I finished this book a few weeks back and I am struggling to remember any details, The premise was interesting - a real-life murder mirrors the fictional murder in our main character's unpublished book. Unfortunately I was just bored and didn't care for any of the characters. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Katine Engberg's debut mystery novel The Tenant is a fantastic read. As the story opens, an old fellow named Gregers stumbles upon the body of his young neighbor and immediately has a heart attack. This sets the tone for a very complex mystery involving the tenants in one particular building in Copenhagen, a couple of exotic and quirky murders, a couple of mismatched and engaging detectives, and even sex! Jeppe Korner is a morose, freshly divorced middle-aged detective who is petulant, whiny, and takes too many Oxycontin. His partner, Anette Werner, happily married, is all too happy to kick his butt. Esther di Laurenti, who owns the scene-of-crime building, is a retired college professor who lives on the top floor of the building with her two Pugs and drinks too much. The action comes fast and deadly, but not too fast for Engberg to flesh out her characters and develop their relationships to a satisfying degree as well as tell an excellent story. This exemplifies the mystery novel as literary fiction.

Thank you NegGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I throughly enjoyed this debut Nordic thriller mystery. Just when you think you know who the killer is from about 20% in, more curveballs are thrown. I loved the main character and the relationships between the police men. Also loved the mini plot of the side characters.

I will definitely read her next book.

I received this book for free through NetGalley for an honest review. I loved the concept of this, the fact that a writers story is coming to life around her... and it is a murder!! It wrapped up nicely in the end, even though the reasoning and motives were far and wide. I thought the romantic side of Jeppe wasn't necessary, but at least it wasn't too prominent throughout it. I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone interested in murder and mystery!

The Tenant blew my mind! This was an excellent book. So many surprises and twists. The characters were complicated and twisted. You think you know what is going to happen , but every time the book turns itself on its head. This is my first read by this author and will not be my last. That ending!!!!

I had a difficult time even getting partially through this. Writing is horrible and couldn't keep me focused on what I was reading. It didn't translate well from its original language.

A young woman is stabbed, a pattern of lines carved into her face, and it is soon discovered that the owner of the second-floor apartment she rents in Copenhagen has been writing a novel — and the way the young woman was killed had been detailed in the manuscript three weeks before the murder.

The two police detectives in charge of the case, Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner, have to figure out if retiree Esther, the writer, who lives on the top floor of the building she grew up in and inherited from her parents, had anything to do with the murder or if she is in danger of being killed herself. A young friend of Esther’s who spends a lot of time in her apartment seems to be a good suspect: he has motive and opportunity and just seems a bit off. But the signs pointing to him seem almost too obvious. Was he framed? As the investigation continues, the victim’s father seems suspect, and then a local artist. There are too many threads connecting a number of players, and the victim’s background may or may not be relevant. As Korner and Werner try to unwind the twisted threads and make sense of why the young woman was killed and by whom, they must also try to protect those who may still in danger.

The Tenant is a solid murder mystery/thriller that had me rooting for a few of the characters, some a bit more than others, in addition to trying to figure out the mystery. The book spends a lot of time digging into the characters, especially Esther and the detective Jeppe Korner, and it seems fairly clear from reading it (and then confirmed from a little looking on Goodreads) that it’s establishing the beginnings of a series centered on the two detectives (Anette doesn’t get as much focus as her partner here, so maybe she will get more attention in future books). The book and two sequels were published originally in Danish, with this one the first to be translated into English. I enjoyed it but won’t necessarily be waiting eagerly for the sequels to be made available in English.

The Tenant was an enjoyable read for me. It is a Scandinavian mystery about the tenants of an apartment building who become involved in a disturbing murder case. The murder that was acted out followed the outline of an unpublished book written by the owner of the building. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and felt like the ending was satisfying. I liked the pacing of the book, and enjoyed the tidbits of clues that were dropped every so often. It is the first in a series that I look forward to reading!

I struggled a little with gathering my thoughts on this one because I enjoyed the story and the mystery, but the characters fell completely flat. Let’s start with the good things. The mystery part of the story had me hooked. I kept guessing at different characters being the killer and although I did figure out “whodunnit” before the reveal, it was a fun mystery to try to solve while reading. I also enjoyed the layers of backstory revealed about Julie throughout the book. She was a young woman who harbored a lot of secrets, which ultimately caused her to be murdered in the end.

As the mystery unfolded, I felt almost like it became a little too over-the-top and complicated. It was like the author couldn’t decide which direction to go in, so she went in all of the directions. I was left a little confused by the motive until the very end of the book and still was a bit let down by the reasoning for such brutal murders to have taken place.

