The Keeper of Lost Causes - Mystery Thriller Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen | Detective Carl Mørck Series Book 1 | Perfect for Crime Fiction Lovers & Book Club Discussions

The rare method of torturing the victim was unquestionably the centrepiece of the story. The excellent film version introduced me to the moody detective Carl Mørck, played excellently by Danish actor NIKOLAJ LIE KAAS and prompted me to pick up the book to get deeper into the story. Read it in English and then a second time in Norwegian. It was a tremendously satisfying read from start to finish of this intense police-crook story on vendetta. Certainly not for the faint-heart because it contains excruciating psychological and physical torture that made me squirm. I am quite puzzled with the choice of "Mercy" as the English translated title which is quite meaningless considering the story is all but merciless throughout. Cruel fate had no mercy striking the monsters with immense tragedy in their early lives that shaped them into revengeful blood thirsty monsters. These monsters themselves, in feeding their lust for vendetta, had no mercy for the victims or innocent bystanders. I much prefer the Danish/Norwegian title "Kvinnen i buret" or "The lady in the cage" because it describes the story excellently. The story is of course best read in Danish (or Norwegian as the written form is quite similar) like all books are best enjoyed in their original language. So with Mercy (Department Q Series Book 1), familiarity with Danish history, culture, lifestyle, geography and pathos go a long way to fully enjoy the genius of Adler-Olsen. Unfortunately, all translations as in this English version inevitably lose important nuances and many gems relevant in the Danish setting. I absolutely love Mercy (Department Q Series Book 1), my first crime novel by Danish author Adler-Olsen who paid great attention to details to give us a plot that was highly intelligent and unique, the characters were winsomely realistic be they the police detectives, the victims or the crooks. Despite the mostly sombre and heavy mood, there were some light moments of humor where Carl Mørck grappled with his dysfunctional marriage and incorrigible stepson wrecking havoc at home. Thankfully Carl gratefully had a reliable rent paying tenant called Morten, who loved opera and freely and lovingly volunteered making comfort food and home making service on a daily basis. Morten's playdo collection, audaciously borrowed without permisjon eventually lent valuable support to Carl in helping to uncover the bad guy in the story. Otherwise, much of the moronic fun were provided by the unlikely partners of Carl Mørck and Assad thrown unexpectedly together, whose backgrounds couldn't be more diverse and polarised, giving us comical confrontations while sussing each other out in the newly formed Department Q. There trust and admiration for each other were eventually forged after their harrowing life and death experience in solving their first case together. More so for Carl whose life was saved by the skin of his teeth when his quick thinking, stoic and resourceful assistant Assad came to his rescue. The special police department was a political initiative endorsed by the Danish parliament to reopen old unsolved cases that had attracted media and public great attention one time before they were unresolved and shelved. To establish credibility and to restore the good standing of the unpopular detective Carl Mørck, who was despised and abhorred by his colleagues, solving the all important first case "Woman in the pressure chamber" cannot be more critical on the line. And what a first case it was. A tale of 1extreme inhuman revenge, meticulously planned over a long period of time to torture the victim for a long five period since her abduction before exacting the most cruel form of execution. Adler-Olsen cleverly segmented his story into two different periods at the beginning before the two segments converged in the end to a nail biting finish. It was an incredible suspenseful, and emotionally beautiful ending of reunion and closure. The reader got so caught up with the characters in the book, that hot tears were shed in the end. Already a big fan of Scandinavian crime novels, I have read Norwegian and Swedish crime fictions by Larsson for his Blomkivst journalist , Nesbø for his alcoholic, insomniac, cheerless, Jim Bean addicted Harry Hole, and Staaleson for the physically abused Aquavit addicted Varg Veum. I love them all, each for their unique heroic and conscientious protagonist trying their utmost to rid the world of evil. Adler-Olsen with his creation or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde "Carl Mørck", is now for me another fantastic Scandinavian crime fiction author, my first from Denmark.