View source for The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson

{{infobox1
|title=The Princess of Burundi
|sort=Princess of Burundi
|author=Kjell Eriksson
|reviewer=Louise Laurie
|genre=Crime
|summary=John Jonsson leads an ordinary, rather dull life with his wife and son.  When his tortured body is discovered it's Inspector Ann Lindell's job to try and find out who and why?
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Maybe
|pages=416
|publisher=Allison and Busby
|date=October 2011
|isbn=978-0749040093
|cover=0749040092
|aznuk=0749040092
|aznus=0749040092
}}

The blurb on the back cover states that this book is the ''Winner of the Swedish Crime Academy Award for Best Crime Novel'' and if you add in the fact that Sweden and its fictional crime is very current, very popular, my expectations were sky high.  I haven't read any of the Swedish books which are causing a bit of a stir at the moment, nor have I seen any of the televised series.  So, what will I make of this initial foray?
 
Berit and Justus (mother and son) are waiting for John before they eat supper.  He's late.  Perhaps he's popped in to see an ex-colleague or nipped into the pub for a quick drink.  But neither of these options ring true for Berit.  John is currently unemployed which is a shame as he was very good at his last job.  He's also not the most social or chatty of men.  Some would even describe him as surly and a bit gruff. 
 
And here Eriksson breaks off to tell his readers about how husband and wife met as teenagers.  This broke the flow of the story a little for me, I must admit.  I was keen to find out what was keeping John.  Who would voluntarily hang about in sub-zero temperatures when they were hungry and had a warm and snug home to return to, I wondered.
 
Eriksson, as you'd perhaps expect, makes the most of the Swedish location with lots of landscape descriptions (snow can be rather seductive) and weather descriptions as well as some tongue-twisting names.  How's this for one - ''Vaderkvarnsgaten''?  Yes, I did double-check the spelling.
 
As the clock is ticking in the Jonsson's family home and still no John, we learn, via his wife's musings and inner thoughts that her husband ''had a criminal bent.''  But he's certainly not the black sheep of the family.  That place is reserved for his brother, Lennart.  He seems a shady character.  As soon as Lennart is introduced or even mentioned in the book, there's a distinct level of tension in the air.  So far, so good.
 
John's body is soon found.  It's not a pretty sight.  Who would hate a man so much?  His immediate family is baffled but Lennart starts thinking and soon has a couple of theories of his own.  You'd think he'd do the decent thing and share these murky thoughts with the police, wouldn't you?
 
As the plot develops, more characters are introduced and the whole situation with John is far from straightforward.  Ann Lindell has her work cut out.  Her colleagues are good at their job - but she seems to have that all-important sixth sense.  She's supposed to be on maternity leave but just can't stay away from that police station.
 
I found Eriksson's style to be fluid and straightforward.  Some parts have rather ordinary language and the plot, while good, didn't blow me away.  It was just an okay read for me.  And after all the hype and build-up I felt somehow cheated and disappointed.  I was expecting to really love this book - but I didn't.  I was lining up my superlatives but I didn't need them, I'm afraid.  But the title ''is'' superlative, however.

We also have a review of Eroksson'a [[The Hand That Trembles by Kjell Eriksson|The Hand That Trembles]].
 
If this book appeals then you might like to try [[The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell]].

{{amazontext|amazon=0749040092}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=0749040092}}

{{commenthead}}