The corpse flower A novel

Early in Danish author Hancock's gripping debut, Copenhagen journalist Heloise Kaldan receives two letters from Anna Kiel, a wanted murderer. Anna killed a real estate tycoon's son years earlier and is on the run. Anna claims she and Heloise are connected, and she seems to know personal things about Heloise, such as her lucky number and her favorite flower. Heloise starts looking into Anna's case by reaching out to Urlich Andersson, the journalist who originally covered the murder. Ulrich warns Heloise to stay away from the story since her life could be in danger. When Anna posts a picture of Heloise's apartment on social media, Heloise is convinced Anna is breaking in and calls the police. She's forced to tell Det. Sgt. Erik Schäfer about the letters, and they start sharing information. Soon, one dark turn leads to another, and Heloise follows a lead to Paris, where she comes face-to-face with Anna and learns their connection is deeper and more disturbing than she could have imagined. Assured prose matches the intricate plot. Hancock is off to a strong start. Agent: Anna Frankl, Nordin Agency (Sweden). (Oct.)

Hancock's striking debut rips the lid off a 3-year-old murder case and reveals even uglier secrets beneath. DS Erik Schäfer, of the Copenhagen police's Violent Crimes Unit, is perfectly satisfied that he knows who cut attorney Christoffer Mossing's throat and left him to bleed out in his own bed. Minutes after the murder, the security camera in Mossing's driveway captured an image of Anna Kiel leaving the house without making the slightest effort to conceal herself. But that was the last anyone saw of Anna--until now, when she's begun to send insinuating notes to Demokratisk Dagblad business reporter Heloise Kaldan that are unsettling in their reference to amorphophallus titanum, the so-called corpse flower native to Sumatra, and their ritualistic closing lines and disturbingly detailed knowledge about the scant details of Heloise's private life. Already treading on thin ice ever since the confidential information her lover, Martin Duvall, the communications chief to the commerce secretary, provided for her exposé of a fashion mogul's investment in a textile factory in Bangalore didn't quite pan out, Heloise strains to avoid any contact with the presumptive killer. The deeper she digs into the cold case, however, the closer its nightmarish details seem to impinge on her own past. Schäfer, meanwhile, is brusquely brushed off by real estate tycoon Johannes Mossing, who seems actively opposed to getting justice for his son's murder. The highly suspicious hanging of Ulrich Andersson, the ex-reporter who covered the case for the Dagblad, kicks the investigation into high gear. But it won't be laid to rest until Heloise comes face to face with Anna and hears why she was so indifferent to that security camera three years ago. Scandinavian noir at its noirest. It's hard, maybe unthinkable, to imagine how Hancock will follow it up. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.