Review: Room No.10 By Åke Edwardson

Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: March 5, 2013
ISBN-10: 1451608527
Genres: Crime Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers

About The Book:
A YOUNG WOMAN IS DISCOVERED hanged in a room in a decrepit hotel, and Gothenburg’s Chief Inspector Erik Winter must try to figure out what happened. As Winter looks around, he realizes that he was in the same hotel room many years earlier, when it was the last known location of a woman who subsequently disappeared and was never found. The two women seem to have nothing in common except for this hotel room, but Winter suspects that there may be other connections...


The young woman’s parents are bereft and unable to explain the puzzling contents of a note she left behind. Winter, however, senses that they are holding back some secret that might help him to find her murderer. As he pursues his hunch and digs into the old police report on the woman who disappeared—one of his first cases as a young detective—Winter becomes increasingly convinced that the two cases are somehow related. Room No. 10 is a first-rate thriller, suffused with the gray seaside beauty of Gothenburg and filled with the characters that Åke Edwardson’s readers have come to love: Winter, the veteran detective who veers between pessimism and optimism but never gives up; Bertil Ringmar, the methodical old-timer whose analytical mind keeps everyone focused; hotheaded Fredrik Halders, whose temper sometimes overwhelms his passion for justice; and Aneta Djanali, Halders’s girlfriend, an immigrant from Burkina Faso whose ability to talk to other women can open new leads. As compelling as they are dedicated, they are an unforgettable team determined to find a bizarre killer.

My Thoughts:
Originally published in Sweden in 2005, a translated edition of Room No.10 will be available March 5, 2013.  I was so intrigued by the description for this novel and had such high hopes for a good mystery, however, the translation has left me a bit deflated.  Once detective Winters suspects a connection between the two incidents involving the same hotel room, the story quickly moves between these two time periods in a very erratic and unpredictable manner.  Just trying to determine what time period the narrator was discussing became a challenge in itself.  The plot itself was very slow in moving forward and at several points I found myself wanting to abandon the novel all together, but at the same time I just couldn't.  I felt as though I developed a relationship with these characters.  I found myself surprisingly drawn into the psyche of Detective Winters, who often times appeared rather melancholy; a middle-age man about to step into the role of Captain and finding himself in need of a long break from the world of crime that just continues to grow with each passing year. Is he making a difference in this line of work?  Would this case be solved in time for him to take a leave of absence and spend the winter months with his wife and children in a warm, sunny climate away from the gray, cold winter of Gothenburg?  Is there really a connection between these two incidents, or he is simply obsessing over an unsolved case from when he was still merely a rookie?  Putting aside the issues of translation, I have to admit that I did like this book....three stars.

This review has been linked up with Cym Lowell's Book Review Wednesdays.  Please click the image below for participating blogs!