A review by jmatkinson1
The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag
5.0
When a body is found in the lake on the outskirts of Stockholm, watchman Cardell must bring it to shore. However the body is barely that, missing limbs, eyes and tongue it is the remains of a young blond man. Stockholm at the end of the 18th Century is fearful, the aftermaths of the great fire that razed the city to the ground are evident, veterans of the naval war against Russia throng the streets and all are watching the revolutionary events in Paris with fear and trepidation. Behind all this the rich live their lives of indulgence and, in the case of the Eumenides, debauchery and evil while the poor fight poverty and accusations. Teaming up with dying lawyer Winge, Cardell vows to solve the mystery of the torso and so he is drawn into the rancid underbelly of Swedish society.
At firs this seems a relatively straightforward piece of historical fiction but it takes ever increasingly dark turns. The characters are all flawed and shaped by their lives - Cardell in the war, Winge by his illness, Anna by illegitimacy and betrayal, Blix by poverty - and all link together in this sordid tale. The translation is clear and simple, the writing shines and the sense of time and place are outstanding.
At firs this seems a relatively straightforward piece of historical fiction but it takes ever increasingly dark turns. The characters are all flawed and shaped by their lives - Cardell in the war, Winge by his illness, Anna by illegitimacy and betrayal, Blix by poverty - and all link together in this sordid tale. The translation is clear and simple, the writing shines and the sense of time and place are outstanding.