Heather’s Bookshelf: The Final Days of Abbot Montrose
Author: Sven Elvestad
Released: 08/24/18
Genre: Murder Mystery Literature Translation
“Will Death’s scythe cut short even more such lives before the garden is in its full splendor?”
“The Final Days of Abbot Montrose” is an English translation of a Norwegian story written in the early 1900s.
When on patrol, a policeman hears a commotion, leading to Abbot Montrose’s residence and gardens. The Abbot is missing, bloodstained, and his home overturned. Detectives Krag and Keller are assigned the case, which turns out to be much more complicated than anyone could expect.
As Krag and Keller follow the clues, interviewing witnesses and following leads, the pair unravel more questions than they have answers for. Soon they are investigating more than one murder as the case devolves.
Will Krag and Keller find out the truth about what happened at the Abbot’s residence? Will they find their culprit and will they find the Abbot alive?
Trigger Warning: violence, adult language, racist language, reference to prostitution, murder
Overall, I was a bit torn on this one. The story was told mostly through the eyes of the two detectives- Krag and Keller. The two detectives made this feel like a buddy cop drama. I enjoyed the banter and different styles between the two men as well as some of the situations they found themselves in. It provided a levity to the story that was endearing. Unfortunately, I found the translation to be a challenge. There were sections of the tale that I could tell lost something as I had to re-read several times to get the meaning of a sentence. There were portions that felt like they should be amusing, but the jokes were a bit oddly worded. If felt like a literal translation instead of one that carried the intended meaning of the words. Possibly also lost in the translation was a sense of place. Though this was intended to take place in Norway, a majority of the story could have taken place in any medium-sized North American or European city. The one area I thought was well-developed was the hotel and it’s oddities. The murder mystery was also an intriguing one, with many ancillary characters introduced, some red-herring clues, and some that hinted at the truth. The ending provides a bit of a surprise which works nicely and wraps everything up for the detectives.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A murder mystery with a buddy cop format and a twist, suffering from translation that seems to miss out on the intent and heart of the author
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out this word from the publisher:
Interested in checking out the book for yourself?
Find it for purchase here
Interested in submitting your book for review? Visit my review page for guidelines and submission requirements.
