A cold-blooded killer strikes at the hottest moment: the new head of a sauna-stove company is murdered … in the sauna. Who has turned up the temperature and burned him to death?
The evidence points in the direction of Anni Korpinen – top salesperson and the victim’s successor at Steam Devil. And as if hitting middle-age, being in a marriage that has lost its purpose, and struggling with work weren’t enough, Anni realizes that she must be quicker than both the police and the murderer to uncover who is behind it all – before it’s too late…
Paperback, 300 pages Published April 1st 2019 by Orenda Books (first published September 2017) ISBN: 1912374315 (ISBN13: 9781912374311)
Jan Nyman, the ace detective of the covert operations unit of the National Central Police, is sent to a sleepy seaside town to investigate a mysterious death. Nyman arrives in the town dominated by a bizarre holiday village—the “hottest beach in Finland.” The suspect: Olivia Koski, who has only recently returned to her old hometown. The mission: find out what happened, by any means necessary. With a nod to Fargo, and dark noir, Palm Beach, Finland is both a page-turning thriller and a black comedy about lust for money, fleeing dreams, and people struggling at turning points in their lives—chasing their fantasies regardless of reason.
My Review
I got this book at the Orenda Roadshow in Southall, Nottinghamshire, in late February. Just before Lockdown started. I met Antti and a few other Orenda authors and got the book signed. I was quite pleased with the trip away even if the place I stayed wasn’t very good. The library at Southwell was, and the bookshop that supplied the books was run by some lovely ladies. Karen, who runs Orenda, and Anne, who runs Random Things blog tours was there, so I actually knew a couple of people, sort of.
The Rosie-Synopsis
Olivia Koski has inherited a rather run down house on the coast. After a couple of failed relationships, she’s had enough, moved home and just wants to renovate her family home.
Jormo Leivo has a dream – Palm Beach, without the irritating heat! But to complete his dream he needs Olivia’s land, and for the boat club to disappear. And Olivia won’t sell. So he decides to scare her away, with the help of failed musician ‘Chico’ and cook Robin.
That’s about the point when it all goes wrong. Because the lads ain’t the sharpest tools in the shed and accidentally kill a burglar when they go to vandalise Olivia’s house (this is not a spoiler, the author tells us right at the beginning that this is the case).
Jan Nyman, undercover police officer, is sent to Palm Beach, Finland, to investigate after the local and regional police fail to find anything. They didn’t bother asking if anyone was threatening Olivia. Jan’s boss is convinced she’s behind it all, and Jan isn’t so sure. Until he meets her.
The dead burglar’s adopted brother comes looking for answers too, flashes cash and threatens a few people.
What follows is a comedy of errors, dark comedy.
The Good
The stupidity of it all! Robin and Chico should have just gone to the police in the first place, said they say something suspicious while out for a walk, couldn’t get a signal to call the police or Olivia so went to investigate/scare off potential criminals and while wrestling with the burglar they accidentally killed him. It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble and they’d probably be considered minor heroes.
But Jan and Olivia wouldn’t have met, and it wouldn’t have been a very long book, so it’s probably best that they didn’t. I liked the way their relationship developed and the realisations they make. All the characters, except Leivo, develop in some way, making sense of their bizarre situation and realising how they got to that point. Leivo still dreams of his ‘Palm Beach, Finland’ at the end. Giant flamingos everywhere, it’d be hideous.
There were comic moments sprinkled liberally throughout, moments when reality and people’s beliefs about themselves clashed mostly. The descriptions of events were funny, and some of the major events and turning points were situationally hilarious. But it’s a dark humour – Robin and Chico trying to start a small fire and blowing up a shed while getting scorched faces comes to mind. Even the initial killing is humorous in certain lights.
I really enjoyed the plot, the way it all sorted out in the end, and the character development.
Good afternoon ladies, gents and all you other people. I’m feeling marginally better, therefore there shall be book reviews. Today I’d like to present two Finnish murder mysteries by Leena Lehtolainen.Continue reading “New reviews”
This month and next month I will be publishing, on this blog, posts by my friend Satu, who will be attending three festival in Finland. She will be at Rock the Beach in Helsinki, Qstock in Oulu and at Nummirock, and has agreed to write about them.
I mentioned it last night but I’ll re-cap for those who haven’t read the post.
Yesterday afternoon I was wandering around Facebook when a post by some random Finnish metal band appear on my timeline. I suspect because they had tagged a band I like – ‘Reckless Love’ – in the post. Anyway, I thought I’d go and have a look at their website:
I like some metal but I’m not over-fond of the tendency to shout that some metal bands seem to find essential.
Nerve End describe themselves as ‘a four piece metal act from Joenssuu, Finland’ and their genre as ‘metal/progressive/alternative’. They played their first live show a year ago and have since played over twenty shows across Finland, several in some of Finland’s most well-known venues.
Their EP Axis (2011) is available to stream and download for free on SoundCloud. As is their 2010 EP ‘This State of War’. So I did.
Since I was awake stupidly early and got everything else done first thing, I thought I’d give them a listen.
And my opinion?
They’re not too bad. I couldn’t understand what the vocalist was singing a lot of the time; he doesn’t seem to enunciate very clearly, or the rest of the band were playing too loudly.
I was trying to decide who they sound most like but I couldn’t. The sound is familiar but different enough that I found a comparison hard to make. I think it’s more that their vocal and musical style is a part of the same milieu and so there is a continuity in the sound with other metal bands. Does that make any sense? I don’t know, this sleep deprivation is beginning to get to me.
They have one of their videos on youTube, ‘The Squid’ from the EP Axis. It’s pretty representative of their sound.
I don’t dislike them, and I certainly don’t find listening to this band objectionable. The guitars – at least to my ignorant and untrained ear/brain – are cool, the random tinkly bits in the instrumental sections (I think they must be from synths?) are an interesting contrast, and the vocalist really is quite good. Little too ‘shouty’ for me to be able to listen too all the time, but that is what ‘shuffle’ is for.
The tracks aren’t what I’d call catchy but they have the potential to become earworms. The tracks vary between 3 and 6 minutes with more instrumental passages than I was expecting. They were unexpected but pleasant moments; the musicians are certainly talented.
Finland is supposed to have more metal bands per capita than any other country; it could be said that metal is their forte. Nerve End are a capable edition to their ranks.
In addition to their website they also have facebook (like most people) and twitter. From what I can see, someone tries to reply to comments/posts made.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 