Alexander McCall Smith, the king of cozy, has begun what I hope will be another series to snuggle down on the sofa with on rainy afternoons. All the main characters here are likeable and sympathetic if sometimes exasperating and most of the criminals as well. McCall Smith has an unsurpassed talent for creating well rounded and compassionate portrayals of believable human beings. I have to think he must be a well rounded, compassionate, and likeable human being himself.

I usually love all Swedish books but this one was not for me. Really slow for my taste.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this title.

This is a new series by Alexander McCall Smith set in Malmo Sweden at the Department of Sensitive Crimes. It felt more like a series of short stories rather than a novel. For me, there was two much wandering conversation from all of the characters. Not my favorite of his books.

Ulf Varg heads the Department of Sensitive Crimes, a special unit within the larger Detective branch. Their cases are unusual.

A man who was stabbed in an unusual locus [or crime or of injury?]. Turns out the perpetrator is a "small person" [dwarf, midget?], and the whole issue of political correctness comes in to play.

A young woman who made up a boyfriend to halt the whispers of her coworkers and the not-so-subtle hints of her mother, but a selfie taken at a club comes back to haunt her when the young man takes on a life of his own. Is this so different from the imaginary friends we have as children?

And the background stories include Varg's dog who is depressed and emotional attachments among the officers.

This is the essential Alexander McCall Smith doing what he does best. I strongly hope for more cases from the Sensitive Crime unit.

I read this EARC courtesy of Net Galley and Penguin/Random House Books pub date 04/15/19

I haven't read any of the many other books by this author, but a new series seemed like a great place to start with a popular author. Unfortunately, this is about as disappointing as the novel I read last year by Debbie Macomber. I continue to erroneously assume that an author with multiple published works and legions of dedicated fans would know how to construct a sentence, formulate a plot, or create a relatable character. I am apparently incapable of learning that these skills do not necessarily follow the former accomplishments.

There was very little plot here. What seemed like one of the mystery story lines of the novel was resolved off-screen and merely reported to the reader. It was difficult to care much about any of the primary characters; they all spend half their speaking time going off on unrelated tangents. Since they were mostly working, it made them seen unfocused and unprofessional.

I guess my problem with this book is that nothing really... happened. Is this supposed to be a musing on general social topics? some kind of reflection on difficult coworkers? something else? If the author's earlier works also read like this, I cannot image how they've become so popular.

I read this book in one day and highly enjoyed it! I've never read McCall Smith before and mystery isn't my usual genre, but I was drawn to the obscureness and gentleness of the narrative; it felt more like a slice-of-life than a detective story. The protagonist, Ulf Varg ("Wolf Wolf") is a very kind man who is always trying to do the right and just thing; his co-workers are a delightful bunch of secondary characters who enrich the overall atmosphere of the novel. The story is less a whodunit (even though there are three distinct cases being investigated) and more musing on the human condition and midlife crises. It's very positive, sweet, and life-affirming, and rather funny. I would recommend it to someone looking for some comfort reading on a rainy day.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the e-ARC!

I've really enjoyed the Precious Ramatswe books, and this one has some similarities. Swedish detective Ulf Varg investigates the crimes that no one else is sure what to do with. The story rambles around from case to case with interesting parts, but unlike the Precious books, this one doesn't seem to hang together as well. It's definitely worth reading, but it would be better if there was was one major investigation with side cases rather than a series of different cases with not much connection to anything else.

Being approved for an Alexander McCall Smith book is like the feeling you have on Christmas morning! Giddy!! I hope this book will be the start of a series because I really enjoyed the characters and their quirky situations. I was actually laughing out loud at the whole Sixteen part. How many books can actually make a person laugh out loud?! So delightful!! I am constantly recommending Alexander McCall Smith's books to library patrons. His books and so full of charm and wit. This one is a winner! Thanks to author, publisher, and Netgalley for ARC.

The novel is set in Malmo in Sweden and describes the activities, i.e. antics of a small group of policemen that have been set up to handle sensitive crimes that are strange and different. It is wrapped around a series of vignettes that are handled by the group. Mr Smith brings to bear a droll sense of humor that takes situations and shapes their form via a definite tongue in cheek delivery. No murder, no bank holdups, no mob beatings but a series of "crimes" adroitly handled by the members of the squad. There is a case of someone stabbing another person in the knee. Why? What caused this heinous crime? A lonely girl trying to impress other girls who have boyfriends makes up a boyfriend via taking a selfy with a young man she meets on the street. Than in order not to produce him tells a tale of him moving to a facility at the north pole. Problem is the police work on the premise that he was murdered and the girl making him up is the murderer. Finally, an investigation is requested by a police executive into the weird goings on at a hotel that his cousin owns. These happenings are causing the hotel to begin failing. This one leads via a circuitous route into investigations of a werewolf being the cause of what is going on at the hotel.
A free and easy read. The characters are likable with a dedicated man in charge. One woman working for the group who is more than a little in love with Ulf (the man in charge of the group). Carl who loves filling out paperwork and can sit and do that all day, and Erik whose main interest in life is fly fishing. While the setting is in Sweden the group can exist anywhere and do supply a great deal of fun in a nice departure from more serious police procedural novels. I certainly look forward to learning about future escapades of this pleasant group of policemen.

