Death of a Nightingale (Nina Borg, #3)
Lene Kaaberbøl Agnete Friis Elisabeth Kallick Dyssegaard
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    for readers. From the Nordic noir duo who brought you The New York Times bestseller The Boy in the Suit…
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September 25, 2016

Death of a Nightengale is bleak followed by more bleak followed by horrific. How could it be anything else when, at its core it combines the starvation and slaughter of Stalin's Ukraine of 1935 and the coldest and darkest of Scandinavian mystery plots? So much death, hunger and betrayal. Children watching their parents do the best they can in brutal circumstances, only to fail or give up. Inhumanity does not produce empathetic, kind offspring.

The writing is spare. This is another book split between two storylines that ultimately converge. For me, the amount of real estate allocated to the 1935 Ukraine horror was more than was necessary and overwhelmed the contemporary storyline. Ten percent of the sentences mentioned lice or flies crawling upon children, or so it seemed. I endured this read to the end out of sheer stubbornness, but even by Scandinavian mystery standards, Death of a Nightengale requires a reader to want to be immersed in the coldest and darkest of tales, with no humor or break at any point.

Consider yourself forewarned that --if you weren't already aware-- Stalin's Ukraine is not a setting one visits for a good time.

January 7, 2019

In this third book in the 'Nina Borg' series, Nurse Borg is harboring a girl whose mother is in prison. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Natasha - a Ukrainian woman living is Denmark - is in prison for attempted murder. She escapes police custody and is desperate to reunite with her eight-year-old daughter Katerina. The girl has been living in a refuge, cared for by nurse Nina Borg.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of complex things going on and other people want to get their hands on little Katerina.

The book's structure - going back and forth in time - became confusing. And there were so many minor characters that they started to blend together and it was hard to remember who was who.

Still, I would have given the book more stars if the ending was more complete and resolved. When I finished the book I couldn't quite figure out exactly what happened all those years ago that drove all the components of the story.

Your can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

September 10, 2016

This one was not nearly as good as the first two books in this series, for three reasons.

First, while the story is part of the Nina Borg series, and she's a character in this book, she really had no part of the plot. She's in many scenes, but surprisingly, Nina Borg really did nothing to move the story along. This book could have been written without her and it still would have worked as well as it did.

Second, the Nina Borg character didn't seem like herself, she was "out of character" with several traits that weren't ever mentioned in the first two books. For example, in this one, she's overly obsessed with time and clock-watching. OCD tendencies also make a dramatic appearance, which also weren't apparent in books 1 and 2. It was very distracting and disappointing.

Thirdly, the back-story took over the book, leaving the main plot by the wayside. The authors use back-stories to great effect in the first two books, but I think they lost sight of the main plot here, and the book suffered for it.

On to the next book!

August 9, 2013

Grab a cup of hot tea and settle on in for a Nordic winter’s tale. You’ll want that hot beverage as you read the vivid descriptions of the driving snow and bone-chilling cold. This mystery is woven between scenes from the Ukraine in 1934 and present day Denmark. It all comes together by the end of the book.

While an enjoyable read, I do think the novel would have been better served if I had read the previous two books in the series featuring Nina Borg before tackling this one. As it was, there wasn’t enough back story here to allow me to really “get” her, although I quite enjoyed her obsession with consulting her watch time and time again. Loved the parallel between Baba Yaha, the old Slavic witch of myth, and The Witch of the present, a tiny bent old woman with her shiny red high-heeled shoes and her horrible skull-like head covered with a luxuriant fur cap.

This was a First-reads giveaway, thank you.

November 6, 2013

It helped that I read the first book in the series, The Boy in the Suitcase which I bought on my own. However, I did not read the second book in the series. I thought the first book on the whole was better than the third book.

While I am not that fond in general of the technique the authors used of having multiple story lines merge finally merging into one story line. In the third book this technique is even more confusing because the stories are set in different time periods. I liked the story about the two sisters in Stalinist Russia but the Natasha/Pavel story I did not find interesting.

