The Keeper of Lost Causes

Department Q, Book 1

By: Jussi Adler-Olsen

Narrated by: Erik Davies

Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Get to know the detective in charge of Copenhagen's coldest cases in the first electrifying Department Q mystery from New York Times best-selling author Jussi Adler-Olsen.

Carl Mørck used to be one of Denmark’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl - who didn’t draw his weapon - blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of cold cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: A liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead...yet.

Darkly humorous, propulsive, and atmospheric, The Keeper of Lost Causes introduces American listeners to the mega-bestselling series fast becoming an international sensation.

©2011 Jussi Adler-Olsen (P)2011 Penguin

okay

Very slow start. The pieces of the story were not well tied together outside of the police case about Merete.

Awesome story

Really great main characters and great mystery story. Loved it. Gotta get the next one now!!

Awful narration

If he just used his normal speaking voice, it might have worked out much better.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

This is book one of the Department Q series.

Dept Q is an underfunded department specializing in cold cases. The government has given it top priority, but the police chief gives it litte thought. The department is manned by 3 misfits.

Carl Mork is the lead man, by far the best detective on the entire force, but he is also insubordinate, impossible to work with and impulsive. No one likes him or wants to work with him. So his chief puts him the newly formed Department Q.

Assad is a real mystery figure. He's Syrian, speaks poor English, (this was translated from Norwegian.), and no one seems to know how he came to be employed at all. They don't have a personnel file on him, no one has ever seen the family he speaks of, and no one seems to know where he lives.

Rose is another strange character. She works when she feels like it, is at least Morks equal with insubordination, she wears her emotions on her sleeve, and is just maybe a bit mentally ill.

Carl Mork , Rose and Assad have a charisma and synergy that makes you want see them go at it for years to come. They are smart, resourceful, mysterious, ruthless and hilarious.
I love the entire series.

Too Disjointed

I was quite excited when I read that this author had won the same award the author of the "Girl With The Dragon Tatoo" series had won. The characters are interesting, and the main story line is good, it has all the elements of character development, mystery, and suspense. That is why I rated it a 3.

Unfortunately, there were so many story lines I found myself zoning out quite frequently, and not having the desire to reverse to see what I'd missed. I love books with multiple story lines, and authors like Elizabeth George and Ruth Rendell, seem to have a talent for tying the story lines together throughout the book just enough to build ones curiosity. This book did not. I felt there were so many story lines the author was trying to pack in that the entire story felt too disjointed.

I listen to many books set in England, Ireland, and Scotland, so I am probably not a good judge of how well the narrator performed the Danish accent, but there were a few times when I felt like he was "falling" into more of a southern United States accent! It was quite disconcerting.

really good story

half way through you know who did it but no idea how it will end. great writing.

Brilliant

So excited to have found this series. Excellent characters, riveting plot with just the right amount of humor. On to the next book!

Great mystery; reader's accents are awful!

Thrilled with the author. Will avoid the narrator. His rendition of accents are painful. It would have been better if he did not even try.

Funny Accent? WHY???

When a book is translated into English, we assume that the native speakers in the original language speak without an accent. So why did the producers of this book opt to have the reader use ridiculous "foreign" accents for ALL of the characters. They all talk like they have marbles in their mouths, they all sound the same, and it makes for hard listening.

Okay

Story was good, but predictable. Narrator's accent made several characters sound the same. Okay story.