In Engberg's well-crafted sequel to 2020's The Tenant, Copenhagen homicide detective Jeppe Kørner investigates the murders of three people connected to a now-closed teen psychiatric facility, the Butterfly House. Each victim was drained of blood and left floating, two in Copenhagen fountains and the third in a lake. Since Jeppe's partner, Det. Anette Werner, is on maternity leave, the low-energy Detective Falck, one of many well-drawn supporting characters, assists him in tracking down surviving staff members and patients. One patient's suicide and a staff member's mysterious death years earlier provide motives, and the behavior of many of the potential suspects/victims suggests they could all be guilty of something. The stakes rise as Anette, restless at home, starts investigating on her own. Readers will be pleased to see Falck playing a heroic role at the climax. By addressing the issue of society's treatment of the mentally ill, Engberg brings the complexities of life into this superior Danish police procedural. Fans of Scandinavian noir will hope this series has a long run. Agent: Federico Ambrosini, Salomonsson Agency (Sweden). (Jan.)

When health care aide Bettina Holte is found drained of blood in Copenhagen's oldest fountain, little does Investigator Jeppe Kørner know that he has a budding serial killer on his hands. The very next day, another body is found, similarly drained. Under increasing pressure from his superintendent, Kørner quickly deduces that the murder weapon was a scarificator, a strange bloodletting device. He also learns that both victims once worked at Butterfly House, a short-lived residential home for teens with psychiatric illnesses. The home was closed after a young girl died by suicide and a social worker was found drowned. An expert at narrative sleight of hand, Engberg strews the investigational field with multiple suspects, each shadowy enough to maintain our suspicions. Perhaps Bo Ramsgaard, the teen's grieving father, is worth a closer look. Or perhaps one of the young people could hold a grudge against the staff, which included the ambitious psychiatrist Peter Demant and nurse Trine Bremen, who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Yet former patient Isak Brügger, diagnosed with schizophrenia, is still under nearly 24-hour surveillance at the Bispebjerg Hospital, as Simon Hartvig, his social worker, can attest. And former patient Marie Birch is now living in an insular countercultural community. Meanwhile, Kørner himself is conflicted about his relationship with Detective Sara Saidani: Is he ready to try again so soon after his divorce? And Kørner's partner, Anette Werner, is on maternity leave but can't resist getting involved as well. It's her work that collides with Kørner's for a dramatic final confrontation. A satisfying, if predictable, thriller that will please fans of police procedurals. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Here is a second engrossing piece of Nordic noir, after the best-selling The Tenant (2020), from Engberg, who brings skills acquired as a dancer and choreographer to her writing. There is not one misstep, not one moment or movement out of sync. The story opens on a rainy autumn morning in Copenhagen when the naked body of a woman is found in a fountain; the cause of death is determined to be deliberate exsanguination (draining blood). Another bestial murder occurs the next day, then a third. Jeppe Kørner is assigned to the case. Missing his partner, Anette Werner, who's on maternity leave, he is getting nowhere despite endless crisscrossing of the city in search of clues. Anette, desperate to stay connected, sets to work on a laptop on her dining table, squeezed in among unread newspapers and breast-pump parts. She sneaks out, ostensibly to buy more diapers, and pursues her own lines of inquiry, sometimes recklessly. The answers they both find lead them to a residential home for kids with a variety of mental disorders and into some dark corners of big pharma, which has fostered radical experimentation in Denmark's caregiving institutions. Once again, Engberg's two detectives are impeccably defined, especially postpartum Anette, and a host of supporting characters are also sensitively portrayed. The theme is troubling yet timely. Readers will hope Anette is back soon on a full-time basis.