In both books, I felt that Nina Borg should sooner have played a more prominent role. I like the fact that she is basically an amateur detective who does not have some incredibly high level of technical knowledge that helps her solve the crime. I also liked that the character is a do-gooder who gets too involved with her work which leads her to investigate crimes. However, in the start of the third book it at least initially appears that the crime might be solved by the professional police; when I was reading the beginning of the book this felt like a terrible disappointment.

I thought there were many unanswered questions and events that seem improbable which I would have liked to see resolved. Why does Anna want to blackmail her sister? She seems very comfortably off in Denmark. Why would she want to risk things for the extra money? Why is Olga so afraid of exposure? Would people really care about her past in the Ukraine? From all the problems from the wars would there be enough evidence to prove anything about Olga? Katarina was given enough medication to kill her but then this problem just seems to disappear. I also found it hard to believe that Anna would be in such good shape for a woman in her late eighties. While I can believe she would have looked much younger than Olga she seemed too young for someone in her eighties. Actually both sisters seemed more like they were in their seventies than in their eighties. I found it hard to believe that Olga could have had a child as young as her second child.

However, on the whole I enjoyed the book despites these imperfections.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

January 29, 2014

Death Of A Nightingale

by

Lene Kaaberbol & Agnette Friis

My "in a nutshell" summary...

Natasha Doroshenko has been arrested for murdering her fiancé. On her way to her interrogation she escapes. Nina Borg...a nurse...tries to help Natasha and her daughter but much is unknown about this woman and her past.

My thoughts after reading this book...

This book captured my attention in the opening pages. Natasha is being held by the police while her daughter is being cared for at a Red Cross facility under the watchful eye of Nurse Nina.

The only problem for me was that I did not realize that this was the third book in this series. The book is fine without reading the first two books but I really did some research to find out more about Nina and her background and why she is driving an old car and living in a sort of inexpensive apartment and why she doesn't seem to have her children all of the time. The mystery surrounding Natasha is revealed slowly. Nina has had an interest in Natasha because of her daughter and does not believe that she is capable of murder. Natasha escapes from the police and steals a car in order to get to her daughter.

However...during the time that she is loose...her fiancé is brutally murdered. And...someone that Natasha calls "The Witch" appears to be after Natasha and her daughter.

There are flashbacks in this book to a horrible time...1934/35...people were desperate, starving, filthy, persecuted and murdered. The Witch is someone from that time. That time is also from the Ukraine...Stalinist Ukraine...and the secrets are deeply buried there.

Final thoughts...

I hesitate to say more about this book. It's a mystery...and a complex one at that. I was truly enjoying it at first but it was not an easy book to read. Horrible things happened to people in that Stalinist era and there were many parts that were not pleasant to read. I am glad that I read this book but I don't think I will read the books before this one. I had to read and reread to truly figure out all of the components and although the book is good...it did not really draw me in the way I wanted it to. I needed to find out what happened but I didn't love what I was reading. But again...serious mystery lovers should truly enjoy this.

November 18, 2013

Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis return with their third book - Death of a Nightingale - featuring protagonist Nina Borg.

Nina is a Red Cross nurse working in a Danish refugee camp. She's passionate about her work and the people she looks after - to the detriment of her own life. Her marriage has broken down and she's lost custody of her children.

Death of a Nightingale continues the story of two of the residents of Coal House Camp - Ukrainian national Natasha and her daughter Katerina. Natasha has been convicted of the attempted murder of her abusive Danish boyfriend, but escapes custody on her way to sentencing, determined to reclaim her child.

Alternate chapters tell the story of two little girls in Stalinist Ukraine in 1934. The glimpse into the past is chilling and compelling. Written from a child's viewpoint, I found these chapters fascinating and found myself heading to the 'net to read more about this period in history. Slowly but surely Kaaberbol and Friis meld the two story lines together. I enjoyed the well plotted and slow paced reveal.

