Mind's Eye: An Inspector Van Vetteren Mystery (1) (Inspector Van Veeteren Series)

I am not in the habit of giving 5 stars. But within the genre of mystery this was most definitely a 5 star plot. Constantly having you imagining connections, the sorting through and discarding those ideas for others. Enjoy! Was a fast read for me!

This is the first in the Inspector Van Veeteren mystery series. It is an intricately plotted mystery with several murder victims, but it is impossible to say more without giving away a major plot development. So if you buy this book, don't read the description given on the inside cover flap.Let me say only this. Chief Inspector Van Veeteren (or "VV" as his colleagues call him) is a character and quite the opposite of Mankell's introverted Kurt Wallender. Make no mistake, however, VV is a dedicated and brilliant chief inspector who has solved 20 of 21 cases. But his outspoken and blunt behavior around his colleagues and even around his boss, the chief of police, often had me laughing out loud. There is humor in this book, as when a suspect calls the police department with some information but can't remember the name of the Inspector (Van Veeteren) who questioned him. "You know," he says to the on-duty officer, "the unpleasant one, the really, really unpleasant one"--upon which the officer immediately puts him through to VV!It is wonderful to watch Chief Inspector Van Veeteren connect all the dots in this intricately woven plot, and the subtle humor that runs throughout the book is an unexpected plus.

I picked this up (or rather, downloaded it on my Kindle) after devouring my second Stieg Larrson novel (The Girl Who Played with Fire) and wasn't disappointed. Count me in as a fan of Swedish police procedurals. I will now follow Inspector Van Veeteren while I wait for the third Larrson to come out here in the States. I particularly enjoyed the initial protagonist - the husband - whose off-kilter perspective gives the novel a wonderfully "trippy" quality that contrasts nicely with Van Veeteren's personality and approach. While I imagine many readers will guess the main plot twist before it is revealed, the fact that I figured out where things were headed did not spoil my enjoyment, since the inspector was right there with me. What really annoys me are plots where the detective can't seem to connect dots that the reader has connected long ago - not so here.Overall - a very well written, tightly plotted procedural that is sure to satisfy readers looking for a change of pace from the usual American or English fare. Well worth it.

A husband discovers his wife, dead, at home, after both of them had too much to drink. He cannot remember anything. Not even his name. Did he kill his wife? Detective Inspector Van Veeteren is investigating the murder. Along the way, we learn more than the inspector does, and are left to observe good guesses and mistakes that lead to unpredictable results.The plot is well developed and it all makes sense once we learn about the motive for the murders. The police procedural part of the book is also very well written and fun to follow. But the Detective Inspector appears so one-dimensional that it spoiled the entire book for me. He comes across as a rough cop with an inflated ego, more like a typical character in a US TV crime drama than a character one would anticipate from a Swedish author. (His biography does say that he lives in NYC part time). In fact, the geographical background of the story is completely extraneous to the plot. I find this highly unusual for Nordic and Icelandic police procedurals.This is the first book in the Van Veeteren series but it was translated into English later than his other better known books in the series. I have not read the more celebrated books so cannot tell yet whether this particular book is just a rough first.

This is the third novel I've read by Nesser but I didn't review the others. He won awards from the Swedish Crime Writes Academy three times with good reason in my opinion. His books are "who-done-it's" with a central character of a rough and tumble senior lead homicide detective (Van Veeteren).I must acknowledge that with each book I experienced a brief struggle to get into each story (first few pages only) but can't identify why. Very quickly I was absorbed in all. They are solid, entertaining detective stories. Page filler is not a factor as it is with too many American authors these days. If the police are hunting some criminal, the search is described directly and simply - there's no instance of endless pages of unnecessary overkill detail. Likewise there's no overdone overly graphic descriptions of murder victims although some detail is thereNo more to be said - I'd encourage pursuit of books by this author based in my initial purchases . I will order more.

