Erik Mauritzson

Sweden’s ice and Morocco’s exotic fire come together in Erik Mauritzson’s Spice Trade, but neither is quite what it seems. Chief Superintendent Walther Ekman, overweight, overeating, and possibly overwrought, is determined to break a Swedish drug and human trafficking ring. But bureaucracy, politics and power intervene, while newspaper reporters know and reveal too much. Then the trail leads to Morocco, and a whole new world of ways and means might lead to success or disaster.

The cops aren’t all-knowing in this novel. The darkness isn’t all-pervasive. And the character flaws have a natural flow so that even past tragedy becomes just part of the man. Ekman enjoys a genuine home life with a wonderful (though possibly enabling) wife, giving this a pleasingly different dimension from most noir fiction.

This is a tale where the bad guys aren’t all evil and the women aren’t all victims. The plot is filled with twists and turns, served warm like a banquet for the reader. Details bring Swedish food and accents to life—dour dialog, determined analysis, and even those hints of self-doubt from a man not too far now from retirement. So Ekman sits in his chair, tries hard to “stop beating yourself up” and repeats his wife’s instruction, “Find a way.”

In Spice Trade believable characters find a way, believable character flaws and convincing coincidences both hinder and help, and victims prove to have a voice. Sweden’s ice may be cold, and investigation may be dark, but the story has a sense of light and hope in spite of it all. Solid and detailed as the inquiry it details, it’s a story that draws readers in to see the warmth behind cold characters and the hope behind loss.

Disclosure: I was given a preview edition and I offer my honest review.… (mehr)

Erik Mauritzson’s Grendel’s Game is a complex mystery, flavored with detail, weight and family affection. The protagonist, Walther Ekman, carries plenty of weight himself as he enjoys and savors the flavors of his favorite restaurants. People. place, route and procedure provide a level of detail mirroring the complexity of Ekman’s own beloved and iconic needlepoint. And the blend of horror, detection, home life and dedication mirrors that of any offering from Swedish noir. But, in contrast to the genre, Erik Mauritzson's protagonist is very happily married. He has a wonderful relationship with his family; parents, children and grandchildren are all lovingly portrayed on the page. Meanwhile Ekman's enemy poses an almost mythical threat to draw him and the reader in.

Imagine Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, blended with Hannibal Lecter, and seasoned with a touch of Jack Sprat. The result is a detailed investigative mystery, with a wealth of house and home, and just that hint of conviction that things will somehow have to go wrong. A Swedish sense of order pervades it all, embroidered with a meticulous understanding of the way procedures work. But these twists might turn too close to home as the story progresses, and Grendel, mythically misunderstood, could exact a very physical, unmythical price.

When the endgame is played out and the last page turned, the victor might demand the spoils, or live to fight more monsters another day. You’ll have to follow a long dark journey into the mind, and balance the weights of body and soul together, to resolve it all.

Disclosure: I was given a free preview edition by the publisher and I offer my honest review.… (mehr)