It was one of the very first detective stories that I ever read, because I had never touched this genre before this book. Neither in the form of films, nor in the form of books. And I chose an unsuccessful story for the first time, because after reading it, I found out that the first two books by this author are considered the worst.
Plot
Norwegian detective Harry Hole arrives in Sydney to investigate the murder of Norwegian girl Inger Holter.
That's the whole plot. And if you think that the book will be devoted to the investigation of a crime, then you will be 50 percent right. Because Harry doesn't do anything for the first half. He just walks around Sydney and listens to Aboriginal tales, and also starts a romantic relationship that does not feel necessary at all for this book and was inserted for show. Then, in the second, an investigation begins and everything becomes interesting, finally Harry remembers that he flew in to investigate a murder, and not on vacation.
This is if, in Agatha Christie's novel "The Murder on the Links", Hercule Poirot, instead of investigating a murder, was walking around France, sightseeing.
Characters
Harry Hole turned out to be just nothing. He's not a charming bastard, he's not a suave detective. He's just an ex-alcoholic. The rest are so insignificant that there is nothing to say about them.
Antagonist
He wasn't easy to guess, but he's boring. Motives, personalities, all this is made him boring.
Text
He's unremarkable. It wasn't terribly written, but it wasn't exciting either. The author wanted to spice up the relish of death, but it wasn't enough.
This is a boring detective who spends most of his time not investigating, and aboriginal tales are only needed to stretch the book.
by mystery5009