Recently, with more and more wariness, I reach for the next Scandinavian detective story. If you think of the most awful crime, scary circumstances or sophisticated torture methods you will find them in one of these books. Crimes which cause children and elderly people to suffer are for me the most harrowing. I found both situations in the "Sezon niewinnych" ("I'm travelling alone") by Samuel Bjørk. Only the fact that it is an excellent novel which is difficult to put down allowed me to read it from the cover to cover. I felt exactly the same when I read "Klara i półmrok" ("Klara and the Twilight") by Jose Carlos Somoza. On the one hand I felt disgusted and angry, so I closed it every few pages, and on the other hand it drew me like a magnet, so I opened it again and read on. This time it was similar. I turned page after page, equally fearing what the next one would bring and eager to find out what would happen next.

The bodies of two six-year-old girls are found in a Norwegian province. The setting looks like a stage design. The girls are clean, well-tended and clothed in dolls' dresses. They have school bags and airline tags round their necks with the information: "I'm travelling alone". Carved into their fingernails are the numbers I and II. The detective Holger Munch and Mia Krüger, his subordinate with a sixth sense, investigate the murder. She discovers that it is connected with an unsolved matter concerning the six-year-old kidnaping of an infant, and the numbers suggest that the girls won't be the last victims. Mia and Holger work against the clock, the murder and the police officers' own demons leading them by the nose.

In this crime novel you can find everything you demand from an excellent book. There is a great narrative, fast-flowing plot, surprising twists, an unconventional murder and a dubious religious institution. When it comes to the main characters I have mixed feelings. The bad guys are perfect: camouflaged and effective. The good guys are in my opinion a little too unreliable and lacking ideals. After all, they are policemen and although they have their own dark secrets and weaknesses, they should be an alternative to the evil and ruthlessness of the criminals. Maybe these are only my feelings which follow from the comparison.

The next novel "Sowa" ("Owl") by Samuel Bjørk waits on my shelf. I hope it will be just as gripping and engrossing as "Sezon niewinnych"(I'm travelling alone").

I recommend it!

Read also:
"Intercom"
"The Nina Frank case" by Katarzyna Bonda
"Justified doubt"