About the book

Title : The Department of Sensitive Crimes

Author: Älexander McCall Smith

Publisher: Little, Brown Book

Date published : 7 March, 2019

Review

This story revolves around detective Ulf Varg of the Department of Sensitive Crimes of Malmo PD and the myriad of cases assigned to his department for him to solve.

This is a plain and simple detective story which itself is a catch since crime novels are never plain and simple. It is centred around three cases – stabbing attack on a kiosk owner; missing imaginary boyfriend; possible presence of a werewolf in Malmo.

It is sheer opposite of Nordic noir which is cold, dark and nerve-wracking. The range of quirky crime cases thrown at detective Varg left me a bit confused about what’s happening and at the same time amused at the unusual storyline. Characters are as peculiar but amusing as the cases in the book. I loved the lip-reading dog, that was a highlight of this book.

My first McCall Smith experience and I was not unhappy. It will take some time for me to get used to his style of humour.

A good escape from heavy duty crime fiction we are so used to reading.

Rating : 4/5 🌟 for the originality and freshness

P.S. I have received this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher