The Glass Devil
An
Inspector Irene Huss Mystery
Helene Tursten
Soho Crime (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-489-3 (1569474893)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-489-1 (9781569474891)
Publication Date: April 2008
List Price: $13.00
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.
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 copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series (translated into English) ...
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 Press (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.