Reviews

Her Enemy by Leena Lehtolainen, Owen F. Witesman

kgraham10's review against another edition

3.0

Good for airplane read.

Weak writing on the relationships between Maria and her family/boyfriend. Things just don't ring true (translation?)

I knew who the murderer was within the first 100 pages...

kiramke's review against another edition

3.0

Good book and implies further growth in the series. Sad my library doesn't have the rest of them.

verumsolum's review

4.0

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. There is a certain... emotional distance that sometimes troubles me in these books. I’m not sure whether that is a flaw of the main character or just a cultural difference between Finns and North Americans. But even that wasn’t as distracting in this book. And Maria’s job seemed to fit her better than temporary cop on a break from studying.

shannonmcewen's review against another edition

3.0

This second installment in the series was an improvement upon the first but only just. I enjoyed seeing Maria's relationship with Antti unfold, but she's still super weird and I'm still not positive that's not just a failure of the translation. Also, I found myself getting hung up on a fact that always plagues me about procedurals about small town detectives or cops or whatever: how many murders in the same inner-circle of family and friends can we be expected to believe as a series progresses? It's bizarre. But the book wasn't bad.

prpltrtl946's review against another edition

4.0

Finland culture shock for an old lady

Former law student does police work, finishes school becomes a lawyer and gets wrapped up in a murder. A murder case that involves friends, family and fettish sex scandal...wow! This stuff was too much for me! But it was still a really well written mystery!

cricci's review

3.0

I've been enjoying Lehtolainen's Maria Kallio and her adventures. They're fun reads. My only complaint is how the timeline is sometimes hard to follow. In this novel we find Maria and Antti are dating, and it seems fairly serious. In the first book, they get together in the last scene (and only hinted they get together, at that). As a reader, I'm left wondering what happened. However, I don't think it takes away from the book. I love the layers in Maria's character and how she has many facets to her personality -- feminine, masculine, insecure, short fuse, etc, all make her a more realistic character, which makes the novel even better! I'm definitely looking forward to the next one.

flying_monkey's review

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5