Although I like the author, this novella just wasn't for me. I didn't like the story nor the characters.

This series is pure gold, better than any soap opera. Imagine Monty Python’s Flying Circus only less slapstick, more sedate, and earnest... Which might be a poor example, upon reflection. A better one might be “Mr. T”, the quirky Flemish television series about a criminology professor with issues. (Currently being broadcast by my local PBS station.) Humorous, but the humor so dry it’s practically toast.

Action and humor in the Varg series is even more subtle. Ulf Varg is a senior police detective whose department investigates unique, often oddball crimes. He is so Scandinavian that a subtle wink may be all you get to indicate humor; lines are delivered deadpan.

On the sign over his parking space at work “some nameless wit” painted “No Norwegians to park here”, which always made Ulf smile. (You have to understand the long-standing rivalry between Norwegians and Swedes... Like I said, the humor is subtle.)

There are three different cases to solve here (the same way the author structures his next book in the series). The cat case fell flat for me, but the other two were fairly entertaining. Ulf’s younger brother Bernd is the leader of the “Moderate Extremist” party, who want to make Sweden less ‘soft’, less a welfare state. Their ‘extremism’ is that they want to sell all the abstract art in the National Art Museum, and spend more on police and the Army. (This policy greatly offends Ulf because he loves modern art.) The mystery is that someone inside Bernd’s party is leaking their plans to the enemy camp—the Extreme Moderate Party. (A wink surely by the author, referring to the plethora of political parties in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe.)

McCall Smith’s strength is his characters. Even Ulf’s dog has personality: Martin has been deaf since birth. so Ulf taught him to read lips—now famous as “the only dog in Sweden able to read lips”. But Mrs. Högfors, Ulf’s neighbor who watches Martin while Ulf is at work, tells Ulf one day that Martin is depressed, and Ulf worries that Martin will need psychotherapy.

Ulf is no stranger to melancholy, having gone through divorce. In addition, he (and Bernd) spent three weeks every summer of their youth at the stately home of their wealthy uncle Maksimilian. He loved to spoil them, but had one condition: they had to watch a Bergman film every night after dinner. (Nightmares ensued.) The uncle also had a live-in girlfriend, so the boys probably saw more than they should. Maksimilian may have been a poor role model, but he left Ulf his classic Saab from the ‘70s, which Ulf treasures.

Anna Bengtsdotter, the other detective in Ulf’s office, also loves Ulf’s car. She and Ulf have remarkable rapport as well, and both have a secret weakness for the other.

The other characters in Ulf’s office:. Erik Nyquist and Carl Holgersson. Erik the clerk is no brainiac and has no professional ambition because his true passion is fly-fishing. He lives, eats and breathes fishing, and his colleagues often chuckle among themselves about his obsession.

Carl Holgersson is the son of a famous Swedish Lutheran theologian whose deep voice has become such a national phenomenon that adverts are spoken in the same tone, ponderously, each word weighted with solemnity. Swedes everywhere stop to listen whenever he speaks.

Finally, there is psychotherapist Dr Svensson, whom Ulf has seen for some time. He has the unfortunate tendency to express his own opinions during sessions, which Ulf tolerates because that’s just who he is. Dr. Svensson appears only briefly here, but will feature more prominently in Book 1.

I loved this book for its characters, and look forward to reading the rest of the series. The dry humor may not appeal to everyone, but it will to those who have lived in Scandinavian countries or know Scandinavians, including those of Scandinavian extraction who live elsewhere, e.g., in the Upper Midwest of America.

This novella introduces Swedish Detective Ulf Varg, who investigates “sensitive crimes”. In this case, Varg is simultaneously investigating a cat breeding scandal, and a leak in his brother’s political conservative organization. I was pleasantly surprised by this story. The title gave me the impression that there might be a supernatural element, but it’s actually more like a parody of the Scandinavian Noir genre. Some of the satire may have been lost on me as I don’t generally read that genre. I liked the novella format, and the humorous glimpse into Swedish life. The writing and characters are compelling enough to make me want to try the first book in this series. A fun new mystery from a renowned author, and I’m curious to see where the series leads.

This novella is a prelude to McCall Smith's new Detective Varg series, meant to set the flavor I'm guessing. Detective Varg and his colleagues work in the Department of Sensitive Crimes, those odd transgressions that can be difficult to deal with because of how strange they are- in this case, who sabotaged a prize-winning show cat? I've not read anything by McCall Smith previously, so I'm not sure of his usual style, but this was a very gentle mystery, as much or more about Detective Varg's life and family troubles as about solving the mysteries. The narrative meanders a bit, but that's not necessarily a bad thing; it allows us to get to know the characters a bit better. The story serves as a good introduction to the series, I think- it leaves you feeling there's more and bigger things to come, and sets the tone of light on action/big on character study. Good for when you want something light and cozy.

