Good book! This book had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, serial killers, and many crazy twists!! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

I really don’t know where to start. I have read this series from the very first installment and have never been disappointed. This one is the epitome of them all. What a narrative! What a serendipitous route to the ending! What a malevolent killer! What an ending!

I want to be a member of Department Q and be a part of these marvelous characters. Please write the next one quickly. I hate being in suspense.

Highly recommended!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadow Murders is the penultimate book in the Department Q series. The team is back to investigate an apparent serial murdered who has been killing for decades. Unfortunately for Carl, the nail-gun case is back in the frame and the police find some evidence that may incriminate Carl.

This book does draw heavily from earlier books in regard to the nail-gun case, but it really can be read as a stand-alone also.

Nonostante avessi abbandonato, con sconcerto e senso di tradimento, Vittima 2117, questo romanzo mi ha riportato con entusiasmo fra le pareti della Sezione Q. La storia è al solito complessa e godibile, i personaggi coerenti con sé stessi e insieme maturati, l'oppressività della pandemia ben resa (e se penso che ho iniziato a leggere i romanzo di Jussi Adler-Olsen proprio durante il lockdown per distrarmi da cupi, cupi pensieri mi viene da sorridere: è un cerchio che si chiude). E, sebbene abbia trovato forse troppo lunghe le indagini, finalmente viene al pettine la trama che riguarda Carl, Hardy e il non compianto Ansen - trama che credevo, dopo tanti romanzi, che l'autore avesse dimenticato.
Aspetto con trepidazione la chiusura di questo ciclo, e mi riprometto di dare una seconda chance a Vittima 2117.

This is the ninth installment of the series featuring Department Q , the cold case division in Copenhagen’s police homicide department. (The series is slated to have ten entries in all.)

This book begins in the fall of 2020, with the police struggling to operate not only under COVID strictures, but with Department Q relocated to a new facility while renovations are going on at their usual offices. The eccentric team of Department Q is headed by Carl Mørck and supported by Hafez el-Assad, Rose Knudsen, and Gordon Taylor. When they are assigned a case, they don’t let go, and their very odd way of looking at things has helped them achieve a remarkable success rate.

Thus Chief of Homicide Marcus Jacobsen asks Department Q to look into an old case labeled an accident that has always bothered him. It involved an explosion at a mechanics’ shop in which all the workers were killed but also the toddler of a woman who was coming to the shop to pick up her car at that very unfortunate moment. Marcus had been called to the scene. The case resurfaced because the woman recently hanged herself, clutching a photo of her 3-year-old son.

Carl and the team throw themselves into their newest cold case, beginning with the discovery from old photos that a pile of table salt was left by the crime scene. When they start searching for other alleged incidents that show the same odd phenomenon, they see patterns no one caught before, and they gradually build a picture of what has been going on since that initial machine shop explosion in 1988. It is a dark and brutal picture, and it gives them the ability to predict when the next “accident” will take place - and they are running out of time.

Meanwhile, in the background, Carl has been told he is being investigated by the narcotics division for the “nail gun case,” a police raid back in 2007 that turned into an ambush by unknown assailants. Carl was barely scratched, but one of his colleagues, Anker Hoyer, died, and his partner Hardy Henningsen was left paralyzed. A large amount of money and cocaine was involved. Carl isn’t concerned, however, since he knows he was innocent and they couldn’t possibly find anything implicating him as corrupt. And yet, as the investigation progresses, Carl finds himself in deep trouble. He can’t act to save himself however, until he makes sure the perpetrator of these salt crimes is stopped.

Evaluation: This book wasn’t as “madcap” as previous books in the series, in part because most of the whole team, for various reasons, gets into serious danger. Assad’s usually humorous trouble with English idioms seemed more forced than usual, and Rose was more subdued. Nevertheless, I am a fan of the series and the characters and am sorry to see there is only one book left to go.

Another great book from Adler-Olsen. This time a murdered has decided to take justice into her own hands and Department Q is left with the task to solve the complex murder scheme. The plot was fast paced and thrilling, it was impossible to put the book down especially towards the end. The only thing I didn't care for were the endless "language blunders" made by Assad, they got old pretty quickly. Otherwise, a great read!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Well we found out that Carl and Mona had a little girl but are not married. That's number 1, so then we get to the telling of the tale which is that what Rose and Assad found out looking back some 20 years. What they found out was that on someones birthday a body was found with a pile of salt. This was what they were looking for. For red flags Carl was brought back into the old crime of the nail gun and Assad was brought into the tale of how he got there. These and other stories make up what was told. But Carl solved the crime and either ends up in jail or not. Jussi takes us for a ride of good reading.

Department Q is such a fun place. Characters galore. Another great puzzle for these brilliant minds to solve. Plot moves along great. Page turner from start to end.

Department Q is one of my favorite series and this title does not disappoint. Morck and his colleagues are racing against the clock to save another victim of this serial killer. An immoral person is killed e very 2 years on the birthday of an infamous person. Most of the killings appear to be accidental or suicidal, but once the pattern emerges the killer becomes more obvious. Paired with Covid lockdown and an accusation against Morck from an earlier case, puts one on the edge of the seat.

WOW! An amazing story-ending with a cliff hanger. I’ve always appreciated Adler-Olsen’s work and have grown fond if you will of the employees of Dept. Q. So many different layers of this story. A complex tale of revenge played out during 2020 with a dedicated group of police resolved to solve the mystery while the main investigator is being investigated and that is where the cliff hanger lies.

I first want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review. This is the second to last Department Q thrillers by Jussi Adler-Olsen and it did not fail to impress. Once again l thoroughly enjoyed this thought provoking nordic noir mystery. The combo nation of fasted paced need to solve and the fear that time will run out makes this a must read.