Invisible Murder by Lene Kaaberbøl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Invisible Murder" by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis is a good thriller. I actually liked it more than the well-known "The Boy in the Suitcase" by the same pair of Danish authors because it reaches deeper into the layer of acute social issues. Without spoiling the plot, let's just say it involves Hungarian Roma (Gypsy) refugees in Denmark. Nina Borg is one of the main characters as is her teenage daughter Ida (a very well drawn portrait of a mixture of natural teenage stupidity and strength of character). The characterizations of Danish security people are not as deep and rich, but then they serve mainly as plot-moving devices.

The plot is quite slow, but it delivers towards the end. All the threads of the plot come together at the end in a gloriously absurd yet believable denouement.

The misery of Eastern European refugees in Denmark is shown quite dramatically. It is definitely not a book for people with right-wing leanings.

The writing is high quality, and the credit must be given not only to the writers but also to the translator.

Four stars.


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