The book was archived before our group could download it. We are sure that we would have enjoyed the book judging from the reviews it has received.

This was quite literally a book of 2 halves. I had to check more than once that I was actually reading the barbarotti book as for the first 200 pages or so there is no mention of him.

I didn't like Mr roos. I didn't like the split personality of the book and I feel it lets down the series in a big way.

Not recommended.

I didn’t finish this book. Not what I was expecting.

Middle star rating for fairness. (I don’t give bad reviews if I don’t finish the book)

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the arc of The Secret Life Of Mr Roos.

4 star read- this was a great read for me, loved everything about this book, characters, plot, just all around great book, recommend to all who like the sound of this book!
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ante Valdemar Roos is 59 and bored with his life. He has worked for the same company for most of his life and lives with his wife and two stepdaughters, all of whom seem to ignore him. His most treasured memories are of time spent with his father in the woods and when Roos wins on the pools he decides to make changes. Without telling his wife he quits his job and buys an isolated cabin in the woods, every day he sets off for work as normal but spends the day in quiet contemplation until one day he finds a stranger has taken up residence. Anna is 21 and has run away from an addiction centre and an abusive relationship. She and Roos find companionable comfort in a strange friendship until one day Anna’s crazy ex catches up with her.
This book is a real slow burn. Roos is an engaging and curmudgeonly character who spends the first half of the book being introduced and developing his odd double life. The second half of the book suddenly becomes a murder investigation with the team of Barbarotti and Backmann, quirky detectives in pursuit of the truth. This half is also incredibly satisfying and the final act is given a little bit of uncertainty because that just seems right.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of The Secret Life of Mr Roos, the third novel to feature Inspector Barbarotti of the Swedish Police.

Ante Valdemar Roos, 59, hates his life so a big win on the pools becomes life altering. He quits his job and buys a cabin in the woods where he spends his days, never telling his wife or stepdaughters about it. Anna Gumbowska has run away from the rehab unit where she resides and stumbles across Valdemar’s cabin. They strike up an easy friendship until Anna’s violent ex turns up and things change.

I enjoyed The Secret Life of Mr Roos, which is the first novel in the series that I have read and it isn’t quite what I expected. I admit that it is a good few years since I read the van Veeteren series but I remember them as more eventful while this novel is more character driven. Yes, there is a crime but in many ways it’s less central to the novel than the existential question of how to approach life and living.

This is a novel of two halves as there is no hint of a crime or a detective in the first half at all. Instead it is an examination of how Valdemar approaches life, his dissatisfaction and his nostalgia for his childhood, and what leads to his meeting with Anna. Her story is more prosaic, a dysfunctional upbringing leading to drug addiction. For a crime fiction addict like myself it should be frustratingly slow, with little happening and a protagonist who is difficult to understand, and yet it is appealing and immersive. Valdemar Roos is a strange mixture of naive and cynical who grows on the reader. I may be wrong about this but it seems to me that he is searching for something that he can’t quite articulate but probably doesn’t exist and this is the nub of the novel, ambiguity. It’s all maybe, perhaps, possibly.

The second half of the novel centres on Barbarotti and his partner Eva Backman’s investigation of a body found at Valdemar’s cabin. Again this is a slow burner with information trickling in and theories abounding. I like Barbarotti and Backman’s relationship, which has a bounce to it that the rather boring Valdemar and Anna don’t, although they can get a bit existential as well.

The Secret Life of Mr Roos is a good read that I can recommend.

The Secret Life of Mr Roos is the third novel in Håkan Nesser’s Detective Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti quintet, and although it isn't strictly necessary to have read the preceding instalments before this one, it's preferable. That said, the story of each is self-contained and enough backstory is provided to get new readers, who are just diving in, right up to speed. 59-year-old economist Ante Valdemar Roos is a man whose charm can be compared to a glass of lukewarm water. He lives with his second wife and barely gets along with his two stepdaughters. One day, a winning lottery ticket makes it possible for him to fulfil his childhood dream, and without informing his wife, he buys a hut in the middle of a forest. He resigns from work and decides to spend the rest of his days alone. Then Anna Gambowska appears, seemingly out of nowhere, a 21 years old recovering addict on the run from rehab and a dysfunctional relationship. Mr Roos takes her in, and as they slowly get to know each other, they form a bond, not unlike that of a father and his daughter. Everything is turned upside down, however, when Anna’s ex-boyfriend finds out about her hiding place.

When Gunnar Barbarotti is put on the case, he shows little interest in the sudden disappearance of a married man. But when a dead body is found near Mr Roos’ house, solving the case becomes Barbarotti’s number one priority. The Godfather of Swedish crime returns with another of his signature-style slow-burn literary thrillers. Very much a character-driven novel, this is the perfect intelligent mystery for those who enjoy deeper and more cerebral crime. The steady unfurling of the plot allows for superb characterisation with the quirky pyromaniac Mr Roos being developed vividly and strongly. Nesser also excels at using the overcast weather and rural Swedish location to shape the story into one with atmosphere, nuance and depth of character, with the setting of Kymlinge in the west of the country being richly imagined and described, so much so that it became a cast member in itself. There's plenty of drama and intrigue throughout but his stories remain true to the often tedious nature of police work. A captivating crime novel and a display of savour-worthy storytelling prowess. Many thanks to Mantle for an ARC.

I loved this mystery/thriller book, which was a slow burner. It had a great narration, a literary quality to it.

The characters, the plot, and intrigue were developed really well.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Book three in the Barbarotti series.

You can't go wrong with Hakan Nesser. He has been called The Godfather of Swedish crime and he certainly has that Godfather vibe with his characters. They have odd little quirks, rich detail and more to paint a complex picture of humanity. Get several of then together and you have that Nesser cast of nuances and never-ending drama...

I would say these are some of the most realistic of Swedish Noir - the police work can drag, the officers get annoyed and the criminals either get braver or more stupid. Enter the Mr Roos of the title - he hates his job so gives everything up including his family and moves to a remote cabin in the woods. He tells his wife he's going to work however and mentions nothing of his secret hideaway. It's not long before someone stumbles across the cabin - a 21 recovering addict who decids to stay the night as there's no one there at the time.

Mrs Roos wife reports him missing - enter Barbarotti who starts a search. This is where things get interesting. the story about Mr Roos and his wife is quite a story. there's not much more I can say of fear of giving the plot away. And it's a plot to discover as you wander and linger in that forest.

#TheSecretLifeOfMrRoos #NetGalley
A good read.
Valdemar Roos is tired of life. Working a job he hates, with a wife he barely talks to and two step-daughters he doesn't get on with, he doesn't have a lot to look forward to. Then, one day, a winning lottery ticket gives him an opportunity to start afresh.Without telling a soul, he quits his job and buys a hut in the remote Swedish countryside. Every day he travels down to this man-made oasis, returning each evening to his unsuspecting wife. Life couldn't be better, until a young woman arrives in paradise .Anna Gambowska is a twenty-one-year-old recovering drug addict. On the run from the rehab centre she hated and an abusive relationship she can't go back to, all Anna's prayers are answered when she comes across a seemingly vacant hut in the Swedish woodland.
I loved the narration. Although it was lengthy to finish for me but I enjoyed it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for giving me an advance copy of the book.