When a young woman is murdered in an apartment building in Copenhagen owned by Esther de Laurenti, Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner are sent to investigate. The murder is especially brutal and the victim, identified as Julie Stende, has a paper cut pattern carved on her face. What unfolds takes the duo and the rest of the team on a very strange journey of discovery.

Well, if your literary taste runs to dramatically theatrical ‘Performance Death’ then this one is for you! I love Nordic Noir (though more precisely Dansk Sort!) and this is no exception. It’s very well written, the plot deepens and becomes weirder and weirder and so is never dull! Jeppe and Anette have an interesting semi combative relationship which is entertaining. Much of the storytelling is from Jeppe’s point of view and he is struggling following a messy divorce which left him mentally floored but he meets a ‘means of recovery’ during the investigation. We get a lot of his thoughts and being inside his head is an intriguing experience! Although Jeppe is initially very down, there are moments of wry humour which is a welcome relief and is interjected perfectly. There’s some fabulously dark imagery as the murderous mayhem continues, some rich descriptions and shall we say some very creative deaths in this twisty investigation which slowly builds to a satisfying conclusion. I think the novel would make a brilliant film or tv mini series. I love the starry images at the end.

Overall, a really enjoyable, drama and entertainingly twisty read and I look forward to reading more about this interesting investigative team.

With thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of The Tenant, the first novel to feature Copenhagen detectives Jeppe Kørner and Annette Werner.

Julie Stender has been found dead and mutilated in her flat. Jeppe Kørner is put in charge of the investigation but struggles to get traction with no forensics or apparent motive. Then he learns that Julie’s landlady, Esther de Laurenti, is writing a crime novel with the protagonist based on Julie and the same manner of death as hers but Esther seems physically incapable of the murder so what’s going on?

I enjoyed The Tenant which has an addictive mystery at its heart and an interesting protagonist. I found myself loathe to put it down as I wanted to know who had killed Julie and why. The answer has a twist and is not what I expected in its motive but the perpetrator is hardly a surprise as he’s identified before then. As ever the answer lies in the past.

I think at some points the author tries to be a little overly clever, not in the plotting but in the interpretation of literature imitating art and vice versa. I can’t be more specific because I skipped it, not being one for intellectual navel gazing nowadays. Nevertheless I found the novel interesting and it kept me turning the pages.

The novel is billed as Kørner and Werner but it’s all Jeppe. He’s struggling with his 8 month old marriage separation and has developed an OxyContin habit. I know, we should be supportive of those with mental health issues but does it have to extend to fiction? Mostly I wanted to shake him and that’s a shame as he’s a kind man with an ability to think outside the box.

The Tenant is a good read that I can recommend.

A Scandinavian crime noir, another fantastic story in this genre. Always a great story line, dark and moody as usual. A great read, well recommended.

An interesting story , set in Copenhagen .The owner of a residence( Sylvie) with rented accommodation on lower floors is writing a novel , using one of the tenants Julie as a character in the story . Julie is found murdered by an elderly tenant ,who has an heart attack following the discovery of the body . Detectives Jeppe and Annette set out to discover the killer . Suspicion falls on a companion of Sylvie who is then found dead in suspicious circumstances. Julies father is also implicated and admits he committed the offence . This is proved to be untrue and he is released , but suspicion falls on some of his well heeled companions , especially when it is found out Julie had given birth to a baby that she had adopted . A tale of manipulation and deceit but unfortunately this did not grab me like some books do .

As a fan of 'Scandic/Nordic noir' I was very happy to being granted a review copy of this title, the start of a new series. And a debut to boot!
The book left me with a little bit of mixed feelings. Jeppe and Annette, when confronted with the murder of a young girl, set about to find the killer in almost completely different ways. A lot of characters are introduced but in the first half of the book there is almost no real action and it seems we are getting nowhere except for more complications and more storylines.
Luckily, the second half of the book is much better. We finally get to know Jeppe and Annette a little better, and some of the other characters start playing an interesting role. The story gets more depth and the pace is picking up. There is even a red herring or two and some nice (or not so nice) suprises. The plot turns out to be rather interesting and there are no lose threads. (One little thing though: I don't think a person can lose 'several liters of blood' and still survive. The average person has 4.5 (woman) to 5.6 (man) liters blood. By 'several' I think of 2-3 liters...
I wouldn't compare this author (yet) with some of the greater authors in this genre (although there are so many that between them there are big differences) but I enjoyed myself with this book and I hope there will be more titles in this series. It would be nice to see how Jeppe and Annette evolve and I certainly hope that they will learn to work better together - or if not, the reason why they dislike eath other so much.

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital review copy.

Set in Denmark, this was a quirky murder mystery which became more complex as the novel unfolded and we found out more about the past lives of the main characters. Finding out about life in Copenhagen made a welcome change from the usual Norwegian and Swedish backdrops which seem so abundant. Definitely an author to watch.

The Tenant by Katrine Engberg is a crime novel with a lot of characters and a lot going on.

The storyline is interesting, and many times I thought I knew who did it, and then was proved wrong. So that’s good!

The characters are quite superfluous and I didn’t really engage with any of them. They're also the usual, predictable caricatures and I would have liked to see more in-depth development.

I enjoyed the mystery. It’s an easy to read book (although sometimes it didn’t flow too well and I think this is due to the translation) but quite slow in its progression.

I think this is an author who will grow with her novels and I would like to read more from her.

#netgalley #thetenant #katrineengberg #hodder&stoughton

Intricate,complicated thriller with many layers and some interesting characters but didn't catch or hold my interest.

The Tenant is a well written nordic noir police procedural that basically does exactly what it says on the tin.

As an introduction to a series it works very well, giving you a feel for the main characters and their quirks, giving them an intriguing mystery to solve and plotting it well to keep you involved throughout.

