Jussi Adler-Olsen's The Absent One, the second installment in the Department Q series, has a suspenseful opening that portends a very bad outcome. Then the story cuts to Carl Mørck, the Danish detective whose laziness belies a sharp mind, as he receives the file on a 20-year-old double homicide that by all appearances is solved, with the confessed murderer in prison. But it soon becomes apparent that the murders involved several other players still at large, including an elusive and dangerous homeless woman named Kimmie. Mørck and his trusty assistant Assad decide to reopen the investigation and come face to face with people who would kill again to keep their secrets safe.
Adler-Olsen structures the story so readers know who the bad guys are early on; the draw is in rooting for Mørck and Assad to figure things out and make the smug sociopaths pay for their crimes (perhaps in violent, painful ways). One member of the gang is surprisingly sympathetic, however, revealing Adler-Olsen's ability to show the humanity in even the vilest of people.
He's also adept at injecting humor into a grim tale, like Mørck's observation that another character's "boozy breath" is "day-old, but of quality origin." Assad continues to be a delightful sidekick who keeps revealing hints of a more sinister side. Each Department Q book is self-contained, but Adler-Olsen knows how to tease with serial details that will keep readers showing up for more. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, freelance writer/editor, blogging at Pop Culture Nerd