#TheStrangeCaseOfTheModerateExtremists #NetGalley

Alexander McCall Smith is a wordsmith and storyteller. In his newest series, this is more than evident. The Strange Case of the Modern Extremists is an introduction to the Department of Sensitive Crimes, an elite squad in the Malmo police department in Sweden.

The team is led by Ulf Varg and in this novella the characters, their relationships with each other, and some of their backgrounds are revealed. The mysteries themselves are somewhat simple and, sometimes, amusing. Conversations wander and eccentricities abound. But throughout the book the gentle storytelling of the author is evident.

I enjoy the writings of Alexander McCall Smith and I am delighted to discover another series, full of quirky characters, charming dialogue and unique plots.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

A fast and satisfying read from one of my favorite authors. Full of charm and humor. Alexander McCall books are a guaranteed enjoyable read.

This was an advanced copy fro net galley - thank you

I loved Alexander McCall Smith novels - the No 1 Ladies Detective agency is one my all time favourites

This is the prequel to a new series - I was thrilled to be able to read this. I already knew I would love it - maybe a bit prejudiced towards him but I love his gentle way of writing

Anyway, this is a very sweet, short novella - great for holiday read

A simple, straightforward story - an easy read - which is sometimes what is called for - very much a McCall Smith book

I liked the premise, the writing, characters, plot - the lot !! A great precursor to the series

Can't wait for the next one !!

Highly recommend

Ok....Alexander McCall Smith is now firmly ensconced as one of my favorite authors. His No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series is charming. I'm sorry I didn't start reading it long before now! And the first Detective Varg book, The Department of Sensitive Crimes, is witty and humorous. I jumped at the chance to read this Varg short story as well. It was as perfect a start to my day as my cup of mocha coffee.

Detective Ulf Varg is the senior officer in the Department of Sensitive Crimes. They investigate....well....sensitive crimes. Unusual cases that just don't fit into regular police investigation. The strange. The weird. The seemingly mundane, yet perplexing. Things like a show cat introduced to a ratty ginger tom cat by a nefarious person or persons unknown resulting in a litter of questionable kittens.....a chef who adds high doses of laxatives to the meals of politicians he doesn't like....a traitorous mole in a fringe political party that is sharing party platform and agenda secrets with another equally ridiculous fringe party. Unusual cases....sometimes silly cases....but ones that must be looked into. There is also lots of lovely side banter between the officers in the department. They talk about the chances of being hit by a meteorite, overfishing of tuna, the beauty of vintage Saab cars, the psychology of depressed dogs, and Bergman films. The end result is a humorous, witty, and entertaining story.

Don't expect the usual investigative suspense novel when it comes to Detective Varg. This series is really literary fiction with a sprinkling of investigation and lots of light-hearted wit. Read this series for the wit and humor....just go with the flow. Varg and his department are a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the ever popular Scandinavian crime novel. I got an even bigger kick out of this story because I'm currently listening to a very serious Harry Hole (Jo Nesbo) audio book and kept thinking about what Harry Hole would think about the Moderate Extremist party and a litter of kittens with questionable genetics. :) I think he would have a very large drink, smoke a couple cigarettes, and just go home to watch television.

Great story! Very enjoyable! I can't wait for the next book in the new Varg series. :)

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this short story from Knopf Doubleday via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I have a complex relationship with Alexander McCall Smith. Not that I know him personally, but I do know his books. His books’ covers to be exact. Even in a library where there are many fetching book covers to behold, my eye is immediately drawn in byhis. Never judge a book by its cover they say; however, today I absolutely did. It was time to see if the content matched the whimsy book cover as well as the stellar name of this detective short. With a name like The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists, you know you are in for a treat of oxymoronic absurdity.

The story begins with a dream. Ulf dreams of a setting much like his Uncle Maksimilian’s home, conjuring up terrifying days of being forced to watch Ingmar Bergman movies because of his uncle’s fondness for them. His brother Bjorn was also a participant to those days, and together they would wonder what Uncle Maksimilian and Aunt Birgitte got up to in the sauna (wink wink, nudge nudge). In a seeming coincidence, Bjorn appears on TV, in his capacity as a moderate extremist (he is a politician), after which Ulf receives a call from Bjorn because his help is required.