An amusing, tongue in cheek look into a Swedish group of specialized detectives who work on unusual crimes. Some laugh out-loud moments. All-in-all, a delightful read.

If you enjoy The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency this should be right up your alley. The setting has moved across the world, but the feeling of being part of someone's day to day triumphs and struggles remains the same.

This is a new series by a well-loved author. If you aren't familiar with his work this is a good one to try. It is gentle with some mystery, a little love, and some Nordic humor tossed in. It takes sensitive and thoughtful people to work in the Sensitive Crimes Division in Malmo, Sweden, and this team is one of the best.

I am a fan of McCall’s gentle mysteries and I am a fan of Scandinavian mysteries. However I was not a big fan of this attempt by the author to write a book about the detectives in the Malmo, Sweden police department. A special office, the Department of Sensitive Crimes, handled crimes that other detectives could not handle. The head of the office, Detective Uhl Varg, spends a good part of the book worrying about his life and his relationship with other detectives. The few mysteries in the book, about a stabbing, some missing students and the reason for business at a spa dropping off, were not major crimes.

I enjoy the # 1 Ladies Detective series by McCall but did not enjoy this book as much.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Alexander McCall-Smith’s tnew series examines crime in Sweden in a new series: The Department of Sensitive Crimes. This crime unit investigates smaller, odder crimes. The detectives. have a similar vibe to the Ladies Detective agency characters with much philosophizing to accompany the crime-solving. The small town setting has its fair town of quirky inhabitants. It’s a mild mannered read, not too surprising. Just pleasant.

Reading The Department of Sensitive Crimes I was amazed how the "Department" really didn't solve crimes that involved heinous acts. Don't get me wrong I thought Ulf did a good job in finding the the person who stabbed Malte Gustafsson in the back of the knee. Hampus Johansson was a small man that was a dancing instructor and was very sensitive of his height. He was jealous of Malte's interest in Ingrid who works for Hampus and was incensed over a remark that Malte made against Hampus. Then there is Anna who works with Ulf, we have both people with feelings of love for each other trying their best to avoid their falling in love. Next we have Blomquist who is a regular policeman wanting to become involved in the Department of Sensitive Crimes. Ulf knows about Blomquist and holds his tongue and reactions to himself. We have more with Hampus and Ulf helps save him from working with bombs as his punishment.
Ulf's next case involves Bim who makes up a boyfriend and gets a boy to take a picture with her as proof to show to her friends. Things go bad and complicated and friends turn on friends and her friend, Signe reports Bim to the police. Sixten was Bim's made up boyfriend and her mother remembered him from when Bim made him up as a child then dropped him without a trace. This she reported to the police and it was solved until Signe went missing. They later found Signe with her other friend in her apartment.
The last case involved Ulf and Blomquist and the commissioner's cousin. It was where their spa was being made to lose customers by howling at night. Ulf and Blomquist reacted to the howling and went outside to find the person but lost him or her. Suspects are found but then Ulf drives to the beach the next day to find it as a nude beach and sees the wife with a boyfriend and solves the commissioner's case.
All the time Ulf and Anna are fighting their love for each other. Alexander is very noir with this issue and it continues unresolved. This is a very good read and I enjoyed all the interaction with Ulf's work mates and the ribbing he takes with them.

Alexander McCall Smith's usual cozy humor is present in this title but mostly this work is just....confusing. Some of the confusion is the result of my own error for assuming this book would be similar to others focused on peculiar or supernatural crimes (the rivers of London series, Bryant & May, Peculiar Crimes Unit, etc.), but the text itself is often convoluted and bewildering. McCall Smith fans will likely be delighted, but I'll be giving this series a pass going forward.

This was just an okay read. Pleasant but not especially entertaining. Liked his other series better.

This was very similar to the author's Precious Ramotswe series, which I love, but in a completely different setting (Sweden as opposed to Botswana) and with a male protagonist. I didn't fall in love with Detective Varg as I have with Mma Ramotswe, but I was mildly entertained by McCall Smith's signature style. A pleasant read.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

In this work readers are introduced to Detective Ulf Varg and the range of colorful folk working at the Department of Sensitive Crimes - all of whom are very distinct characters in of their own right, yet also all of them undeniably products of their native Sweden.As a result, not only do readers get to enjoy the process of cracking a trio of curious mysteries along with the detectives of the department, but they get to become more familiar with a land, people, and culture that many will probably know little about beforehand as they follow Varg and his colleagues around the city of Malmö. In short - I would say that Alexander McCall Smith seems to have very successfully transplanted that wonderful"The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency"-esque blend of mystery and cultural immersion along the coast of Sweden, and this particular reader in particular is already looking forward to the next book in what I'm hoping will be a sizable series.