The Tenant, Julie Stender, is found murdered in her apartment with intricate carvings on her face. As the police investigate, many suspects come to light, including her father, former boyfriend, landlady, and roommate. After one of the suspects is also found murdered, the pressure is on to solve both crimes before another victim appears.

I was a little disappointed in this novel. The author tried to make it suspenseful, but it didn’t work well and I felt bored many times during my reading and struggled to finish it. It also didn’t feel like it flowed as one story. It seemed to have multiple ideas going on that didn’t correlate. Overall, it was just alright for me.

So much going on in this book. A murder mystery that makes you feel like the game clue. Who did it , with what and why? For such a young girl the possibility’s seem endless. She seems like a sweet innocent girl till the the cops start searching for the truth.

This one was good! It took me a while to get into, I kept coming back to it, but once I got about 40% in, I couldn’t put it down! Wow!

I’m really glad I decided to stick with this one. It took me a while to get into it but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. The characters had their flaws but they all did what needed to be done to solve the crime.

I think the only thing that got a bit old was the amount of exclamations. For example, Kørner and Werner would be discussing the case and Werner’s dialogue would end with an exclamation point when it wasn’t really necessary.

The Tenant is Katrine Engberg's US debut Danish murder mystery/thriller. The story is based in Copenhagen, I absolutely love reading books based outside the US. Ms. Engberg does an excellent job of infusing all things Scandinavian into this novel. As the reader, you get to enjoy the richness of the Danish culture and landscape that Ms. Engberg delivers beautifully.

Katrine Engberg writes a well thought out book with good dialogue. The story is told over seven days, and the narrative is shared between multiple characters. The two main characters, both detectives and partners, are Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner. I felt that Korner's character was thoroughly developed, and I felt a real connection with him. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that way about the Werner character, for me, she was not as well developed, and I wanted to know more about her and what made her tick. What I did like about these two characters and what made these two characters work; at times, they didn't seem to like each other but still did their job well, and this added a bit of conflict to the story.

The Tenant starts off with the murder of a young woman, Julie Stender, who rents the downstairs apartment from her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who lives in the upstairs apartment. The premise for this book was a good one- fiction taking on real life. Esther, a retired university professor, is writing a murder mystery, and she has made her fictional murder victim Julie Stender. The perpetrator has mimicked the murder scene precisely as it was written in Esther's novel. The murder scene is told to the reader in the prologue and is described in such graphic detail that it gave me chills, and it gives you the sense you are standing there in the room when the body is discovered. This scene grabbed me from the very beginning.

Later in the book, Ms. Engberg gives us a bit more of Danish culture, and I did find these little gems enjoyable.

"It appears our perpetrator has carved us a little goekkebrev."

"The pattern cut into the face resembled the traditional paper cuttings that Danish children make for Easter."

However, towards the middle of the book, I felt that the story dragged a bit and took me longer than usual to finish. It was predictable, and there was only one twist that I didn't see coming. I just felt that the author was going in too many directions at once. I truly wanted to love this book; unfortunately, it was just an okay read for me. However, I will assume this is the first in a series of crime novels, and I did like the two main characters enough to read the next book in this series.


** Please note the quotes in my review are subject to change once the book is published**


*** I kindly received this galley by way of NetGalley/publisher/author. I was not contacted, asked, or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion. ***

What is it about Scandinavian mysteries that make reading them so fascinating? Engberg has a gritty thriller in The Tenant, where the suspects are plentiful and the whodunnit is truly a mystery. One thing I love the most is her beautifully flawed main characters. There are no super-detectives here, just hard-working police people working a twisted case that starts to rack up too many bodies.

This is the first book of a new detective series, and I can see big potential with these characters if the plots remain tight and the cases stay original. I would definitely read the next one. 3.5 stars

Enjoyable on the whole, but something just felt a little off. The premise is good, and so is the setting, but it took me a long time to get into it because it wasn't particularly suspenseful or thrilling. Wanted it to go places it didn't I guess. Would have helped if there the detectives were easier to get invested in.

Julie Stender is a young girl with a dark past that ultimately ends up leading to her murder. However, figuring out who murdered her is just one of the mysteries in The Tenant, a Scandinavian noir novel by Katrine Engberg.

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When Detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner show up at the scene of the crime in Julie’s apartment, they are unaware just how twisted the plot will become. With Jeppe’s own personal life to attend to, he is uncertain as to whether he can juggle leading such a serious investigation and his emotion-filled divorce simultaneously.

As he and his colleague, Anette, begin to unravel the minimal clues left by the perpetrator, they begin to realize how dangerous and clever this criminal is. With the killer still on the loose and the reason behind the murder still blurry, the detectives do everything they can to hunt down the answers.

In the midst of interviewing everyone Julie knew, they are drawn to her landlord, Esther de Laurenti, an author whose work-in-progress manuscript chillingly resembles the murder of Julie Stender. When Esther brings this to Jeppe’s attention, he is certain her manuscript was an inspiration behind the murder.

