I don't like Van Veeteren quite as much as I liked Kurt Wallander but, as literary characters go, he's a close second. And now that there will be no more Wallander books, that's no small thing.

1.5 - Meh (rounded to 2 stars on GR because I’ve read worse)I bought this book at a local book sale, so I had zero expectations going in. I’m not disappointed in the low rating because I hadn’t heard of the book until I bought it a few weeks back.The Inspector and Silence tells the story of Inspector Van Veeteren, a Swedish detective, as he tries to solve a case involving the Pure Life — a religious cult. Unbeknownst to me when I bought it, this book is number five out of ten in a series that f

The Inspector and Silence ~Pantheon (40) The Silence of Gloom, March 21, 2012 By Ellen Rappaport (Florida) This review is from: The Inspector and Silence: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery (Hardcover) This is the 5th book in the Chief Inspector Van Veeteren series which I have read. This appeared to me to be the heaviest of emotions displayed by the author in the characters.Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is seriously considering and even planning on his retirement from the Swedish Police Force a

I was disappointed by this book. I'd read all the other Nesser books so far translated into English and I was looking forward to this one, so I felt a little let down. The story opens promisingly enough with a mysterious phonecall in which an unidentified woman claims a girl has been murdered at a site used by a secretive religious group. Van Veeteren gets involved and finds a wall of silence, as the book title suggests. Unfortunately, the denoument fails to live up to the promise shown earlier

My first Nesser novel and I was ultimately bored for most of the book. The main character, Van Veeteren spends a lot of time doing nothing then "by chance" discovers the clue to solve the murders. I also was unimpressed with character development...I couldn't keep some of the lesser important police detectives straight and they served no purpose other than to remind me that Van Veeteren would solve this because that's what he did...Perhaps if I'd read other Nesser novels i might have appreciated...

The Swedes are certainly going great guns recently. Here we have another great Swedish detective - Inspector Van Veeteren. Van Veeteren is nearing retirement age, and is dreaming of taking a pleasant little job as an assistant in a local book shop. He is thinking about his forthcoming summer holiday and goes into a travel agent, where he waits behind an attractive woman whom he recognises from a previous case. She is booking a solo holiday in Crete. He knows the location and the hotel – all good...

The most pointless, cliched, feebly-plotted murder mystery ever. Beautiful young girls brutally raped and strangled? Give me a break! The story unwinds at a snail's pace and after pointing the finger at the leader of the sect to which the girls belonged, of course our author plucks another culprit at random. Why do such books get published at all, I wonder? It's not even sexy or scary, just boring beyond belief.

Dreadful reading. Story line was all over again he place. I abhor quasi psychological narrative mixed in with pure conjecture. The only way this book would be any good is if it was used to start a fire

I really like VV - he's human, intuative, and deeply moved by the horrors he has seen including the little girls in this book. It was heading toward a 5 star read, but the ending of the book was weak to me. Nevertheless - the telling of the story was superb. I will read more of the VV mysteries and Nesser to my growing list of favorite European crime writers.

My first introduction to Håkan Nesser, “The Inspector and silence” affords the reader a thoroughly enjoyable sojourn to Sorbinowo, a forested Swedish lake side town. Looks can be deceptive however and the forest, along with the town, hides a dark secret that local police cannot fathom – enter chief inspector Van Veeteren.When I began reading “The Inspector and silence” which is incidentally the fifth in a series of ten books to be released in the UK, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect having nev...

Appreciate his style. Understated. character development, a couple dashes of left curve humor, good story. Found this copy on the used book market. Went to purchase another in the series and was told they are going out of print.

Left to man the Sorbinowo police station while the chief takes time off to get over the death of his wife, Sergeant Merwin Kluuge isn't expecting much trouble in this bit of paradise. But it's not long until he receives an anonymous call from a woman claiming that a little girl has disappeared from a camp in Waldingen run by the Pure Life religious sect. The people at the camp say everyone's accounted for. The next day he gets yet another anonymous phone call from the same woman, who threatens t...

Nice to get back to this excellent series. Dark thriller with lots of introspection, interesting characters, and good humor.

Given the heinous nature of these summer crimes the willfully glacial pace of the narrative is unforgivable.

Author Hakan Nesser can do no wrong in my eyes in the Inspector Van Veeteren series. As always, the inspector is introspective, but especially so in this, the fifth in this series of books. "VV" as many of his fellow detectives refer to him, is again considering retirement from the police force, but this time with an actual plan in place. Meanwhile, he is embroiled in an investigation into the murder(s) of adolescent girls who are part of a minor religious sect.

Awesome book, I am truly enjoying this series of books.

Labouring under the perpetually draining heat of a stifling summer in Maardam, a jaded and typically morose Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is clearly in the autumn of his career and contemplating retirement more seriously than ever before. Approaching sixty and with thirty-five-years service in the bag the advertisement offering a potential partnership in Krantze's antiquarian bookshop and more time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, which for introspective Van Veeteren include beer, playing c...

I read this during a plane ride to Sweden and coincidentally sat next to a woman who was from the author's home town. Although I got a kick out of the main character, Inspector Van Veteren, VV for short, I thought VV was a little short on the detecting side of things. I discovered the murderer in the first 100 pages and had to wait another 150 pages while VV dawdled, drank and detected, before he found the culprit. While the settings were interesting, taking place in some fictional Northern Euro...

I wouldn't recommend it. I usually stop reading when I'm not enjoying a book, but I did finish this one. I found the characters dull and the plot uninspiring. The most interesting aspect was the inspector's conflict about retirement.

PROTAGONIST: Inspector Van VeeterenSETTING: Fictional country resembling SwedenSERIES: #5 of 10RATING: 3.0Inspector Van Veeterren is at a crossroads. Personally, things are less than satisfactory. After a failed marriage, he feels the stirrings of desire to embark on a new relationship, something that will bring him to life again. Professionally, he is feeling worn out and mulling retirement after 35 years on the job. He has found himself tempted by a “for hire” sign in a small local bookstore.