Snow Angels was a creepy, icky crime thriller that I devoured in one sitting and could not shake from my head. It is set in Lapland during Kaamos — the darkest time of the year, just before Christmas. A beautiful actress is found slaughtered on a reindeer farm, with a racial slur carved into her abdomen. The high-profile case is given to Inspector Kari Vaara, the head of a rural police force that has never seen anything like this before.
Two things fascinated me about this book. First of all, it’s a nasty case with a lot of possible suspects, and it kept me guessing. Second of all, Vaara is married to an American ex-skier and the author uses this marriage as a frame for the cultural clashes between the Finnish and Americans. I will admit to knowing jack shit about Finland, so I found the differences really interesting.
The writing style of this book was surprisingly laid back for such a gruesome story. It was rather appealing. This is apparently the first in a series of several novels about this inspector, so I will be searching for the follow up during my next trip to Half Price Books.
Cannonball Read V 