Synopsis:
"A bestselling author’s wife has been found dead in a gorgeous black evening gown, sitting at the head of a formally set dinner table. Her most chilling feature—her face is frozen in a ghastly smile.
At first it seems as though a deranged psychopath is reenacting the gruesome murders from The Witch Hunter, the bestseller written by the victim’s husband. But investigator Jessica Niemi soon realizes she’s not looking for a single killer but rather for dozens of believers in a sinister form of witchcraft.
They know her every move and are always one step ahead. As the bodies start piling up, Jessica knows they won’t stop until they get what they want. And when her dark past comes to light, Jessica finds herself battling her own demons while desperately trying to catch a coven of killers before they claim their next victim." - Via Good Reads
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Review
The Witch Hunter by Max Seeck was the first Nordic Noir thriller I have read, and it was not a five-star read for me. The book tries to walk the line between a spooky horror novel and a police procedural, and this combo, unfortunately, did not work for me.
While this book had all the makings of a fantastic thriller and mystery novel, it fell flat for me in the end.
What I liked
I enjoyed the setting. The snowy and icy scenes described in this book are great. Some are terrifying.
I enjoyed the chapters that were like a police procedural.
It was a quick read.
I was interested in the characters as a whole. I enjoyed the entire police team and was interested in their interpersonal dynamics.
The gore was well done.
What I didn’t like
The gore was only on a few pages. If you are going to have psycho killers, then the gore needs to be on more than just a few pages.
Parts of the story were too focused on the spooky/paranormal elements.
The ending came on abruptly and was a bit confusing.
The chapters that take place in the past. Some chapters take place in the main character’s past, and those scenes took me out of the story.
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