Un fatídico viernes 13, el anticuario Reidar Folke Jespersen decide hacer diferentes cosas para poner orden en su vida. Al día siguiente, el comisario Gunnarstranda y su ayudante, Frolich, se dirigen a una tienda de antigüedades en cuyo escaparate se ha encontrado el cadáver desnudo de Jespersen, con letras marcadas sobre su piel y sentado en una silla. Muchas de las personas que lo conocían parecían tener un motivo para matar al huraño y testarudo anciano, lo que hará que la pareja de policías no lo tenga nada fácil y deben bucear en el inquietante pasado de la víctima.

Fans of Scandinavian crime novels will surely enjoy this one. Interesting plot line that goes from the present back to WWII, with the reader kept guessing along the way. ( )

This book has all the elements of a great mystery novel: an intriguing murder, suspicious characters, confusing clues, a notorious back story, and intelligent detectives. My only minor complaint was the occasionally stilted dialogue.

Favorite lines:
"'Every day you and I survive is chance. The fact that one of your father's cells won the fight for your mother's egg and created you is chance. It's chance that people live on earth and not on Mars.'"

"'The reality of war is surreal at the best of times. You cannot comprehend war with peace as a reference point.'"

"'Death by misadventure is cheap for the state and it helps us to sustain a belief in the essential goodness of mankind.'" ( )

Dahl is said to be a 'formadible talent,' but I couldn't make it through th is one. Probably a question of taste: the characters never took hold for me, and I wasn't intrigued by the mystery. After 200 or so pages I skipped to the end to see who dunnit. ( )

Heel erg genoten van dit boek. Mooi verhaal, goed einde en leuke personages. ( )