The first in the Inspector Van Veeteren stories to be translated into English, and well worth waiting for. The story is engrossing -- a man wakes up with a horrible hangover, stumbles to the bathroom, and finds his wife dead in the bath. He is found guilty and imprisoned in a mental institution; Van Veeteren isn't altogether happy with this outcome, but sits back lets the law do its work. Then, however, the convicted killer himself is murdered, and it's time for a full scale investigation of what actually happened. Van Veeteren is an engaging detective with an ironic turn of mind that makes this a "funnier" series than most of Scandi Noir (though "funny" isn't the right word: amusing perhaps.) The plotting is careful and the story engrossing. If that weren't enough, one thing will keep me coming back -- where is all this happening? Nesser is a Swedish writer; Van Veeteren sounds Dutch: street names and such could be anywhere in Northern Europe. The country, however, remains a secret.

This is the second crime book by this author I have read. After the first one I was hooked and wanted more. A realistic paced crime story featuring Chief Inspector Van Veeteren and his team team as they unravel the web of clues to find a murderer. A great read as was The Stranglers Honeymoon by same author.

Not bad, did not keep me 100% riveted but enjoyed it no less. I will try out another in the series, and I did like the lead protagonist.

I've read a lot of Nordic drama over the past few years and am always looking out for promising authors I haven't come across. I believe this book was either recommended in an online "best Scandi noir" article online or in a newspaper.Regardless, I was very disappointed., for many reasons:Confusing plot developmentConfusing character developmentPoor attempts at sarcastic humourLack of plausibilityStrange rush to provide the "whodunit" answer at the very end of the book. I found myself thinking, "Oh, OK", whereas a good whodunit should have me thinking, "Ah-ha!"Interestingly, I also found Jo Nesbo's first novel a disappointing introduction to his Harry Hole series. I decided I couldn't be bothered to spend money figuring out if they get better, and I feel the same about the van Vleeteren series. No thanks; plenty of other, better authors to spend my money on.

I'm in two minds about 'The Mind's Eye'. For example, I couldn't decide whether I thought it merited a 3 star or 4 star rating. Although it was quite enjoyable and easy to read, there were things in the book which I was less keen on, such as the confusing number of policemen and their various ranks. Additionally I felt the story reached its climax too abruptly, rather than having a dramatic build-up - author Håkan Nesser suddenly presents us with the identity of the murderer and we are then told his motive. I also found it hard to get a sense of the main character, Chief Inspector Van Veeteren, who seems part Inspector Moltabano and part Kurt Wallander.I decided that the fairest course of action was to allocate 'The Mind's Eye' a 3 star rating, so other potential readers are not misled, whilst at the same time buying the next book in the series, so I can form a better judgement.

I adore all the Nordic translations we have available to us these days. A fellow Goodreader here recommended this author and he was one I'd totally missed. I waited weeks for the price to drop and grabbed it quickly...however, I have given up on it at 23%. It began slowly (as I saw many reviewers mentioned) so I was happy to wait it out but then it just descended into a farce and I'd seen enough.I couldn't grasp why Mitter's lawyer says to him while he's on remand-"I don't understand why they won't even let you smoke" and then Mitter lights up a cigarette !! Made no sense in whatever language you're using ! There was a nasty mention of an insect, too.After this, it just got silly. The mention of a headmaster's obsession with his DESK made me smile when it was first referred to but when I realised it wasn't meant as a joke I thought it was just dumb. Mitter describes a dream which was set in a room and he relates that the room threw him out of it. This brings to mind Rose Madder by Stephen King and was the juncture where we parted company when she managed to put herself inside a painting !! It's way, way too fantastical for me, then. We're then in a courtroom scene and Mitter tells the gallery that he'd admit to the crime if someone gives him a cigarette. He'd already been a wise-ass in open court to his detriment and it wasn't the least bit believable.There was a bit of an issue with missed punctuation here as well. I'd spotted missed fullstops and speechmarks. There were no horrendous spelling mistakes as I see on a regular basis by English writers. I'll be passing on any more in this series, though.