As the brothers meet up for lunch, we wonder, as Ulf does, how on earth two people could grow up in the same environment and turn out so vastly different. Bjorn has such idiotic views, like the desired removal of abstract art because lay people don’t get it, or wanting to ban ethnic food since it feels unpatriotic to eat any food that isn’t Swedish. You think to yourself how on earth such an absurd human being could exist, as well as belong to a political party that subscribes to such inane views? Smith’s work is satire at its finest and has such aptness attached to it given the recent political opinions surrounding the New Zealand mosque attacks.

Bjorn needs Ulf to find out who is leaking party secrets, and there is a cat breeding crime that also needs solving – a busy time for detective Ulf Varg at Sensitive Crimes. Ulf is an extremely well-layered character, so much so that I find myself relating to him in such a short period of time. I admire the quickness of his detective mind, his openness about his desires and loneliness. Both mysteries are also equally compelling, which is proof that you don’t need a homicidal angle to write a good mystery. There is such nostalgia to Smith’s work. While reading this book I felt like I was taken back to the good old days of Hercule Poirot and Nancy Drew. Maybe I should judge a book by its cover more often.

For a fairly short book, I felt like I was getting to know the main characters fairly well. Ulf Varg is a police detective who works in the sensitive cases department. In this book he is working on two separate cases. It plays like a mystery, but with an unique twist that I won't go into details about to avoid spoilers. I'm looking forward to finding out what will happen next to Ulf in more books in this series.

The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists is a Vintage Short by author Alexander McCall Smith. Swedish Detective Ulf Varg is a member of The Department of Sensitive Crimes. His younger brother, Bjorn, leader of the Moderate Extremist Party suspects someone is leaking their ideas to the media as well as to their political rivals, the Extreme Moderates and wants Ulf to suss out the traitor. Ulf has mixed feelings since he doesn't support the party and he's not sure it would be ethical for him to investigate but, on the other hand, it is his brother asking so what to do.

Meanwhile, he is called in to deal with an odd (and rather funny) case in which a raggedy old Tom cat was placed into the carrier of a prize winning Burmese cat named Duchess IV. Nature having taken it's course, the snobbish owner of said Burmese wants the perpetrator of this heinous crime caught and duly punished.

I found the story, for the most part, charming and humorous but also somewhat frustrating. Like most of Smith's books, it is less about the cases in the story and more about the human condition, in this case the mysteries of love and the humour to be found in people's relations with political parties. However, I have never been a huge fan of short stories and this a good example of why. There's too little time to really get to know the characters well enough to care about them. Also, the ending seemed abrupt and left both cases feeling unresolved.

Still, overall, I did enjoy it enough to recommend it at least to fans of the author and I will definitely be reading the first fulll-length novel in the series, The Department of Sensitive Crimes.

3.5

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

This novella introduces McCall Smith's new series, which focuses on Swedish detective Varg and his Department of Sensitive Crimes, and is as sweet and funny as the novel that follows. Having had the pleasure of already reading the novel, some information is slightly repetitive (i.e. the characters' descriptions and concerns), but not so much that it interferes with the enjoyment of the story. The novella focuses on Varg's brother and gently mocks politicians and demagogues (especially right-wing). The second case, a sensitive matter related to cat breeding and a human love triangle, is less character-driven, but fun nonetheless. My only warning to the readers is that both cases end rather abruptly and neither comes to a coherent conclusion: a matter surely realistic in the detective business but less than satisfying in a mystery! Then again, these stories are never about "whodunnit" but more "humans are fascinating, aren't they?" kind of narratives. So with that in mind, this book was an absolute delight and I'm looking forward to more novels in this series!

Always a pleasure to read anything from this author. This brief introduction to yet another series - McCall Smith is astonishingly prolific - is charming and in his usual quirky gentle style. The main character, Ulf Varg, is a Swedish detective working in the Department of Sensitive Crimes (not sure this is a real thing!), and is asked to investigate a case in the world of cat breeders. This case, together with a secondary story about his brother who heads the 'Moderate Extremists' party, make up an engaging read. Yet another series to follow!
Many thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

GoodReads lists this as coming before book 1 in this new series, but I read it after /The department of sensitive crimes/, which I think would probably be less frustrating for most readers. The characters and general story set-up get more introduction in the novel. Reading this first, the reader might have more trouble connecting to the characters.

As in the novel, nothing much happened here. The main character thought some thoughts at home about his dog, and thought some other thoughts at work about a case. He didn't investigate anything or make any conclusions, just passed along his theories to other people. I can't imagine where this series is trying to go.

