The Absent One

The story was very original and dark. There was no formula.

Yes. By being different than the typical crime novel in making the despicable protagonist a sympathetic character

The first book was narrated by a guy with an accent from the area where the story takes place. This narrator was doing some sort of bad Eliza Doolittle impression. If a book is based in another country, the narrator should be striving to put us in that country. This narrator put us in 19th century London.

Not so much.

I like this author a lot. I like these characters a lot.

Top 25 percent

Enjoyed the story development. Enough "I didn't see that coming" to keep me on my toes.

No. At first I missed Erik Davies but then fell into step with Pacey and enjoyed his narration as well

Pretty much

Anxious for Adler-Olsen's third book translation. This is a lot like I felt reading Steig Larsson....but Adler-Olsen is a little less graphic!

Not another Swede

Not that I have anything against Swedist detectives. In fact, I have listened to most of them and like the genre, but try the one from Denmark! Like all Scandinavian detectives, Adler-Olsen's hero is a little broody, but the cast around Detective Carl Morck is a kick. His villians are the worst and they are always plural. You do just have one bad guy to hunt down but rather a cast of evil, very twisted characters.

I wish the narrators had been the same for both books and I might favor Erik Davies who did The Keeper of Lost Causes over Steven Pacey who performed this one, but both do a more than credible job.

There are two more in the series that have been published but am not certain they have been translated. I fervently hope that Audible will make then available when they are.

Yes! Steven Pacey does a great job of bringing to life the world of Department Q.

The plot is smart and twisted and brought to life by quirky and complex characters.

This is my first Steven Pacey book.

Erik Davies read the first book in this series, Keeper of Lost Causes. It was an adjustment to switch to Steven Pacey, but he did the book justice. I think you really have to read the first book to truly appreciate the second one.

Would've been better

My disappointment upon hearing the narrator. I couldn't get past it although I tried. I kept thinking of a skinny little Englishman not a big brooding dane

The first book narration set the mood for me. The narrators accent seemed more fitting for the subject matter this narrators Kings English accent is would be better suited for a different series.

I thought the book was great, I liked the writers style and the characters. I will read/listen to more of this authors books as I notice there is a different narrator for the rest.

Book 2 of this new series was an entertaining listen. The main character was more fully developed in this book and the interactions between Carl and his assistants, Assad and Rose, (in Dept.Q) made for a lot of humor in an otherwise depressing case. The premise was a bit out there but it made no difference as I followed the sequence of events to the final conclusion. The end was inevitable and well written making me long for another book and a few more hours with this cast of characters. Really enjoyed the reader as well.
I gave this book 5 stars as it kept me hooked into listening and finishing it in a couple of days!!

Thrills and suspense continue in Department Q, where closed cases come to light in a new way. Detective Carl Morck, and his office staff, a pesky Muslim, and mouthy Ruby, work in the basement of a Denmark police station. As the laughing stock of the station, they find themselves working against the system most of the time.

A case file mysteriously finds it's way on Carl's desk. Strangely, it's not a cold case, but a closed case. So why is it on his desk. As his department Q starts checking it out, it becomes obvious that there are a number of very rich and powerful people involved in numerous assault and murder cases. There is also a mysterious bag lady, Kimmie, that everything seems to revolve around. Many people seem to want to find Kimmie, but she's successfully kept under the wire for most of her life.

The thrills and suspense driving this case bring up more and more past murders, but the rich and powerful main players are cunning and sadistic in keeping their secrets. Without giving anything more away, you will grow closer and closer to Kimmie, who has a tragic and terrible story of her own---will you become more and more sympathetic to her or more and more disgusted by her?

This second department Q mystery keeps the thrills going at a frantic and psychological pace that leaves you hoping that book three will be translated into English immediately!

One of the best of the wonderful Scandinavian authors to be revealed because of the Millenium Trilogy. One of the very best I've listened to overall.

This book takes off from the very first page. Detective Carl Merck and his Department Q deal with cold cases, nothing new these days, but their uniqueness and complicated lives take readers on an enticing and can't put the book down ride.

Jussi AdlerOlsen's first book The Keeper of Lost Causes available on Audible which this book is a Department Q follow up is a must read too. Cannot wait until the next two books in this series are available.

Yes, the characters were interesting enough that the "mystery" was only half the fun.

While not an edge of your seat thriller, the characters were engaging and there was just enough of a twist on tried and true formulas to make it fresh.

This story was very engrossing. As you learned more about the "bag lady" who truly was one of the bad guys of the story you can't help but root for her to get revenge against the other baddies of the story.

The main charaters are stong as well and the story was very engrossing.

I completely enjoyed it and can't wait of another book in the series.