The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup was published in 2019 and adapted into a television series later. It is the author’s first book. Within months of its release, this book made it to the bestseller list. So far, the book has been translated into 24 languages. So often, a book comes out that everybody starts talking about, and then you read it, and it’s a disappointment. This was not the case with The Chestnut Man.
I discovered The Chestnut Man through the Netflix TV show. I really liked the show. I knew there was also a book version, but I wasn’t sure if I would buy it as it was by a Danish author. But one of my friends said that it is a must-read book, then I bought it and now I am writing a review about the book.
Plot
A psychopathic serial killer reigns terror in all parts of Copenhagen. But in one place, he is different from the other serial killers because all of his crime scenes feature at least one ‘chestnut doll’ – made of chestnuts and matchsticks. Newspapers named this serial killer “The Chestnut Man”. Then, two detective police entered the field to stop this psychopathic serial killer. They must move forward by gathering information from the chestnut dolls left behind by the Chestnut Man. But the work is not easy at all because the killer is always one step ahead of them. Meanwhile, there is no opportunity to delay too much. Or another life will be lost…
The story begins by showing the scene of a farmhouse. Following a report, a policeman named Marius goes there to meet his friend Ørum. But unfortunately, instead of Ørum, he met some dead bodies who were gruesomely murdered.
After that, the scene started to change. The main characters enter the story. The responsibility of investigating the murder shown in that first scene falls on one of the young detectives of the Homicide Department, ‘Naia Thulin,’ and the investigator ‘Mark Hess,’ who has returned from Europol as punishment.
A chestnut doll was found next to the dead body during the search of the spot. Although no one paid attention to the doll at first, when the head of the forensic department, Simon Genge, examined it, everyone was shocked by the information obtained. Because the fingerprints of a child who died about a year ago were found on the doll, these fingerprints belonged to a girl named Kristine Hartung, who was the child of Social Welfare Minister Rosa Hartung.
Then, several more murders happened gradually. As always, Chestnut dolls were found at all the crime scenes, and every chestnut doll had Kristine’s fingerprints on it. In each case of murder, one more finger from the hand or foot is amputated from the victim’s body than the previous one. This leads the detectives to believe that the killer is not a sane person but a psychopath.
Later, as the process of catching the serial killer continues, Hess and Thulin find another deranged man who has been seen in the story before. After meeting him, everyone assumes that he is the killer. But was he the real killer?
My Review
I read this book about a year and a half ago. After finding the first few pages interesting in the book, I kind of lost interest. But after crossing one hundred pages, I didn’t get any chance to lose interest. The descriptions of the murders were given in such a way that, at first, I thought it was a horror thriller. I used to read it at night. After reading it, it seemed that someone was standing behind the tree in front of the house with an ax. The story have been great. I was enjoying the book through the work of the killers and the investigators. When the true identity of the psychopathic serial killer came out, I was shocked. The ending was excellent with some surprising facts discovered at the end.
After knowing the motive of the killer, I was feeling a little low. So much cruelty for this! I thought it might have happened for some deeper reason. However, there is no way to downplay the reasons for which the murders were committed. Just as the good memories of our childhood are happily relived in our brains, the bad memories also stay fresh with time. Some forget them and learn to live happily, while others become revengeful. If you’re not used to reading thrillers, I’d say don’t read this book just for the fantasy. It can have bad effects on immature minds.
Price
Kindle – $13.99
Hardcover – $21.00
Paperback – $11.97
Personal Rating
8/10. This book is for adults only. I don’t recommend the book to teenagers because it can have bad effects on immature minds.