The characters were disappointing, to say the least. This book could have been so much better had the characters been developed more. None of them really had a personality that shone through. Jeppe, the lead detective, was utterly boring. He was the cliche depressed, divorced cop with an addiction to painkillers, but other than that I didn’t feel like we got to know him at all. He didn’t even seem very attached to the case, though he was working on it night and day. Annette, his partner, was even less developed. All she seemed to do was eat messily and live in a happy marriage. As partners who work together on a daily basis, they didn’t seem to know each other that well or really even like one another very much. The only redeeming character in my opinion was Esther de Laurenti. She was the only one who seemed to have any emotions or personality. I actually ended up liking her the most by the end of the story.

Overall, I didn’t dislike the book — it just didn’t check off all the boxes for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC copy for review. The Tenant by Katrine Engerg is a Danish police procedural. The story line was intriguing: Author shares an early version of her novel with others and it becomes a real-life murder. While reading, I kept envisioning Broadchurch or another BBC English police drama. There were multiple points of view that made reading a bit tedious and confusing. I started to lose track of who was who. I felt like the depression of the main character (Jeppe) was forced—I just didn’t feel sorry for him like I was supposed to. The twists and turns were convincing and it had a satisfying ending. I would read another book by this author.

So I overall enjoyed this Scandinavian thriller, it had all the makings of a fabulous mystery—gruesome murder, several suspects, intrepid detectives, someone acting out a murder mystery manuscript! How creepy! But as the story progressed & we find out how all the characters were linked, I was left unsatisfied with the ending, it just kind of fell flat. Everything was explained, but I still didn’t quite understand how all the pieces fit together. Perhaps it’s me, perhaps it was the translation...but I just felt like there should have been more.

Before starting this book, I had heard mixed reviews and was hesitant to jump in. I don't tend to have issues with book in translation as I can easily scan over confusing names of characters and cities.

This book had me hooked from the very beginning. I love stories where the reader jumps in after the murder has already happened. None of the characters really did it for me but the author crafted a clever murder mystery so I didn't mind. Red herrings were dropped flawlessly and I particularly loved the element of the manuscript being a replica of the murder.

The Tenant reminded me a lot of Tana French police procedurals which is high praise since I feel like Ms. French has really honed in on how to write a suspenseful murder mystery perfectly. If you are a reader who loves strong characters, then this might not be the book for you but if you are looking for a well-written, twisty mystery then I feel like this book might just be for you.

I love a good police procedural book. I love the mystery. The Who dunit aspect. This was definitely that. It kept me guessing throughout. I loved the dynamic between the two detectives. They didn’t particularly like each other but loved How they seemed to read each other so well & fed off each other. I think there was some characters more developed than others but still, Can’t wait for the next book!

This book was a solid police procedural. It started kind of slow for me and picked up halfway through. I did not figure out "who dunnit" before the final chapters which was a nice change. The main characters are likable and well constructed. Overall a 3 star novel. It just didn't duck me in like I hoped. Worth the read though.

I liked this book, mostly.

I almost gave up reading it multiple times in the beginning, but something made me think it was worth continuing.

The idea of a killer basing his murder(s) off a novel has always been a fictional trope that I've found interesting to read, so maybe it was knowing this was part of the story that kept me reading. Maybe it was that, despite the slow start to the book, it still seemed like everything was building to something worth finding out.

About a quarter of the way in, something clicked for me and it felt like things were picking up. The two main detectives have a strange, strained, yet affectionate relationship that feels real, and they are smart and determined despite how lackadaisical they may sometimes come across as. The case they are trying to solve-the brutal murder of a young woman, in an apartment building owned by an older woman, who is writing a mystery novel the murder was seemingly based off-is a unique one with high stakes. And the unexpected multitudes of ways the pasts of the characters come into play made for some highly unexpected twists and turns.

So my final verdict? To be honest, I don't see a need for anyone to run out and grab a copy of this book to read. That said, if you happen to have a copy, or come across a copy, give it a try. If you can make it through the slow start, you might just find a mystery you need to know the answer to.

Nordic noir at its best.A new author in translation.A book that drew me in a woman’s dead body found by. A tenant in the building .Twisty turns chilling a book that drew me in. &kept me turning the pages.#netgalley#gallerybooks

LOVED THIS! Perfect twisty, turny thriller. I will be working on a stylized Instagram photo to showcase and recommend this title to my followers, cannot wait to recommend it!

This book failed to grab me. I really wanted to like it, but I struggled with it. I thank Net Galley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an ARC. I would be willing to try another book by this author as this would seemingly be like a book I would enjoy. It may have been a case of wrong time for me. I may try to reread it again in the near future.

Intriguing story which spans a couple decades of three families. The intertwining of these families lead the police on a merry chase to solve several crimes. Fantastic characters and non-stop suspense make for an enjoyable reading experience.

This is a new Scandinavian crime author and I am here for it! This was typical fare for the genre, which is a good thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the originality of the crime and its suspects. It was fast paced and kept my guessing. Definitely recommend!