman from Stockholm falsely accused of prostitution and sent to the horrific sounding workhouse. It took a while to understand how all the points of view came together, but that made it all the more involving to read.

Despite the dark storyline, this really drew me in and I'd recommend it. I'm still thinking about parts of the book a week after finishing it.

I found this novel just to my liking. The characters, setting and writing were all fantastically well done and the pace, although a little leisurely in places, was more than enough to keep my reading into the night. Yes, it is dark and gruesome in places but it's not overdone, nor is it sensationalist. A perfect start to my 2019 reads.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, once it got going. Initially I found myself getting confused between the various characters, but the pieces started falling into place once we learned of their backgrounds and the main protagonists established their working relationship. Geographical descriptions were such that I could imagine the scenes in my mind’s eye, but perhaps both the author and I have seen too many historical dramas on film and television? Nonetheless, I am pleased that I spent the time working through the first few chapters. A satisfying read.

Probably the best historical fiction i've read this year. Fantastic characters, a beautifully twisted crime to solve and all tied together tighter than a sailor's knot. Brutal in it's depiction of violence and the depths of the crime itself but so well written it takes the reader along at a pounding pace. Absolutely Stunning!

Set in Stockholm, in 1793, this is a dark and gruesome read, featuring two, interesting central characters. To be honest, these main characters saved the novel for me, as I found this a very disquieting read. Mickel Cardell is a war veteran, turned watchman, who has lost an arm. Woken in a bar one night, he pulls a body out of the water. It seems that the body has been horribly mutilated and tortured – undoubtedly over a long period of time. Cardell is asked to help investigate by Cecil Winge, who works for Police Chief Johan Gustaf Norlin. Winge is a man who likes to discover the truth, but is hampered by his consumption.

This is a dark vision of Sweden, and of Europe. King Gustav has been assassinated, the Crown Prince is not yet old enough to rule alone. There is discontent and poverty on the streets, revolution in France and corruption, seemingly, everywhere. However, Cardell and Winge are determined to find justice as they travel through the dark streets, full of violence, poverty and filth. Brutal, bleak and extremely violent, this crime novel has an interesting setting, but it was Winge and Cardell who made the trek through the dark streets work for me and I am slightly relieved that I have now finished this.

I nearly gave up on this book - but was glad I didn't! The first chunk is sluggish - long, awkward dialogue and slightly clumsy phrasing. But after the first quarter, it suddenly gets going. If you don't mind a bit of gore/violence, this was a thrilling and fascinating read. I found myself completely sucked in to the gritty, bleak world of Sweden in that era. Stick with it!

This is a very dark historical mystery set in late 18th century Stockholm. The tale starts with a limbless body being found and the mystery concerns finding out who this was, who did this to him and why. The narrative then goes back in time introducing various characters who have greater or lesser connections with this mystery. The titular characters are Winge and Cardell, a somewhat odd couple drawn together by circumstances who set out to solve the crime. All the characters are seriously damaged, physically, mentally or both, whether by war, poverty, illness or abuse. There are some very nasty descriptions of abuse and cruelty some of which I found quite difficult to read. Although I think the book is well written and I did get some insight into this period in Swedish history, it is not a book I would personally recommend due to the depravity of so many of the characters

This book is very dark, its set in the 18th century Sweden and shows the reader just how bleak this time was. Being a historian novel it was at times dark and gruesome and described the timeline perfectly. While I thought the characters were well rounded and fitting for the time I did struggle with the doom and gloom and the slow pace. I don't at any point blame the author for this because this has been written very well for its timeline, I however read it over the Christmas period when maybe reading something a little more up lifting would have been more fitting.

A complex, dark and intriguing mystery set in 18th century Stockholm this is a slow burning tale and full of detail. The book is set out in four separate parts starting with Mickel Cardell and Cecil Winge then follows with the stories of Kristopher Blix and Anna-Stina returning to Cardell and Winge these stories all then come together and we find out some very gruesome and shocking facts as their paths cross which makes for a compulsive if disturbing read. It’s a novel full of atmosphere and the descriptions of life in the Stockholm of the period it’s set are magnificent painting pictures in your mind as you read. So exquisitely written and the characters superbly described this is a sad in parts but a book not to be missed and very well recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Deeply absorbing. It is difficult to equate today's Stockholm with the filthy, cruel place described in this story. There is a form of p[olicing by the watchmen but they add to the depravity , horror and violence. Cecil's time is limited but in Cardell he finds an ally . Although his methods of information gathering are a blunt instrument , like his prosthetic arm, between them they manage to uncover the truth and the identity of the victim. I loved it .

