The Butterfly House
the new twisty crime thriller from the international bestseller for 2021
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
'The Butterfly House is an original and absorbing piece of work . . . Engberg's novels are bestsellers in Denmark and she is a name to look out for' SUNDAY TIMES
From the internationally bestselling author of The Tenant, which Kathy Reichs called a 'stunning debut', comes a gripping new thriller featuring investigators Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner.
In the coronary care unit at one of Copenhagen's leading medical centres, a nurse fills a syringe with an overdose of heart medication and stealthily enters the room of an older male patient.
Six days earlier, a paperboy on his route in the centre of the city stumbles upon a macabre find: the body of a dead woman, lying in a fountain, her arms marked with small incisions. Cause of death? Exsanguination - the draining of all the blood in her body. Clearly, this is no ordinary murder.
Jeppe Kørner, recovering from a painful divorce and in the throes of a new relationship, takes on the investigation. His partner, Anette Werner, now on leave after an unexpected pregnancy, is restless at home. While Jeppe leads the official search, Anette can't stop herself from doing a little detective work as well. But operating on her own exposes her to dangers she can't even begin to realise.
As the investigation ventures into dark and dangerous corners, it uncovers an ambition and greed festering beneath the surface of caregiving institutions, all leading back to the mysterious Butterfly House . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Engberg's well-crafted sequel to 2020's The Tenant, Copenhagen homicide detective Jeppe K rner investigates the murders of three people connected to a now-closed teen psychiatric facility, the Butterfly House. Each victim was drained of blood and left floating, two in Copenhagen fountains and the third in a lake. Since Jeppe's partner, Det. Anette Werner, is on maternity leave, the low-energy Detective Falck, one of many well-drawn supporting characters, assists him in tracking down surviving staff members and patients. One patient's suicide and a staff member's mysterious death years earlier provide motives, and the behavior of many of the potential suspects/victims suggests they could all be guilty of something. The stakes rise as Anette, restless at home, starts investigating on her own. Readers will be pleased to see Falck playing a heroic role at the climax. By addressing the issue of society's treatment of the mentally ill, Engberg brings the complexities of life into this superior Danish police procedural. Fans of Scandinavian noir will hope this series has a long run.
Customer Reviews
Shoddy transportation
The translation really let this book down. It was clunky and read like an American novel. The other aspect which I couldn’t get past was the main detective, failing to ask the most obvious questions. I mean, seriously!