a conspiracy of faith review

Another Friday book review! On a roll (I may fall off this roll soon, but we're here, so let's enjoy it!).  This is the third book in the Department Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen.  The translations into English have been coming fairly quickly, which is great for fellow Nordic-crime-type book lovers.  This series follows Carl, a disgruntled and grumpy detective and his assistants, Assad and Rose, as they work to find solutions to cold-cases.

On a scale from 1 to Cripplingly Depressing: 3 - it gets pretty gritty.

Basic plot: The Department Q gang's all back again, after a summer break, and they come across a bottle with a message inside of it, written in blood, asking for help.  They discover that it was from two young boys who were kidnapped and left bound in a boathouse years ago.  Carl, Assad, and Rose get down to it (after a bit of bureaucratic musical-chairs, as the Dept. Q basement has asbestos) and search for a killer who targets large families in religious sects.

Memories from reading: This was a spur-of-the-moment buy after a rather rough afternoon, and I didn't end up really reading it until a month or so later when I went to visit my sister.  Once I got there, I ended up in a bookstore for most of the day, finishing up work, and once I was done I stood, my two heavy bags next to me, and read the whole of this book while my cellphone charged.

Favorite characters: Rose and Ysla.  I didn't really get it, but I loved it.  I hope they are fleshed out more in later books.

Teeth-gnashing: I'm still waiting for the series to be as good as it was in the first.  The second and third books have seemed more glum and less engaging.  Also...I'm not completely sure if Carl is racist or one of his character traits is just being intolerant.  TBD.  Thoughts, anyone?

Weapon of Choice: Paperback.  My favorite kind of book - you can fold them, underline them, accidentally spill things on them, jam them into bags, overhead bins, seat-backs, and coats, and they're still good as ever.

Other titles by this author:
The Alphabet House
The Company Basher
The Washington Decree

Department Q series:
The Keeper of Lost Causes
The Absent One
The Marco Effect

Extra:
Check out this review and trailer!