A diabolical mastermind works behind the scenes to protect his secrets and extract a terrible revenge in this first book in a new Nordic crime thriller series.

Esther de Laurenti has retired, drinks too much, and lives in her large family home with apartments that she rents out. She's now turned her attention toward writing a mystery novel and gives fabulous parties with all sorts of artsy type friends. Things take a horrible turn when one of her tenants, Julie Stender, is gruesomely murdered in a manner that is almost copied directly from Esther's unpublished manuscript. Copenhagen police detectives, Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner, are assigned the case and immediately the investigation becomes extremely complicated. Unfortunately, Julie is just the first victim in this complex and very twisted story. NO SPOILERS.

Don't you just love finding a new series with great, multifaceted characters who beg to be known? I enjoyed the relationship between Jeppe and Anette -- they have such distinct personalities and their partnership is one of opposites barely tolerating each other as they work together. Jeppe is messed up after his divorce and Anette seems to have the much more forceful attitude. There are many additional characters in this novel with some very disturbing traits and plenty of red herrings as they probe into the identity of the killer. There are many grisly descriptions along the way but I did love the details about the city of Copenhagen and surrounding areas. I'm eager to see what the two detectives will be doing next and so I will be reading the second book in the series immediately.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

THE TENANT was not exactly the book I expected but was thrilled it was the one I read. The characters were engaging. The suspense was on point. It is the beginning of what I can only hope will be long-running Nordic Noir series.

I actually really enjoyed The Tenant. As a thriller, I thought that it gave exactly what we needed. With a few suspects in the beginning, they add more in later on. It doesn't take from the story and things don't get messy or confusing!

This book was so disappointing. I wanted a new detective series to follow, especially since this one is set in Denmark, which I don't find as much. Unfortunately, the Detective Korner was do misogynistic it was impossible to care about the plot. He is constantly talking about women, their bodies, what they are (or aren't) eating, and how much he wants to have sex with them (or not). It was incredibly distracting. He also made a terrible decision in sleeping with a potential suspect, and it was never really addressed as a problem. I thought the solution to the whodunnit was boring and not really surprising.

I'm not sure why I took so long to read this book. I love the story and everything came together so nice. It was interesting to read about the Copenhagen police procedures even though it was fiction. I really enjoy reading this Nordic Noir and will for sure add more books of this genre and this author to my reading lists. Thank you for the opportunity of reading this book.

Nice thriller. I love these types of thrillers. Basically if a thriller has a house on the cover I'm going to read it and love it for some reason LOL

Overall, I found The Tenant to be an easy, quick read with an interesting premise. It became a bit predictable as to "whodunnit", but that didn't take away from the other themes and sub-stories lying near the surface. Fair warning, there are some disturbing details (that are wonderfully described, by the way).

Esther is easily my favorite character - complex, but gentle. She loves to party and drink, which never makes for a good combo but certainly adds to the fun! I enjoyed trying to identify who Esther truly was and how she related to the other characters.

There is a strong theme of Mothers which carries heavily throughout the story; some heartbreaking details and some that bring joy. I found the multiple references to mothers to be a bit overdone, but I understand why they were included. 

This wasn't one of my favorite reads of the year, but I appreciate that it was a slightly unique storyline than usually seen in mystery/thrillers.

DNF 20%. This unfortunately was not for me. I felt like the characters were predictable and one-dimensional, and the original mystery didn't initially grab me. I would still be willing to read from this author in the future! Below rating is neutral.

This book had such a creepy and mysteries story. I couldn't get enough! A perfect story that will not let you put it down.

This book was a little slow on the start, but I’m glad I stuck with it.  Full of suspense and in the author’s own words “depravity”.  The main character, Jesper, is flawed, but he finds a way to work through it. A story full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing.  This is a book I will recommend.

When Julie Stender is murdered in a style that reflects the events of an unpublished manuscript, detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are put on the case to solve the mystery. The investigation explores all aspects of Julie's life, including her landlord, who wrote the manuscript that seems to be a guide to Julie's murder. While there are many suspects and interconnecting links, this plot moved a little too slowly for me, even though I thought the premise was interesting. It's very grisly, well plotted although slow for me, and I will recommend it at our library for fans of murder mysteries, especially fans of Jo Nesbo. I found the detectives intriguing, and will read more in the series.

It took me awhile to get into The Tenant.  I actually started it in January, then abandoned it.  I picked it back up this summer and am really glad that I did.  
The book is unpredictable, and  the characters are quirky and unreadable.  I'm glad I gave it a second chance.

