Holy Ceremony

Harri Nykanen

Translated by Kristian London

  • Our contribution to Nordic Noir: the third in the Ariel Kafka series. He is the lead investigator of Helsinki’s Violent Crime Unit and one of two Jewish policemen in Finland. 
  • Like the extensively reviewed Nights of Awe and Behind God’s Back, the first two in the series, it is a brisk read, with rapid twists and turns leading to a satisfying resolution. Kafka’s dry humour is once again in evidence, as is his appealing, somewhat melancholic presence. 
  • Will appeal to fans of Leonardo Padura whose mystery writing is not afraid to be critical of the prevailing powers and to intelligent readers of Nordic crime writing. 
  • The Book: A woman’s body scrawled with religious texts is found in a Helsinki apartment. Jewish homicide inspector Ariel Kafka investigates. What begins as an investigation of Christian religious lunatics shifts into a hunt for a perpetrator who is more damaged than dangerous, the victim of institutionally countenanced pedophilia at a boarding school. Ariel Kafka finds himself investigating a series of crimes leading to the enigmatic Brotherhood of the Holy Vault, founded at the school. The brotherhood’s former members have gone on to become Oxford professors and important CEOs, all reluctant to recall their school days. But before Kafka can solve the puzzle, more than one person must pay for past sins with his life.  The final twist takes the investigation in a different direction – the ultimate motivation for the crimes is money, with the mentally unstable alleged perpetrator being used as bait.

     

 

Book Information

Cover Design:
eleanor rose
Release Dates:
15-March-18 (UK) | 16-March-18 (US)
Pages:
288
ISBN:
9781908524898