“If there was one thing you learned in the Department of Sensitive Crimes it was that the obvious solution was often misleading. Life was obvious, yes, but behind the obvious, the self-evident, there lay any number of other lively possibilities.”

The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists is a kindle short in the Detective Varg series by popular British author, Alexander McCall-Smith. Swedish Detective Ulf Varg first appeared in the 2013 Valentine’s Day short story, Varg in Love. Now part of the Department of Sensitive Crimes, he works with a staff of three and deals with a number of interesting cases. Currently, his attention is on the apparent sabotage of the pre-sold litter of a pure-bred Champion Burmese owned by a breeder of Oriental cats, who has provided a list of likely suspects.

Meanwhile, Ulf’s younger brother, Bjorn, head of the right-wing Moderate Extremists Party, asks for his help. This creates a bit of a dilemma, as Bjorn’s political beliefs in no way align with his own. But his brother is after advice about a leak in the Party: information is somehow getting out to the Extreme Moderates Party. Before Ulf can do more than consider the situation, he learns something from an unexpected source.

Readers familiar with McCall Smith’s other detective series will agree that these books are not read for the crime solving aspect. Indeed, in this case, much of the policing is a little tongue-in-cheek. Rather, he uses them as an opportunity to comment on human behaviour, and to share his gentle philosophy with musings and observations like those that follow.

“People put far too much store on figures these days. They want inputs and outputs and so on, but what does any of that actually mean? Does it have any bearing - any bearing at all – on whether an outcome is good, bad or indifferent? Does it?” and
“There was a tendency, particularly amongst public figures, to confuse the categories of mistake and wrongdoing. People who had been caught out doing something egregiously wrong would often refer to having ‘made a mistake’. This made their actions seem less reprehensible; after all, mistakes are human, and usually pardonable.”

As well as using amusing and intriguing chapter titles (The Criminal Use of Laxatives, Merino Underpants), McCall Smith allows his characters to discuss or contemplate: conceptual art; the drawbacks of electric cars; overfishing; bring struck by a meteor; and errant brothers. The story also features Sweden’s only lip-reading dog. Delightful, as always.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday

Much like his other books, this is a delightful story with great characters. I really enjoyed getting to know a new cast of characters. Can’t wait to read more of this series.

I am a little ashamed to confess that this is my first foray into the mind of Alexander McCall Smith and I found it to be a delightfully straightforward and amusing place to be. This tells the story of Ulf Varg, a detective in the department of sensitive crimes in Sweden as he investigates the rogue impregnation of a prize winning cat by a tom, whilst trying to discover who is releasing party secrets for his politician brother. The story is really simple in narrative structure and the characters are sweet, if a little stereotypical. I found the tone amusing and the interactions between the characters felt natural and authentic, as did the dialogue and motivations. This is a short little novella which is a great introduction to the Department of Sensitive Crimes series and I will definitely pick up more books in this series as they are released. All in all, I enjoyed this quite a lot.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Strange Case Of The Moderate Extremists by Alexander McCall Smith is a ebook novella introducing Detective Ulf Varg. Very soon, a full-length novel featuring Ulf Varg called The Department of Sensitive Crimes will be published. Reading this novella is a perfect way to see whether you like the concept of the new series and want to dip in further!

I love the title of this book. The very notion of moderate extremism seems like an oxymoron, which is why it’s such a good title. The book also has extreme moderates! Ha, ha. McCall Smith always seems to be able to combine adjectives and nouns in new and interesting ways in his titles.

The main character, Ulf Varg, lives in Sweden and works for the Department of Sensitive Crimes. During the course of the novella, he solves two unrelated mysteries. As in all of McCall Smith’s other novels, the pace is calming, the philosophy gently sprinkled throughout, and by the end things are again right in the world. I love Alexander McCall Smith’s books so much, every time a new one comes out I read it. I think that this book is a perfect place for you to start reading his books too!

Note: I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley.

A sweet, lovely novella that introduces the characters of McCall Smith new series and make you crave for more.
It's a very simple story but it's interesting to read about the new characters and it's written in the typical McCall Smith style.
I like the plot, the characters and found it enjoyable.
I look forward to read the new book.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday and Netgalley for this ARC

This short story/novella is really here to whet your appetite for a new series featuring Detective Ulf Varg. Set in Malmo, Sweden, it's full of the classic Alexander McCall Smith characters- quirky, intelligent, and not really criminal. He packs a lot into this slim story but it's a fun read, complete with issues with pets, an unrequited love interest, a brother with serious political differences, and so on. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. I enjoyed this and am looking forward to a full length book.