Friis and Kaaberbol have populated the book with incredibly strong female characters, each with dogged and determined wills. Lines are blurred often - what is right versus what is lawful. And what needs to be done. I think this is why I like Nina so much. She is far from perfect, but tries to do right by everyone in her life. She's failing, but is able to see her shortcomings and indeed acknowledges she may not be able to change - her family may be lost to her.

The plot is well crafted and the story moves along quickly, with lots of action and bite your nails moments. The ending is tied up but leaves the door open for the next in the series - one I will be picking up for sure.

November 23, 2013

t can be difficult to jump into an ongoing crime/mystery series. The main character in this series, Nina Borg, was introduced in the book "The Boy In The Suitcase," and another book followed. This is the third.

The books take place in Denmark which, like many other Western European Countries, has been faced with an influx of Eastern European refugees trying to find a better life. Nina is now divorced, has a mild case of OCD, is not the most personable of people, but she cares desperately.

The narrative opens with Natasha, a Ukrainian refugee who has been accused of murdering her fiance. Apparently she IS guilty although for good reason: the man had not only been physically abusive with her, but also had tried to molest her daughter. The police are moving her, and she sees the chance to escape and find her daughter, Katerina.

Katerina is still in the Coal House Camp which houses refugees from all over the world. However, shadowy figures from the Ukraine are also searching for Natasha after having murdered her Ukrainian husband, Pavel, a journalist in Kiev. In between the modern story are chapters of a story that takes place in the early 1930's in the Ukraine, a time of terrible famine and cruel Soviet repression.

Like other examples of the Scandinavian crime genre, the book is written in a spare and lucid style, but it's NOT simple. Human emotions - love, despair, anger, hatred - are all here and are blended in a skillful and interesting manner with a little dose of history. I've found yet another series to follow!

May 13, 2014

This series just keeps getting better...I love Nina Borg! I love how beautifully flawed she is. Her OCD is charming. I admire her dedication to the refugees at the Coal House camp and feel sad with her when it creates a heartbreaking rift in her family. In this book, she is still struggling to find an appropriate work/life balance...and while most of us don't work in a refugee camp, it's easy to relate to that constant tug of needing to be two places at once. Adding to the chaos, is the fact that no matter what she does to get herself back on track, trouble seems to hunt her down and find her.

Death of a Nightingale is the third book in the Nina Borg series, and I do agree with other reviewers that there is a benefit to reading these books in order. This book follows a split time format, bouncing from 1930s Ukraine to present-day Denmark. The 1930s backstory brought some interesting historical detail to the series, while the chilling winter backdrop added a great level of suspense to the present-day storyline. I've enjoyed each of these books, but I think this one is my favorite so far. I can't wait for #4 to be translated and released.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for providing a review copy.

December 3, 2017

A bleak read.

The book swings between Ukraine in 1935 and modern Denmark.

In the Ukraine Stalinism is rife. The Kulaks are being sent to Siberia, neighbours are informing on neighbours and hunger is rife. Olga's sister Oxana is a Stalinist darling.

In modern day Denmark, Natasha escapes from police custody and is wanted for the murder of two men. She only wants to get her daughter back, who is being sheltered in a refugee centre.

While this is a Nina Borg novel she is a background character to this novel of middling intrigue, strange connections between characters and a not-so-gripping conclusion.

May 11, 2024

The process of reading kept me guessing, but at the end it was a huge disappointment.

Two disjoint stories occuring decades apart are finally connected, but I wasnt impressed.

The 3 stars is only for the rapid pace and exotic setting.

December 5, 2013

I really should have learnt my lesson about this series. Thought the 1st book was an excellent Scandinavian style mystery and it was a nice easy read with a good storyline. The 2nd book was a quick turn off and I didn't get more than 50 pages in. So I thought hey why not give the third one a go.

Well this time, I made it over 200 pages in and then I realized I just had nothing invested in the book or the characters. The main protagonist Nina Borg is merely there just so they can say its part of the Nina Borg series. The book started to feel like even the authors have fallen out of love with the character, so they have sidelined her, however the publisher won't spend money translating it to English, without her name being on the series.