This story, while detailed, seemed to move at a glacial pace. I enjoyed the historical aspects and even the incredibly gloomy nature of the characters, setting and circumstances but I just couldn't get on with the endless descriptions and repetitive passages. It begins to feel a bit like bludgeoning, and exhausting as a reader. The more violent things didn't bother me although there are some shockers so I wouldn't recommend to those with sensitive natures.

Drowning in unrelieved gloom : abandoned at 14%

I really don’t like reviewing books I can’t finish. They may simply be ‘not for me’ books, However as the publishers of ARCs understandably want their reviews, I have no choice. This means I had to read on, in order to give some reason for the not-for-me. But the longer reading as punishment continues, the more star rating must drop

There is an inevitable difficulty with books in translation : it isn’t always clear where the perceived fault lies.

In theory, this book should have engrossed me : historical fiction; crime fiction within a historical setting; an apparent submersion in the socio-political facts of the time and place of setting. That setting itself : end of the eighteenth century, Scandinavia

I like the melancholia of snows, the challenges of the geography of North. Detail of setting, immersion in complex psychology interests me more than the forward momentum of page turn. Though this does need to be there.

At 14%, here are the basic outlines of plot, and I seem to be no further on, in my knowledge, at 14% than I was at the start.

A horribly discovered corpse, fished out of the bobbing sewage filled waters of riverside Stockholm. Mickel Cardell, a one-armed veteran, and understandable drunk, now a night watchman and sometime bar-room keeping-the-peace-muscle, is barely surviving the damage of Sweden’s war. This kind of salvage work is his lot, but this particular corpse clearly signals ‘something-else-is going on. Cecil Winge is some kind of government investigor, and we know there are wheels within wheels of politics and corruption going on within the corridors of power. Aren’t there always. Winge is under death sentence – consumption. So as well as the graphics of ordure, there are lots of bubbling liungs. These two, unlikely compatriots, are both the pursuers of truth, as there is little anyone can do to buy their silence or complicity.

I do believe there are other stories, and other people, which will (eventually) knit together. I was rather expecting, as I eagerly requesting this, something of the absorption of Iain Pears An Instance of The Fingerpost, which I read decades ago and is still my guidepost for standard on this kind of thing.

But I can’t proceed further on the offchance that there will be some kind of variety to what, so far, is unleavened

Thank you, publishers and Netgalley, but, this one is clearly not for me and I can’t even recommend it to those I might expect to like this-sort-of-thing . Liking this-sort-of-thing does not mean they would like this-particular-thing

The other this-sort-of-thing which it is being compared to, which I was also expecting it might be like, is Caleb Carr's The Alienist. Which I loved, and also read the sequel to, at its time of publication. Sorry. other than some similarity of subject matter, this doesn't come close. Sometimes, comparisons if you liked THIS (earlier book) you will like THIS (new publication) I can only damage the later one, if expectations have risen way too high

An intriguing mystery novel. Very noir setting. An engrossing read that does not let you go easily. The downside, it takes a while to dig in. But once you care about the plot and the characters - it is a great ride from there

This book may well have been carefully researched but it is difficult to know if it is a true reflection of Swedish society in the late eighteenth century although given the dire description of that country in so many modern murder novels it may well be accurate! It is socially challenging and the tale can arouse strong feelings. However,it is scarcely believable and jumps about with the danger of losing the point of the story. It is basically a murder story but there are better settings than this one.

I didn’t finish this book so my comments must be taken in this context. Set in Sweden in the 1790s it is certainly well-written with 2 intriguing central characters, one a one-armed drunken war veteran, the other a cultured man dying of consumption. They come together to solve a brutal murder.
Visceral and brutal are among the 2 words I would choose to describe the novel. Life at the end of the 18th century is portrayed graphically - piles of human faeces are everywhere, clogging the river as well as the city. Life is short, illness and disability the norm it seems with graphic vignettes, for example of snot flying out of a man made noseless by syphilis ‘the French disease’.
It is no doubt a compelling, original novel. But there are things, particularly strong brutality, that I would prefer not to have lodged in my head so I decided not to read on.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

What is your concept of Swedes and Sweden? Is it of a clean-living, industrious, open minded people, a bit boring perhaps, but a safe and law-abiding nation? After reading this novel, you will never think that way again. This is Stockholm in the 1790s. Sweden has lost a disastrous war against Russia. The city is filled with out of work war veterans. There are hints of revolution in the air, inspired by events across Europe in France.

In the filth of the city docks the body of a dead man is found. He has been deprived sequentially of eyes, tongue and limbs while still alive. A maimed war veteran (the Watchman) and a determined sleuth with only months to live because of his incurable consumption (the Wolf) combine their skills to solve the crime.

