Borkmann is an old cop, one of the few that Chief Inspector Van Veeteren respects. Van Veeteren is thinking about Borkmann while he’s sitting in the tub, three bottles of brown ale in a bucket of cold water on the floor “and a dish of fat olives within easy reach.” In every investigation, Borkmann maintained, “there comes a point beyond which we don’t really need any more information. When we reach that point, we already know enough to solve the case by means of nothing more than some decent thi...

The first in the Van Veerteren series I've read. Really good. I love Swedish crime fiction, there is just nothing like it--dark, melancholy and just graphic enough, not overboard. IMO Swedish crime authors have the best character development, and Hakan Nesser is no exception; you know each character while fereting out the murderer. I had a confusing number of suspects like the investigators, and I started to realize 'who done it' about the same time as Van Veerteren, There is a moral component t...

Borkmann's Point: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery is a Swedish import by Hakan Nesser. Borkmann's point refers to an axiom provided to Inspector Van Veeteren. Basically, the point is that in an investigation, there comes a time when there is enough information gathered to solve the crime. More information is useless and less information is not enough.The gist of this novel is about an axe murderer who has killed three men by chopping off their heads. This serial killer is on the loose in the s...

Captivating criminal mystery. Keeps you guessing right up to the end! (Three and one-half stars)

Borkmann's Point: "the point beyond which we really don't need any more information. When we reach that point, we already know enough to solve the case by means of nothing more than some decent thinking. " And it is precisely at this point that Inspector Van Veeteren begins to focus on the identity of the Axman, so called because of his propensity to commit murder with an axe. The inhabitants of the small Swedish town of Kaalbringen have become paralyzed with fear after the third murder, and it

The basic premise is this: Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren of the (imaginary) city of Maarsdam is vacationing in the nearby seaside town Kaalbringen. Although he’s scheduled to go back to work, he’s recruited to stay in town and join forces with the local Kaalbringen police after a man murdered with an ax is discovered. Shortly after, there is another murder—similar in method, although the victims have nothing apparent in common. While he quickly bonds with the members of the Kaalbringen

A little slow for me but well crafted with developed characters and a solid mystery. Not a lot of atmosphere though - it could have been happening in any part of the world. The translation was first rate - Ive read a few by similar authors such as Mankell where the translation is just a little bit off.

An axe murderer.Swedish writer Hakan Nesser’s second Inspector Van Veeteren is about, no kidding, an axe murderer. In Nesser’s fictional Maardam (which is somewhere in Northern Europe) Detective Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is on holiday in the coastal village of Kaalbringen (also a fictional town) when he is asked to assist the local law enforcement with tracking down the killer of two local men. The men had been almost decapitated and left to be found, having been struck from behind with what

Started off quite interesting then started to meander and plod. Seemed to me that Inspector Van Veeteren (view spoiler)[ spent too much time faffing about playing chess and picking his teeth with toothpicks and not enough time looking for the missing policewoman (hide spoiler)].As I got hold of the next book in this series before reading this one, I will persist and read it to see if they get more interesting.

Very enjoyable read that flowed quickly with no let downs or super events.

Enjoyed the pace and characters. Van Veeteren is growing on me.

Slow paced but dark procedural crime novel ..

I can't believe this book is rated so highly at this site. During the Golden Age of mystery writing, a group of writers famously came up with a list of absolute "don'ts" for writers. This book comes as close as you possibly can to violating one of the most important rules without precisely doing it. And the fact that it involves the identity of the murderer means that the reader has to get to the last pages before being disappointed. Some books are better than others, and some flaws can be passe...

Description: Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is called to the sleepy coastal town of Kalbringen to assist the local police in the investigation of two recent ax murders. Soon the case turns from bad to worse when another body turns up and one of Van Veeteren’s colleagues, a young female detective, disappears without a trace. Now Van Veeteren must find the killer, and, it is hoped, his colleague, before anyone else comes to harm. Riveting and intellectually satisfying, Borkmann’s Point unfolds like

I liked it. Didn't love it, but found it engaging and even engrossing enough to read it through. The book is notable for its complex story and cliff-hanger section endings. Those, not the characters, drive the reader on. The characters are interesting enough, and I liked the lone investigator, Van Veeteren. The ending, too, tied the various plot lines up tidily - and with satisfying surprise. I'll probably read more Hakan Nesser, but I'm going through a pile of Scandinavian mystery writers, and

It read easily but without flair. Too much padding in attempt to prolong little bursts of weak suspense. Too much extraneous detail about various characters' interior lives which was completely irrelevant to the story, without the saving grace of providing a different perspective into the human condition. This seems to be a common pitfall in this genre. Enjoyed the short snippets of the villain's POV. Other than the names, it felt generic.

A very good read ! A baffling serial-killer mystery which is cleared up by a combination of diligence and intelligence. A different setting to the first novel "The Mind's Eye" and so had a no. of new police officers to get acquainted with. Wonder if they will be used again ?I wish though that the explanation had been a bit more detailed. Like the first book, I had to skim thru the last few chapters for a few minutes to make sense of it. Keen to read #3 which has an interesting plot.PS:- Since I

After a very good "Mind's Eye", I found this book slightly disappointing. The plot felt slow at times, which was pretty frustrating. However, that might be exactly what the author intended: the reader to become as frustrated as the investigative team with the lack of progress in solving the crime! If so, he was successful!Having said that, this book had more good qualities than bad. The mystery was interesting enough...the "bad guy" was literally an axe murderer! The conclusion was somewhat surp...

Amid the rich spectrum of dark and quirky Scandanavian detective fiction, this Swedish author doesn�t strike me as the cream of the crop. Yet his lead detective does have his charms. Along the lines of Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Van Veeteren believes in thinking his way to the solution of crime more than rigorous procedural efforts. He never seems to miss much sleep, taking a good meal or a walk, or even put off a good chess match in the midst of a serial murder case. In this tale, he is called

There will be absolutely no hint of spoilers in Nesser reviews from me! I found Nesser books after running out of Karin Fossum books to read. Nesser's writing is excellent and does an unbelievable job at sucking the reader in to the twisted story being laid out. For some reason, in the majority of Scandanavian mystery writers I have found, their ability to do that is second to no other countries mystery writers. The only thing I am not happy about with Nesser's books is that it takes WAY too lon...