A review by jmatkinson1
The Secret Life of Mr. Roos by Håkan Nesser

4.0

Ante Valdemar Roos is 59 and bored with his life. He has worked for the same company for most of his life and lives with his wife and two stepdaughters, all of whom seem to ignore him. His most treasured memories are of time spent with his father in the woods and when Roos wins on the pools he decides to make changes. Without telling his wife he quits his job and buys an isolated cabin in the woods, every day he sets off for work as normal but spends the day in quiet contemplation until one day he finds a stranger has taken up residence. Anna is 21 and has run away from an addiction centre and an abusive relationship. She and Roos find companionable comfort in a strange friendship until one day Anna’s crazy ex catches up with her.
This book is a real slow burn. Roos is an engaging and curmudgeonly character who spends the first half of the book being introduced and developing his odd double life. The second half of the book suddenly becomes a murder investigation with the team of Barbarotti and Backmann, quirky detectives in pursuit of the truth. This half is also incredibly satisfying and the final act is given a little bit of uncertainty because that just seems right.