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The Chestnut Man

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What to expect

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup, read by Charlotte Melén.

THE DEBUT NOVEL FROM THE CREATOR AND WRITER OF THE KILLING

The police make a terrible discovery in a suburb of Copenhagen. A young woman has been killed and dumped at a playground. One of her hands has been cut off, and above her hangs a small doll made of chestnuts.

Young detective Naia Thulin is assigned the case. Her partner is Mark Hess, a burned-out investigator who's just been kicked out of Europol's headquarters in The Hague. They soon discover a mysterious piece of evidence on the chestnut man - evidence connecting it to a girl who went missing a year earlier and is presumed dead, the daughter of politician Rosa Hartung. A man confessed to her murder, and the case is long since solved.

Soon afterwards, another woman is found murdered, along with another chestnut man. Thulin and Hess suspect that there's a connection between the Hartung case, the murdered women and a killer who is spreading fear throughout the country. But what is it?

Thulin and Hess are racing against the clock, because it's clear that the murderer is on a mission that is far from over . . .

Critics Review

Sveistrup's brilliant and brutal The Chestnut Man sets a new benchmark. The Steig Larsson comparisons seem unfair - on Sveistrup. He is quite simply in another league. Scandi noir is back with a bang with this sensational debut novel *****
Metro
Creepy, clever and packed with tension
The Sun
***** The Chestnut Man has success written all over it. You will never want to play with conkers again
Daily Express
If you're pining for a dose of Jo Nesbo-style Scandi noir, The Chestnut Man should hit the spot. The twisty, tricksy storyline, delivered in short, sharp chapters that don't let anyone catch their breath, gathers an unstoppable momentum so that 500 pages disappear in a trice - and the ending is satisfyingly grand guignol, with room left for a sequel
The Times
A full-throttle thriller in the tradition of classic Stieg Larsson, drenched in atmosphere and charged with adrenaline. Buckle up. You'll gulp down every word. I loved this book
A.J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window
As in The Killing television series, Sveistrup offers lessons to seasoned practitioners of the serial-killer whodunit in how to inject new energy into this near-exhausted sub-genre, and a reminder (via his portrayal of the families, homes and workplaces that his cops visit) that crime writing has the potential to be eye-opening, panoramic social realism
Sunday Times
If you are one of the millions who enjoyed The Killing, you'll want to read the first novel by its creator. Sveistrup's ability at building tension is evident, and this will undoubtedly make for a compelling television adaptation
Guardian
BBC Top Fiction Picks of 2019
BBC.co.uk
A debut thriller from the creator of The Killing opens with a gruesome discovery in a Copenhagen suburb
Guardian Books of 2019
Superbly written and carries you along at breakneck speed. If you liked The Killing, you are going to love this
My Weekly
Author Søren Sveistrup
Narrator Charlotte Melén
Duration 13 hours and 32 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781405939911
Format Audiobook
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Genre Contemporary horror and ghost stories, Crime and mystery: hard-boiled crime, noir fiction, Crime and mystery: police procedural, Crime and mystery: women sleuths, Espionage and spy thriller, Fiction in translation, Modern and contemporary fiction, Psychological thriller
Collections Listen To Your Favourite Films
Availability AU, GB, IE

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