Keeper of Lost Causes

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen is the latest "Nordic Noir" on my reading (or listening)  list. This one is set in Denmark, and features chief detective Carl Mørk. After an investigation leaves Carl injured, one of his partners dead and the other paralyzed Carl returns to work, but the rest of the homicide department wants Carl gone. What better way to get him out of the way than to have him head up the newly created "Department Q" for investigating cold cases. Turns out this is a department of one, located in the basement. Carl plans to put his feet up and pass time doing anything but work, until one of the cases catches his eye.  Together with his office assisant/janitor Assad, Carl sets out to solve the case of Merete Lynggaard, a politician who disappeared without a trace 5 years before. Whether suicide or murder, everyone assumes Merete is long dead, but Carl is on the trail and if he gets there fast enough, he might just find her alive.

Full of suspense and gritty detail, The Keeper of Lost Causes kept my attention while driving, and I hated to turn my car off.  If I had read this book, I definitely would have skimmed sections that made me squeamish (such as a description of an abscessed tooth) and peaked at the end, but that's why listening was a better choice for me - I couldn't stop the suspense from building!