The failure to really have a cohesive narrative, cost this book my interest. It was disjointed between the multiple story arcs taking place and just as one portion of an arc started to get good the chapter would end and not come back until the rest of the strands in between had bored the reader.

Overall I am probably going to give up on this writing combo and just realize that not everyone can write multiple good books and some book series should be remembered for how they started, not how the series continued.

January 21, 2016

Nina Borg, now separated from her husband and becoming somewhat estranged from her children, is maybe a bit too emotionally attached to a child, Katarina, in her care at the Red Cross camp. Katarina was placed at the camp when her mother, Natasha, was arrested for the attempted murder of her fiancee, Michael. He'd been abusive to her but she snapped when Natasha caught Michael attempting to sexually assult Katarina. Things escalate when Natasha escapes from the officers taking her in for questioning. Soon after her fiancee is found tortured and murdered, much the same way Natasha's husband was killed several years earlier in Kiev. Natasha's husband had been good to her, but many suspicions surrounded how he was able to maintain the lavish way they lived. Is Natasha a killer, or is someone setting her up? How can she protect her daughter? Who is the mysterious "old witch" she so despises? Can Nina help them? Interspersed into the story is a bitter account of two young girls, Oxana and Olga, under the 1930s reign of Stalin. You are left wondering throughout the book, what is the connection? The ending does draw the two narratives together, but I felt there were still many loose ends unanswered. Another great installment in the Nina Borg series.

Really 3.5 stars.

September 9, 2013

Because books that are translations depend so much on the translator, I usually stay away from them. Besides, there seems to be a craze lately for any mystery/thriller written by a Nordic author. So DEATH OF A NIGHTINGALE had two points against it right off the bat.

Surprise: DEATH OF A NIGHTINGALE is very good as long as it doesn't bother you that you can't pronounce most characters' names. It also has a slower beginning than lovers of thrillers expect. But it doesn't take long for some mysteries to be set up.

Most books need a list of characters at the beginning, but this book needs one more than most. DEATH OF A NIGHTINGALE has so many characters to keep track of, and that's especially difficult when 1) all their names are foreigh with strings of consonants and 2) this book is two stories in one. Because there is no such list, a lot of backtracking is required, which gets tiresome.

My advice to the editor of DEATH OF A NIGHTINGALE : provide a list of characters with a pronunciation key. This would upgrade it to a five-star book.

This review is of an ARC of DEATH OF A NIGHTINGALE, won through Goodreads.com First Reads program.

September 8, 2019

Interesants sižets, beigas it kā paredzamas, bet ne līdz galam. Ieintriģēja izlasīt pārejas Nīnas grāmatas.

June 16, 2014

I found this book a little confusing. It jumped between current time in Denmark and 20 years ago or so in Ukrainia. The people talked about in Ukrainia were not identified as any of the current characters until the last chapter in the book. The current story told about a young mother, Natasha, who has been accused in Ukrainia of killing the husband she loved, and in current time killing her Danish fiance who had been abusing her. She is trying to save her daughter, Katerina, who has asthma and is being cared for by Nina, and for some unknown reason being chased by an old lady called the Witch. At the end it still wasn't clear to me why the Witch wanted the child so badly.

January 25, 2016

Weakest of the three Nina Borg books by the Danish duo of Kaaberbol and Friis. Natasha Doroshenko, a Ukrainian immigrant,convicted of the attempted murder of her Danish fiancé, escapes police custody on her way to police headquarters in Copenhagen. The Ukranian secret police are after her, and Natasha tries to get to her daughter Rina, who is under Nina's care. There is a second plot in the Ukraine during the 1930s, which seems pretty pointless, even when its relevance is finally revealed. Disappointing: 2.5 stars.

August 2, 2024

Štrunts.

Nevar saprast, kurš ir noziedznieks un kāds ir noziegums. Pat tad, kad viss tiek noskaidrots, nav skaidrs, kurš, ko un kāpēc darījis.