While most of us are used to thriller novels being set in London and other familiar European cities, as well as America, Scandinavia is still a mystery in itself to those of us who haven’t visited. Katrine Engberg, a former dancer and choreographer has become a popular crime novelist in Denmark, and her debut novel, The Tenant in the Kørner/Werner Series has become a bestseller. Esther de Laurenti, a drunk who likes to party with her artist friends, has lived in the same building her entire life; she owns the building and Gregors Hermansen has been a tenant on the second floor for over 20 years. As he takes his trash out, he sees that the door to the bottom floor apartment was open. He isn’t sure if Julie or Carolyn, the renters, were just drunk and left the door open, or if there was a break-in. Gregors has a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital before learning what has happened, but it turns out Julie has been brutally murdered. Her rich and influential father is called to the city and Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner with the Copenhagen Police are the lead detectives on the scene. 

While her characters are well-developed, they have personal problems of their own that they are trying to work through, and they don’t particularly like each other or work well together. Readers probably won’t like them either, and it seems that the murder case would be solved faster if they acted professional and worked together. However, the story flows well and will keep readers on the edge as the pieces to the puzzle come together. There are several suspects, and other players that aren’t suspects at all; some of the key players are in danger, and there are surprises at every turn. 

Understandably foreign authors have the extra burden of translation from their native language to English, but this novel has very few mistakes and flows in a way as if English was Engberg’s native tongue. The fact that it is set in Denmark adds to the charm and gives readers more than just a murder mystery to ponder over; it introduces a whole new culture to become familiar with. 

This novel is the first in a series, and those readers who like the detectives will definitely want to read this novel as it is an introduction to Jeppe and Anette. The novel is good, but since the characters are at odds with each other, may not be one for everybody.


Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

The Tenant is raw, it's suspense, it's thriller and everything I need it to be as I cozied in bed with a cup of coffee. I read this in just a few hours, because I could not put this book down!

The Tenant by Katrine Engberg is a police procedural murder mystery/thriller set in Copenhagen. The novel begins with an older man literally stumbling over the death of a neighbor in his apartment building. Police detective Jeppe Korner is assigned to the case and assisted by Annette Werner. Jeppe's character is well developed. His back story includes a recent divorce and inability to work for a time due to his depression. This results in a certain pressure to solve the case. There's a writer's group that factors into the plot as well, and Jeppe and Annette are soon investigating a number of suspects and leads. 

Overall, I enjoyed this read, a first for this author for me. I found it difficult to understand some of the other characters, but appreciated how things began to tie together. As a reader, it was hard for me to decide if certain revelations were a "red herring" or were foreshadowing how the killer(s) would be found. 

Copenhagen as a setting was lovely for me, especially given that I am reading it during the Pandemic. I would have liked more atmospheric detail to engage me even more in the beauty of this city. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity to review this Advanced Reader's Copy of The Tenant from NetGalley and I would read another novel by this author.

While the tone of this novel was off-putting to me, I recognize that there are a plethora of mystery readers that eat these up. Since I'm not a fan of Scandinavian noir, I'm always pressed to find something suitable to recommend to readers who are fans of Tana French and Jo Nesbo. I'll gladly pass this one along to them.

You never know how tangled your life can be with others who you thought were strangers. Julie is murdered and sets off a set of events that connects many people and uncovers many secrets.

The premise of the Tenant sucked me in from the start. I am not sure if it was the translation bc the book didn’t flow like I expected. The synopsis is amazing and I love a good murder mystery thriller so I’m not going to discount the author overall. Maybe my own expectations were too high for this one and that’s okay, it happens sometimes. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC!

The Tenant is the promising first entry in Katrine Engber’s new series featuring Copenhagen detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner, a typical “odd couple” who rub each other the wrong way but also complement one another. It begins when a woman named Julie Stender is found brutally murdered in her apartment with bizarre carvings on her face. In her early 20s, Julie appears to have been a pleasant young woman who would not have inspired the kind of passion her murderer seems to have shown. The mystery only deepens when it is discovered that the circumstances of the murder match those in an unpublished novel by her landlady, Esther di Laurenti, an eccentric retired professor, which has only been shared with a few people. Who is Julie’s murderer? Is it her irrationally possessive father? A young man Esther has treated as a son? A member of Esther’s writing group? 

Kørner and Werner start digging into Julie's life, and as usual, secrets begin to emerge, as well as connections between the people who knew her that had previously been unknown. The murder is revealed well before the end of the book which then becomes more suspense as the detectives race to save another character's life. I found a mystery to be interesting and intriguing and the characters to be well drawn, although I could have stood a little less of Kørner’s angst over his recent divorce. I would definitely read more books in the series or by this author.

Thank you to Gallery/Scout Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book - a murderer is killing people based on one of the main character's novels she's working on! Super suspenseful and lots of twists and turns - I devoured this one in a day or two. Excellent summer read - creepy and unique.