Reviews

The Midnight Witness by Sara Blaedel

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svangleboyer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

jmclincoln's review against another edition

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1.0

I listened to an audiobook of the Midnight Witness. I found the tale of two separate murders so boring that when I realized I didn’t care why they were murdered it was time to stop reading. For me, I felt I was reading a story about two friends and their personal relationships. One just happened to be a homicide detective and the other a newspaper reporter. The murders were more of a backstory to the two friends and their expectations of their jobs, friends, significant others, one’s son, and so on. I made it six chapters before I stopped.

scarlettmg's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

smolek's review against another edition

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2.0

I read every Sara Blaedel book that comes out and generally enjoy each one. This was an exception. I don’t know if they used a different translator or what, but the writing felt totally different. Also, the relationship between Camilla and Louise was really annoying this time. There is always conflict in that friendship but this time Camilla was a much bigger idiot. Something was missing from this one.

horthhill's review against another edition

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2.0

"The Midnight Witness" by Sara Blaedel is a murder mystery set in Copenhagen. I hadn't realized that this is Blaedel's debut novel. It was published in Danish in 2004 under the title "Grønt Støv" (Green Dust). I read the edition published in 2018 - as "The Midnight Witness" - which is the first English translation. The sleuth is a homicide detective - Louise Rick - of the Copenhagen Police Department. As expected, it reads as a police procedural but with surprisingly little attention to actual clues. The conflicts between Louise and her friend Camille, and Louise and the other cops, drives most of the drama. Oddly, the initial murder of a young woman peters out. The murders of two reporters takes over the story but Louise doesn’t solve this case. She is there as the solution is given to her by a secondary character. As for that young woman's murder way at the beginning of the novel, Louise seems to solve that 'off-stage' from pretty minimal clues. In about two off-handed sentences tucked into the last chapter, Louise tells us who did it but by then I had more-or-less forgotten about that particular crime ten or twelve chapters back.

hmneighbors's review against another edition

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5.0

"Midnight Witness" has a lot of mixed reviews. I've been looking for more books that featured Copenhagen after I read "The Butterfly House" by Katrine Enberg.

I enjoyed this book so much! I would recommend it as a 5 star read!