Iztērēts laiks. :(

January 9, 2022

Not as good as the first two books. The parts that were set in 1930's Ukraine overwhelmed the story a bit. I figured they had something to do with the main storyline, but because I am not familiar enough with that particular country's struggles during that particular time, it was a bit confusing. I dreaded the chapter every time I saw it was a Ukraine chapter just because it was hard for me to orient myself "there" and also put the Ukraine stuff into the future and why it was important. I never did figure it out until the bad old lady saw a picture of Anna in her house.

Some good parts in the current time story line. However, even some of that was hard to follow because again, I'm not familiar with the politics of the area. The authors did a pretty good job trying to explain it but it just wasn't done in a way that stuck in my head. The other two books had foreign politics a little as well but it stuck better. I don't know why.

June 12, 2019

Now I have read all of Lene Kaaberbøl's atmospheric mysteries. Sometimes it is hard to believe the Scandinavian countries always poll high in happiness as bleak as their mysteries are.

This is my least favorite of the four, not only for the bleakness but also the convolutions of the backstory makes it hard to follow.

September 12, 2020

Couldnt get into the story. Danish cop. Ukranian girls. Russian police.

March 2, 2022

The ending for this book was so confusing and mixed that it sort of ruined the entire story for me looking back. Too many unanswered questions left me frustrated.

June 14, 2015

Recently, I've really gotten into crime thrillers - and I discovered the Nina Borg series by Kaaberøl and Friis and Death of a Nightingale is the third book in these series. I actually read the past two previously a few months back, but since I was allowed to read this book as an arc, so I feel obliged to review it - not only to show gratitude to the authors for giving these arcs out, but because I truly did enjoy these books.

As I said previously, this book is the third book in the Nina Borg series. Set in Denmark, the Nina Borg series, follow the story of Nina Borg, a kind-hearted nurse who works with illegal immigrants and refugees and has a bad habit of being too emotionally involved/allowing her work to overlap with her personal life. The first book of these series involved a young Lithuanian boy being kidnapped in a suitcase, with the intention of using him as an organ donor while the second book explored the story of Roma boys who attracted the wrong kind of attention from the authorities. The second book of the Nina Borg series, Invisible Murder, was probably my favourite of the Nina Borg series but that's not to say that this book is not good. Quite the opposite, it is very, very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Death of a Nightingale opens with an elderly woman who tells her son and grandchild a blood-curdling fable of a princess who pays a horrible price by trying to be better than her sister. Like the other two books, Death of a Nightingale, has many perspectives. Natasha Doroshenko, a young Ukrainian mother, who was the sheltered and cosseted wife of a journalist, and it becomes evident that her husband was involved in a number of dodgy dealings which involved accepting money to hide or reveal other people's secrets. After her husband is found brutally murdered due to his involvement in blackmail, Natasha makes the conscious choice to flee Ukraine to Denmark, but her bad luck continues. She gets involved with a Danish man named Michael Vestegaard, who brutally abuses her but she is reluctant to speak out; believing that it was better to remain in Denmark than to be deported back to Ukraine. She is later sent to prison for attacking Michael, who is revealed to have pedophiliac leanings; she escapes from police custody, knowing that she'll be deported, and desperately tries to find her daughter before it is too late.

As the nurse of Katerina/Rina (Natasha's daughter), Nina is caught up in the investigation of Natasha Doroshenko who is not only wanted by the Danish authorities but by the Ukrainian authorities, who believe she is involved in the murder of her husband back home in Kiev.

There are flashbacks to famine-stricken Ukraine during the 1930's under Stalin's rule, following the story of two sisters who become increasingly important to the story's plot. I didn't see the relevance in the story of the two sisters, until the very end - I actually so did not expect that twist but it ties everything up nicely, haha. We also see Nina's friend, Søren Kirkegaard (he makes his first appearance in the second book), who helps in the investigation of Natasha and her past in Ukraine, before she escaped to Denmark. The book isn't heavy on action, but I enjoyed it anyway - there is a lot of depth in the investigation and proceedings, which is worth more than dodging bullets, to me anyway.