When the story becomes written almost as a book within a book, the reader is led down several trails that seem promising, but still left unsure of what the truth will be — up until the very end.

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The Tenant is my first step into the Nordic Noir sub-genre of crime fiction. I have enjoyed reading more thrillers over the past couple years, and when I was reached out to by the publisher if I’d like an advance copy to review, I read the synopsis and was immediately drawn in by the premise.

When I started the story, I was captured by the Scandinavian atmosphere, and the details of the setting were so vivid. Because of being inexperienced in reading Nordic Noir, it did help to look up pictures and maps of the places described, in order to get a better understanding of the setting. Overall, the cities and places were beautifully written — one of the favorite parts of the novel was definitely the descriptive writing that Katrine used.

The pacing of the story was very well done at first. I was hooked by the introduction and through about the first 100 pages. After that point, I felt the pacing slow down, and honestly had a difficult time staying invested in the book. However, at about 60% of the way through it picked back up again, the action built up — suddenly I was getting answers to the questions I was asking myself at the beginning of the book.

Overall the characters were ones that I liked — Jeppe felt human to me, somewhat distracted, and often had feelings of guilt and anger that felt realistic to me. He did have a lot happen in his personal life that I think the book could have benefited without. At some points his character felt rather immature to me — there were instances where — for both him and Anette — I wondered how old they really were, because at times they seemed to be acting a bit childish.

It also felt odd to me that Jeppe had such a leading role in the story, but Anette was left out quite a bit, when she seemed to be just as present as him. I would have loved to see more detail about her life. I think it would have been interesting to see some of the story from Julie’s perspective. For the entire novel, her vantage point is pretty much non-existent. Perhaps considering alternating timelines or something to make the reader care for Julie — this would have added so much more connection to her as a character.

The writing itself was very well done, however some of the metaphors and comparisons were a little odd to me. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Katrine’s writing style, and the atmospheric side to her descriptions. However, some of the descriptive word-choices were a bit gory and left me cringing at some parts. That could be a positive about the writing, though, but I personally prefer less detail when it comes to crime scenes.

The very end of the story felt slightly off to me. It left me feeling like there was a hidden message I wasn’t understanding, or that there was another page I was missing. It wasn’t really a cliffhanger, but it also didn’t feel complete. Because this is a series, I won’t question this too much, but it still is something that left me a little dissatisfied with the book.

I think The Tenant has a great start to a series. The last few chapters are a bit wild though — for lack of a better word. Ultimately it felt very far-fetched to me, and I had trouble believing it to be true. I did really enjoy reading this story, and though I think some elements could be altered, I would recommend this book for someone looking for a police procedural suspense series that has many twists and turns.

2.5 stars
When a blurb uses words like electrifying, stunning, and inconceivably thrilling, I expect big things. The beginning of The Tenant seems to be heading in that direction, and it does have its moments, but they are fewer and fewer as the story progresses. I really expected a more intense read given the nature of the murder that opens this story, but instead, the pacing is quite slow. I don't know if it's the translation or just the way the story is written, but it felt kind of dry. The best way I can think of to explain it is it felt a bit like listening to someone speaking in a monotone. I actually fell asleep several times while trying to push through to the end. I think the author had a good idea here, but the delivery was missing something for me. Overall, this one isn't a bad read, but it's not a particularly good one either.

Jeppe Kørner and Annette Werner are sent to the scene of a violent murder in Copenhagen. A young woman has been found with intricate markings carved into her face. The detectives investigate as another body is found and a witness goes missing. Will our detectives find the witness in time or will she be another tally in the body count?

I thoroughly enjoyed this Danish mystery, which is the first in a series. The main characters work well together, despite the fact that they are more like an "odd couple." They were both likable and believable as characters. You got to feel for Jeppe as his backstory is told.

The plot moves along at a good pace and there are plenty of suspects and red herrings. I didn't guess who the murderer was and was quite surprised. If you like Danish mysteries, then this is one you should check out!

"An electrifying work of literary suspense from international bestselling author Katrine Engberg, this stunning debut introduces two police detectives struggling to solve a shocking murder and stop a killer hell-bent on revenge.

When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist - and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.

But Esther’s role in this twisted scenario is not quite as clear as it first seems. Is she the culprit - or just another victim, trapped in a twisted game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women’s pasts to discover the identity of the brutal puppet-master pulling the strings in this electrifying literary thriller."

Thrilling indeed!

This story was quite intriguing. At first I thought they gave away the entire plot of the book up front. I was concerned on where the book would have left to go at the point. Little did I realize I was about to take a trip deep down the rabbit hole.

The police definitely have their hand full. Everyone seems to have a secret or two in their closet. A secret that they don't want anyone knowing, but is going to become uncovered regardless. Some of those secrets are decoys to the underlying issue. Some are one step away from uncovering the truth.

