Danish crime writer Katrine Engberg broke onto the scene in the US in 2020 with her debut crime novel THE TENANT, the first in a new series about two Copenhagen-based police officers, Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner. This week, Kørner and Werner are back in THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE, the second installment in Engberg’s crime fiction series—and what a fantastic installment it is. There’s something particularly exciting as a reader about following an up-and-coming author’s career and seeing their growth and development, and THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE is proof positive that Katrine Engberg is on an upward trajectory. While I enjoyed her debut novel THE TENANT, I loved THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE, and would highly recommend this engaging, inventive Danish crime novel for fans of Nordic Noir and police procedurals. In THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE, the quirky personalities of Engberg’s protagonists are once again front and center, and this time, the pair find themselves operating independently of one another. With Anette Werner on maternity leave, Jeppe Kørner finds himself assigned a new partner with whom he must tackle a series of disturbing crimes that seem tied to a local Copenhagen hospital. But Anette isn’t one to be left behind, and she sets out to conduct her own off-the-record investigation into these very same murders. As she and Jeppe close in on the truth at the heart of a complex web of intrigue, they discover shocking abuse of power at an institution that is meant to help, not harm. THE BUTTERFLY HOUSE is an engaging, fresh take on Nordic Noir, a procedural brimming with personality, eccentric characters, and plenty of mystery and intrigue.
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