I must admit, I found the story of Natasha and the two Ukrainian sisters more interesting than Nina's, but that is most likely because the authors are playing out Nina's story over a longer period of time. Personally, I thought Natasha was an interesting character, not likeable, but very intriguing, and it was thrilling watching her grow from an ignorant, sheltered seventeen-year-old bride from Donetsk (which is hardly the epicentre of glamour and sophistication) into a fierce, hardened survivor who is willing to go to any length to protect her daughter, Katerina - and I hope Natasha appears in future books, she was interesting to read about.

The writing in this book is solid, which I enjoyed and considering it was translated from Danish to English - I must commend the translators for doing a superb job, nothing sounded clunky or out of place. I enjoyed learning about the two countries shown in this book; Ukraine and Denmark, as they weren't countries I really knew a lot about. In all of the previous Nina Borg books, there has been a focus on an Eastern European country, which I find enjoyable as that part of the world is rarely explored and it adds for a lot of conflicting issues between cultures. I love how the authors integrate and weave the background content of these countries into the plot line, it adds depth to the story, and it allows me to learn more about these countries which is cool.

I don't know when the authors are planning on releasing a fourth book, but I eagerly anticipate it.

RATING: 4/5 stars

February 26, 2024

Läste bara 100 sidor för den var så tråkig. Språket är inte jättebra heller, det var flera gånger jag behövde stanna upp och läsa om en mening pga att meningsuppbyggnaden var så konstig. Det var en intressant idé som lät spännande men tycker inte utförandet var särskilt bra.

August 5, 2013

I picked this up as a free galley at ALA Annual--thanks, Soho Crime! It's due out in November 2013.

This is (I think) the third Nina Borg book from authors Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis. Their first was The Boy in the Suitcase, which was very well received, and their second was Invisible Murder, which I just found right now while trying to figure out the backstory here. Basically, I'm coming in midstream.

This inevitably meant that there was some assumed backstory that was opaque to me, and that some of the characters felt sketched in. I didn't mind that. I liked the protagonist, Nina Borg, a Danish nurse who has apparently (note to self: read the other books) recently disentangled herself from a dangerous career in international Red Cross relief. Now she works at a Danish refugee camp, caring for people whose lives have been blown apart while simultaneously coping with her own battered personal life.

The book spends almost no time establishing Borg's life and work in the camp; instead, we move immediately on with the business of Natasha Doroshenko, Ukrainian refugee who has escaped police custody and is wanted in connection with the murder of her fiancé and ex-husband. Natasha's young daughter, Katerina, is still in the refugee camp and the authorities are certain Natasha won't flee without her. As Katerina's nurse and protector, Nina gets caught up in the investigation.

Periodic flashbacks throughout the book take us back to famine-stricken Communist Ukraine in 1934 and 1935, following the story of two sisters whose lives become increasingly relevant to the main storyline. (I'm embarrassed to say how long it took me to understand some of the hints, there.) And Nina's quasi-friend Soren Kierkegaard, who is not so much a philosopher as a police detective, throws in his lot with Borg as well. There's not a ton of action in this thriller/mystery--a lot more time is spent driving carefully through heavy snow than dodging bullets--but there's plenty of depth and interest to the proceedings.

Natasha is an interesting character, and one that I hope might reappear in future works by the authors. Over the course of the book she develops from a naive seventeen-year-old bride to a hardened adult survivor who's willing to do anything to protect her daughter. Nina herself makes less progress, but that may be because the authors are letting her story play out over a longer arc. There's a hint of a nascent relationship between Soren and Nina, which would be nice to see.

I enjoyed reading this one in part because almost every main character is a woman, which is unfortunately rare in...well, most genres. The writing is solid, and I enjoyed peeking through the small window that this book opens on two countries--Ukraine and Denmark--that I don't know much about. I'd read another book by these authors, and I have a feeling there will be more.

