The Murder of Halland

The Murder of Halland by Pia Juul, translated by Martin Aitken, 147 pages

The titular Halland is murdered--shot outside his home in a small Danish community--within the first few pages of the book, and his longtime live-in girlfriend Bess is immediately the prime suspect. As our narrator, Bess does exactly the opposite of what we expect someone accused of murder to do: she ignores the investigation, avoids seeking the answers to questions, and instead of planning a big funeral and reception (Halland was a well-known author, and his death has been splashed across the headlines), she's turned inward, focusing on missing her long-lost daughter. Juul takes a noirish setting full of rain and the odd fjord, and makes what could be a straightforward murder mystery into something much odder and introspective. It's an interesting read, though I'd avoid it if you're hankering for a straightforward mystery.