Synopsis (from
the publisher):
The principal of a high school telephones his friend, Inspector
Andersson of the Goteborg Crime Police; one of his teachers failed to
show up for work. To Inspector Irene Huss' surprise, on the basis of
this vague complaint her boss drives out with her to a remote cottage
in snowbound southern Sweden to investigate. There they find a body,
its head blasted by a rifle. Teacher Jacob Schyttelius has been
murdered. When they go to break the news to his elderly parents, Pastor
Sten Schyttelius and his wife, they find the couple dead in their beds,
each shot between the eyes. Upside-down pentagrams have been drawn in
blood on their computer screens. The only surviving member of the
family is a daughter, now residing in London, but she is too distressed
to be interviewed. Is the killer a member of a satanic cult? Is it the
parish treasurer, rumored to have been embezzling church funds? Or one
of the assistant pastors, tired of waiting for a promotion? Perhaps the
attractive blonde who sings in church and practices witchcraft? Irene
Huss has a hunch that the answer lies in England, and she travels there
twice to discover the reason for this triple homicide.
— ◊ —
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The Glass Devil
An
Inspector Irene Huss Mystery
Helene
Tursten
Soho Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-452-4 (1569474524)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-452-5 (9781569474525)
Publication Date: April 2007
List Price: $13.00
— ◊ —
Review: Goteborg
Detective Inspector Irene Huss investigates a bizarre triple murder in The
Glass Devil, the fifth mystery in this series (but only
the third translated into English) by Swedish author Helene Tursten.
Jacob, a well liked teacher, his father, an elderly minister, and his
aging mother who suffered for years from depression are dead, all
killed within a very short time of each other. Jacob was found in his
cottage with two gunshot wounds, one to his heart and other between the
eyes. On his computer screen was drawn an upside-down pentagram in
Jacob’s own blood. His parents were shot in their bed, once each
between the eyes. On their computer screen, too, was drawn the
upside-down pentagram in their blood. In addition, a wooden cross with
the body of Christ was found turned upside down. Were these murders
committed by a devil worshipper? Since the upside-down pentagram is
frequently associated with a satanic cult, is it possible someone in
such a cult could be the guilty party. But why would anyone in a cult
hate the minister’s family so much as to murder them all? A
surviving family member, Jacob's sister Rebecka, lives in London. Is
she, too, in danger? Inspector Huss travels to London to talk with her,
only to be rebuffed. It seems she, too, like her mother, suffers from
depression and is unwilling to talk.
Upon further investigation at home, however, Inspector Huss finds there
was dissention in the church as to who would be promoted to take the
pastor's place in the rectory. Rumors and accusations begin to surface
by those who could be elected as the next rector. Is it possible that
in trying to solve the crime, Irene was overlooking the obvious and
simply assumed the killer was an outsider? Could it be one of the
church’s very own who committed the crime? If so, why? When she
comes close to the resolution, she discovers that any person can be a
devil, a glass devil. The evil is there but it goes unseen even by
those closest to them.
The many facets to Irene's life are on display in The
Glass Devil, all to great effect. She is a wife, a
mother, and a career woman with a time-consuming, often dangerous, job.
The author skillfully weaves the her domestic life with her
professional one, and adds a layer of complexity by showing how
"common" people, not unlike Irene and her family, can be honest and
straightforward yet simultaneously be deceitful and devious. This is an
exceptional novel and worth seeking out.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of The Glass Devil and to Soho Press for providing a trade paperback edition of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Glass Devil? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series (available in the US) …
Detective Inspector Huss
Soho Press (Hardcover), December 2002
ISBN-10: 1-56947-303-X (156947303X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-303-0 (9781569473030)
The Torso
Soho Press (Hardcover), April 2006
ISBN-10: 1-56947-425-7 (1569474257)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-425-9 (9781569474259)
The Glass Devil
Soho Crime (Hardcover), April 2007
ISBN-10: 1-56947-452-4 (1569474524)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-452-5 (9781569474525)
Omnimystery keywords for The Glass Devil ...
Location(s) referenced: Goteborg, Sweden, London, England, Scotland.