August 30, 2013

Nina Borg is a fascinating character who can make a reader feel strong and conflicting emotions. Her work for the Danish Red Cross is her mission in life. She is compelled to save the world through every single person she helps. She is a person to be admired for her strength, determination, and protective instincts. But that very same zeal has come at a great price. By focusing on the care of strangers, in this third book in the series Nina has lost her husband and children, who have given up demanding-- at the very least-- equal billing with her work. Nina is in sad shape, made all the sadder by the fact that it is all her own doing. Her working life may be a cause for admiration, but her personal life is reason for exasperation.

As she fights to keep little Katerina safe, she does find time to reflect on her actions and their consequences. Her soul searching is unflinching and brutally honest. Nina knows what she's done wrong, and she doesn't know if she's capable of making the necessary changes to get her family back-- or even if there's a chance of reconciliation at all. This is a wonderful, nuanced characterization that I've come to love in this series of books.

But Nina is not the only fierce soul in this book. Natasha Doroshenko can match her stride for determined, unflagging stride. Natasha's life has often been a nightmare, and she has learned to be ruthless and cunning in order to survive. As the story alternates between present-day Denmark and 1930s Russia, the reader learns how people's behavior is often shaped by events in the past. The Russian chapters are chilling and horrific, and as the story unfolds, we not only learn about the distant past, we learn about Natasha's life with her husband, a man who was paid for keeping secrets.

With differing timelines and characters' stories, Death of a Nightingale can be a bit confusing occasionally, but everything is woven together satisfactorily before book's end. Once again, Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis have constructed an emotional roller coaster ride peopled by characters of marvelous depth and nuance. With Nina in such a state, I'm certainly looking forward to the next book in this series to see how she progresses.

November 8, 2013

Danish Red Cross nurse Nina Borg was first introduced to readers in The Boy In The Suitcase. Nina takes her job very seriously and her commitment to her work has interfered with her relationship with her husband and children.

The book skips back and forth between Nina's present day time and the story of two young women growing up in Stalinist Ukraine in 1934, the time of the terrible famine. The story of the two young girls growing up during the famine is one that keeps the reader fascinated.

Nina currently is working at the Coal House Camp for Refugees and has taken a special interest in an eight-year-old girl asthmatic whose name is Rina. Rina's Ukrainian mother, Natasha Doroshenko, has been arrested for murdering her Danish fiancée. Natasha is no stranger to murder. Natasha's first husband was murdered three years early in Kiev.

Nina is familiar with Natasha's case since at one point Natasha took refuge at a crisis center where Nina works. Everything about the case comes to a head when, on the way to Copenhagen's police headquarters to be interrogated, Natasha escapes. Natasha looked at Google Earth and feels sure that she can locate the Coal House Camp. Meanwhile someone tries to abduct Rina from the camp.

Nina is frantically searching for both the mother and daughter but without much luck.

When the author reveals the connection between the two young girls living in the time of the famine and their connection with Natasha and her daughter I am sure the reader will be surprised and shocked.

As the book ends Nina wonders if she will ever be able to make her way back to her husband and children and be a part of their lives.

April 16, 2015

I recommend this series to mystery lovers, especially to readers who prefer plots that explore social justice and morality. Death of a Nightingale finds Nina Borg, compulsive do-gooder, now involved with Ukrainian detainees seeking asylum in Denmark. Among them are Natasha, abused refugee and widow of a slain journalist, and her anxious 8-year-old daughter, Katerina. The two are being pursued by a mysterious, powerful Ukrainian woman, as well as by Danish security and police forces, who consider Natasha a suspect in the murder of her fiance. As in the previous two books in this series, Kaaberbol and Friis maintain two plots that gradually merge in a dramatic climax where most is revealed; but as in real life, there are still some facts and motivations that may never be fully understood. The development of Nina as a character, and her gradual journey to self-knowledge, culminate in her understanding that "Maybe she wasn't really any better at solving their [the refugees'] problems than at handling her own." For the personal costs continue to mount--will her losses influence her decision to carry on her work? Similar types of mysteries/suspense novels include those of Karin Fossum, Arnaldur Indridison, and Colin Cotterill.