The reader is subsequently treated to a comprehensive tour of the literal and metaphorical sewers of the city and its inhabitants: coprophilia, scatology (look them up), human degradation of all kinds, poverty, sadism, perversion, corruption.

In its way and despite its subject matter, this a curiously old fashioned mystery, which combines shocks, a fast driving plot, and numerous twists and turns. Not everything turns out for the best in the end, but enough does to preserve in the reader some sort of faith in his fellow man.

Not my usual read, so was a little uncertain, however I was soon proved wrong. An excellent and well written book, with believable plot and flowed really well. Could not put down and was excellent from the beginning, will be looking for more from this author.

This is a truly bleak but hugely compelling Scandi-noir historical tale set in late 18th Century Stockholm.

After a limbless torso is dragged from the water and it is discovered that each limb had been removed at different times whilst the victim was still alive we follow the adventures of watchman Mickel Cardell and police investigator Cecil Winge as they try to identify both the corpse and the killer.

The characters are beautifully drawn. The watchmen (the local militia) are mostly ex military men who do not actually earn their stipend. Corruption runs deep within their world and Cardell really wants nothing to do with it earning most of his money as a security guard in a local pub. However he knows his duty and when two local street children come to tell him of the body he loses no time in plunging into the freezing water to recover it.

Cecil Winge is a rationalist and is proud to have spent his life as a lawyer ensuring that all his cases had a clear line of reasoning and that everyone he represented had an opportunity to put their side of the story. He is also dying of consumption but is determined to finish this case before either he dies or his patron, the chief of police is replaced.

Together Winge and Cardell plumb the depths of the city as they try to understand what is going on. The various locales are brought to life and peopled by a cast of believable and often tragic characters. For example we meet a man who is about to commit suicide but postpones his demise long enough to supply Winge with a vital clue and a drunken executioner who is condemned himself but is reprieved as long as he is prepared to behead his fellow prisoners.

About quarter of the way through the story the viewpoint shifts to that of a young man who has come to the city to try and make his fortune - this section is told in a series of letters to his sister and gradually we learn how his story ties up with the investigation.

The next section follows the tale of a young girl who rejects the advances of a suitor and is subsequently accused by his family of prostitution. Her treatment is truly harrowing but she is one of the strongest characters in the book. During her incarceration she encounters some of the most unpleasant and brutal characters in the story but despite the violence and injustice that she suffers she never gives up. There is humour here too though with the perpetually drunken priest in particular being a character who lightens the noir somewhat even though he himself in trapped in the tragic situation as much as the others. It is only towards the end of her tale that it becomes clear where she fits in to the bigger picture.

The book ends with Winge and Cardell concluding their investigations. Winge, in particular, is forced to question his totally rational and impartial approach to justice as he decides what should be done when the perpetrator is apprehended. The book forces Winge and hence us as readers to question whether those brought up with brutality are truly to blame if they then become monsters themselves.

This is no sanitised and idealised view of the past and could easily be described as grimdark as much as noir - life in the north was hard, violent and often short and we are left in no doubt of how bad conditions could get, especially of course, for the poor.

The book is predominantly written in the present tense which I found took some getting used to and personally did not feel that it added to the story but this is a minor point. The 18th century setting works very well and allows the lead characters to be flawed without resorting to the usual tropes of alcoholism or family break up as the cause of their problems even though these do feature in the tale. It is a very compelling read but does not pull punches in the descriptions of violence and as such is probably not one for the squeamish - it is not a cosy but for those who love Scandi-noir this is an excellent and highly recommended read.

Brilliant book a rare read a book that draws you in keeps you racing through the pages and stays with you even after you read the last page.A winner of many well deserved awards,#netgalley #johnmurraypublishers.

My thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Publishers for giving me the opportunity to read THE WOLF AND THE WATCHMAN.
This novel by Niklas Natt och Dag is superb, and a brilliant debut, and I would say a must read for anyone who loves gritty historical fiction.

Set in 1793, Stockholm after the assassination of King Gustav of Sweden there's no money left in the coffers and the people are suffering, living their lives in abject poverty. When a body is found in the city's swamp by watchman, Mickel Cardell, Cecil Winge who works as an investigator partners with Cardell to discover who so brutally dismembered a man and threw him in the Larder. As a team Winge and Cardell delve into a grim and seedy world inhabited by murderers, thieves, and prostitutes. It's so easy to empathise with Cardell and Winge. Both men, although utterly different, are instantly likable. When I begin to worry about the characters, I know the author has me well and truly hooked.

The novel is so well-written I could feel the grime, poverty and fear. I became totally immersed in the story and could barely be dragged away from reading it. It would be so good if these two could take on another case. A brilliant debut and thoroughly recommended. I'd give ten stars if I could!