My only thing is I didn't feel it offered anything new and didn't have anything to make it stand out over and above other books in this genre.

If you are a fan of nordic noir you'll enjoy this for sure and I'd be interested to see where the series goes.

The first chapter of a new book written by an amateur book club member is the catalyst for the gruesome murder of a young woman in this psychological thriller. The lead detective is an insomniac struggling with his own demons as he tries to understand the reason for this and a second suspicious death.

Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are two Danish detectives working out of Copenhagen.
A brutal and sadistic murder of a young girl takes place in a flat , in a large old house. The girl is found by an elderly resident who collapses with a heart attack at finding the gruesome body.
A convoluted investigation takes place which all appears to be related to the elderly woman who lives by herself and owner of the house.

A very good Scandi Crime novel ,well written with enough action and atmosphere to keep the most critical of us happy. A little formulaic, but never the less enjoyable if predictable .Would happily read another from Katrine Engberg.

Slow paced and, for want of a better description, rather clunky Scandi-detective novel - both in plotting and translation. At first I thought it was American English that was jarring, but enough words stood out that I was just left slightly bemused at the choices taken.
The story itself is fine, if not particularly original, and the lead detectives are straight from the big book of detective cliche. I won’t be coming back for more I’m afraid.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

The book took a few twists I really wasn’t expecting, The writing and the character development was amazing and kept me turning pages to find out what will happen next even when the mystery was a bit stale

This was a fun read. Well written. Held my interest. Just an enjoyable read overall.

I would recommend this book to my friends and family for sure!

Another murder mystery in the Scandi Noir vein - such a crowded genre at the moment that any newcomer has to be really outstanding to make a mark. Katrine Engberg very nearly gets there in this book, but is hampered by two niggles. One, the protagonists are somewhat over characterised, and not always totally believable, and two, the writing style can be a little lacking in flow, possibly due to the translation. However, the plot is compelling and the further the reader gets into the book, the more gripping the story becomes. Set in Copenhagen, it centres around the investigation into murders of two connected victims, by detectives Jeppe and Annette, two very different characters who both irritate and compliment each other. It has twists and turns aplenty and the final denouement is built with tension and skill, sucking the reader in until the final page.

This is a typical Nordic Noir style detective thriller, There is the usual detective pairing, one of whom is going through tough times (divorce / drugs). The characters are stereotypes and the plot predictable. The translation is clunky and in some places wrong, e.g. he went on a binger!! (binge or bender?). I didn't bother to finish it.

Danish thriller set in Copenhagen.
A young girls body is found in her flat by another tenant Gregers. Her face has been battered and cut and she is unrecognisable.
Police Investigator Jeppe Korner is the lead investigator and has recently returned from sick leave following the break up of his marriage and his fathers death.
Jeppe , Annette and his team investigate why the young girl Julie has been murdered. Jeppe and Annette have a love/ hate relationship that adds a depth to the story.
Jeppe is depressed and hooked on painkillers in the first half before coming to life/ sexually awakened in the second half.
Focusing on her landlady Esther de Laurenti, recently retired and now a writer, her young friend Kristoffer and the other tenants they uncover that Kristoffer had a brief relationship with Julie.
Some of Jepp’s team are convinced that Kristoffer is the killer but before he can be arrested he is found dead.
Slowly Esther realised that Julie’s murder is similar to the book she is writing which has been shared with only two other writers in an online group.
This really deepens the mystery, throw in the fact that Julie had an affair with a teacher when she was fifteen and became pregnant, along with her new secret boyfriend and overbearing father and there are more than enough suspects to go around.
I enjoyed this book, it certainly kept me on my toes as more characters and secrets were introduced.
Whilst I worked out a lot of the mystery the ending did surprise me.
A good first thriller from Katrina Engberg.
4 Stars. I look forward to reading many more.

Good read, intriguing and containing tension. Although this hasn’t been my favourite because I do feel something has been missing

This was one of those books where either something got lost in translation,or it just wasn't the right book at right time for me.
It had some great ideas,and some interesting characters,but I felt it dragged slightly and I never really got into the story.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.

I do enjoy Nordic Noir; the different places, the different climate and culture and weather. However, I did find this novel to be a tad on the slow side. Set in Denmark, Copenhagen, Gregers Hermansen, a first floor tenant in Esther de Laurenti's apartment building, stumbles across the mutilated body of Julia Stender who, with her flatmate Caroline, occupied rooms on the second floor. Esther lived on the third floor. Caroline is away for the moment - Julia's blood is everywhere and an intricate carving has been made into her face.

Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are the detectives assigned to investigate. This is the first investigative team Jeppe has led since returning to work from sick-leave; ostensibly caused by a back problem but truthfully because of his impending divorce. The situation becomes complicated when a close, male, theatrical friend pf Esther. Kristoffer, appears to have been murdered. Not least of all when the manuscript of a novel she is writing closely resembles Julia's murder. Only she and the members of her private writing group know her plot - could anyone else?

There's a lot of focus on the relationship between Jeppe and Anette - love/hate? They are so different to each other. Anette and her husband plus two dogs are her life - she doesn't need children and she seems to have an inherent dislike of anything she views as decadent; Jeppe's wife is divorcing him after years of trying for a child and does all he can to avoid taking calls from his mother. Esther de Laurenti drunkenly admits to having a child adopted and, well, Julia has a secret past as she studiously avoids her father's phone calls.

There are quite a few red-herrings enlisted to support the story but I didn't feel any were of real substance - I did guess the involvement of the perpetrator half-way into the book, although not the full circumstances.

Not sure if I would wish to read any furtherance of Jeppe and Anette if written in the same vein. A bit disappointing really.

Who is out for revenge?