A young woman is found brutally murdered in her own apartment, with lines carved into her face. The woman was the inspiration for a mystery novel authored by the landlady and her murder mimics the murder at the core of the book which leads the police along several paths to find the killer. As a fan of Danish mysteries, I found another enjoyable read.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

As you all know I love a good mystery/thriller but when you add in a literary element to it, it just amps up the suspense and that is exactly what we have here. This was one of my most excited finds at BookExpo this last Spring - as soon as I read about this one being available, I knew I had to get my hands on it and I'm so glad I did as I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to continue reading the series!

This is the first book in Danish author Katrine Engberg's new series. It's already been published over in Scandinavia and is just now making it's English debut. I can only hope the other books will also be translated.

This is a dark, gritty book but it's also one of those books within a book that I happen to love. The murder mirrors that of an unpublished manuscript and it is eerie just how similar some of the events that take place are. Is Esther acting out her scenes in real life or is someone trying to get some type of revenge on her?

I loved that there was so much going on in this book. It starts off right in the action, so to speak, and never really stops. Each time you think you might have something worked out, something new comes to light to steer you in a new direction. All the moving parts really keep you on your toes in this one and yet, it is perfectly balanced to still introduce us to the series - to set the scene as it is to introduce our detectives.

The two detectives investigating the case are quite the pair. They are prickly and seem to irritate each other quite often - they often act like an old married couple! The book seemed to focus more on Jeppe Korner than Anette Werner but perhaps next book it will be the opposite? I hope so as I would like to learn a bit more about her other than that she is in a happy marriage. He, on the other hand, is recently divorced and not adjusting well. His emotional state is all over the road and I definitely think there is more going on here.

This was such a compelling read that is full of twists and turns. It is full of characters that keep you guessing as to whether they could be behind everything. I had my guesses as to what was going on but I was never on the right track.

I really enjoyed this book and am definitely planning on continuing with the series. I just hope they translate the other books soon!

After a young woman is found mutilated and murdered in her apartment, detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner are tasked with solving the mystery. This is a complex story with lots of characters and a few red herrings. While Jeppe's flawed character is well fleshed out and developed, I can only hope Anette gets more attention in the next book in the series. As a fan of Scandinavian noir I was hoping, I think, for something a bit more suspenseful and less stereotypical. It's always hard to criticize the writing of a translated story because it's hard to tell what short comings are the authors and what gets lost in translation. That said, I think there could be improvements with tightening up the plot and it's execution. Although I enjoyed this one, I found myself getting distracted at times and losing focus but that could be a reflection of me more than the book. All in all this is a fine debut and start to a new series. Even though I wasn't floored by this one, I did find a connection with Jeppe and look forward to the next book in the series.
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Thank you Scout Press and NetGalley for the ARC to read, review and enjoy.

A murder mystery that lacked some spunk for me. The characters were distracting to say the least. One is a depressed detective with opiod problem, and an unruly erection that was a complete distraction from the plot. The other a matcho female detective that had no important role besides emotional eating. Yup, sounds very attractive on both ends.

The characters were really weirdly integrated in the story. For example, the owner of the building seemed like a side character, but in the end had a bigger role, which I couldn't follow..

The plot itself, the murder mystery, seemed really interesting in the beginning. Especially the villain, and even though it became obvious who it was pretty early in the story, I still wanted to know the reasons. In the end it was a tad confusing, and too complicated. Untill the reasonings were laid out point by point (without actual clues from before) it wasn't all that clear.

Anyways, not my cup of tea. No suspense, or thriller, just a lot of unnecessary drama.

I had to DNF this one. I felt the story line and characters were a bit hard to keep up with. It could be a book that I would maybe try to read again at another time but for now, I have to not read this one.

"I will always be your Scar Keeper, she said, the one who carries your burdens so that you don't have to."⁣
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Julie Stender is found dead in her apartment. Carved in her face is a mysterious statement piece. Detectives Jeppe and Anette set off to work the case. They find out that the landlord has been writing a book that ironically is about the murder of a young girl who is modeled off of Julie. Number one suspect: Ester. But did Ester really do that to her tenant? Is the case that easy to solve or is Ester also a victim?⁣
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Can we have another novel about Jeppe? His side story was just as good as the main plot itself. The whole time I was questioning who really committed the crime. I loved getting to know about each character. We are given just enough information to feel each one out.⁣

Good mystery set in Copenhagen and the first in a series. When a tenant is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Jeppe and Anette are tasked with solving the case. Jeppe is depressed over his divorce and pops pills at will. Anette is happily married and his polar opposite so they have an interesting partnership,but one that works.

Lots of twists and turns and suspects. If you are looking for a good mystery, then this book fits the bill. I am interested in reading further adventures of Jeppe and Anette.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

I love good book about great detective work and this is what this novel is about. A lot of twist and turns, no dull moments or unnecessary descriptions. The old man finds a body of the young woman and detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are trying to find out what happened in the apartment building own by writer Esther de Laurenti. It was my first book written by Katrine Engberg but I need check more of her work.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair review.