Reviews for The Princess of Burundi (Ann Lindell Series #1)

The average rating for The Princess of Burundi (Ann Lindell Series #1) based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-01-11 00:00:00 James Rardin First, a note to people reading the American edition: Initially, you might think that The Princess of Burundi is a Fargoesque tale about a violent murder and a plucky, preggers female detective. You might think that because that's what the description says. Apparently, someone pissed off their editorial intern, though, because very little in the description is factually accurate. So, just to be clear: No, the dead man's troubled past doesn't really "catch up with him." It's sort of the point, but not really. No, Ann Lindell (the aforementioned plucky detective) isn't really the main protagonist--she's actually one of many police officers who is investigating the murder and although she has a good deal of secondary-plot action, is not real a key player in the investigation. Yes, Ann Lindell is on maternity leave, but no, she does not "take a huge risk that could result in many more dead bodies in the snow, including hers and that of her unborn child." Because she's not pregnant--she's already had the baby. Oh, and while we're at it--the title is misleading. Though explaining why would require that I ruin some of the plot points. So I won't--just trust me. Perhaps this all seems a little semantic, but I submit that misrepresenting a novel's basic plot is a disservice to the author and the reader, not to mention extremely lazy. But anyway: The Princess of Burundi is Eriksson's debut novel, and is a serviceable police procedural which does keep the plot moving and introduce some compelling characters--police officers and townspeople alike--that would be worth reading more about. Eriksson is fond of back story (which I really appreciate) and takes the time to provide contextual details about characters which might explain their motivations with a fair amount of nuance. However, I have to admit, I had more qualms with this one than not. So, since I'm in a listing mood, here we go: -Characters narrate their inner thoughts. Out loud. A lot. Now, I certainly talk to myself a bit, but I don't narrate my inner existential crises while standing on sidewalks. That's what the narrative voice-over is for, buddy. Use it--your detectives sound deranged. -The kooky cast of detectives is not all that differentiated. Also, there are many instances when character A cuts off character B by verbalizing something that B was just thinking...Such psychic efficiency ceases to be efficient if you're just repeating the same thought twice, over and over, throughout the book. -Ann Lindell has a very detailed back story but very little of it has any bearing on the actual story. -This actually happens with several characters, come to think of it. -Oh, and Princess falls back on my number one mystery novel pet peeve: the crime is resolved suddenly, without precedent, when an entirely new character is introduced. Don't, don't, please don't ever sew up your hermetic, small town murder by introducing a new character less than 75 pages away from the ending. It's about as tepid as the "And then I woke up!" plot completion strategy.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-01-02 00:00:00 Ron Ready I worked at a used bookstore when I first moved to town in 2003. I felt I was a fairly well-read person, and had an idea or two about some things. So I was surprised when one evening someone called and asked if we had any books on a specific topic. "Chiclets!?" I remember asking. "Like... the gum...?" The man on the other end of the line made a really frustrated noise, because obviously I didn't understand something pretty uncommon like this. "Cichlids. C-I-C-H-L-I-D-S. The FISH?" I still had no idea what he was talking about, but walked the cordless phone to the pets and animal section of the store and took a look through the one shelf we had. Nothing about whatever these cichlids were. I let him know we didn't have any fish books at the moment, but to be sure to try back since we had new things every day. He scoffed and hung up. Fish people are the worst. I had almost forgotten about that entire experience until I started reading this book. I didn't know until like halfway through the book that "Princess of Burundi" refer to a species of cichlid, Neolamprologus brichardi. This is what they look like. You're welcome. I share this story with you not because I want you to be aware of how dumb I was in 2003, but because, obviously, these cichlids are the title of the book. And you should know going into it that "Princess of Burundi" are fish. It's only fair. I'm still sort of new at this whole Scandinavian crime/thriller/police procedural thing. I seem to pick them up often and then they sit on my bookshelves for a while. Of course I read the Millennium trilogy because everyone was raving about them, but you know what? I only found them to be so-so. At least not as wonderful as it seems everyone else thought they were. I haven't read Henning Mankell yet, though I have a few of his books. Then there's that Jo Nesbø guy from Norway who I've been told I should read as well. But each time I read one of these books, I always feel left down by the end. This book was no exception. It started out well enough, and I was properly engrossed most of the way through. It starts with a man's body, as all good crime stories should, and the story branches out from there: His family and the family dynamic, his past, his brother, an old friend, a couple police types, a sociopath, etc. etc. We learn of each character through the various chapters, but I don't feel we really get to know any of them. This may be because the book is the first of Eriksson's books to be translated to English, but it is like the fourth book in whatever series. I don't know if it's necessary to read the other books before this one (or if I will even go back to check them out), but I feel maybe I missed something about some of the characters just because I had no previous experience with any of them. Unfortunately Eriksson relies on some pretty annoying crime novel motifs, like introducing a character at the end of the book, so you think one or two things throughout the whole book and then BA-BAM, we're less than 100 pages from the end so let's go ahead and introduce you to someone new. That doesn't work for me. It was about that time the story fell apart for me and I pretty much stopped caring. I've seen some comments about the translation. I didn't have an issue with that, per se. Since I don't read or speak Swedish, I can't compare the two texts, but I thought this read just as well as most crime/thriller/police procedurals read. Any issues I had with the story (like the portrayal of women as being wives/mothers - even one of the cops involved who is on maternity leave but then carts her son around with her while she tries to crack this case she's not even assigned to, sigh) were related to the story itself, and I cannot blame the translator for that. However, it could have used some editing. I found quite a few typos throughout the text and that just makes me angry because it's so avoidable. In any case, it was fine for a deliciously overcast and drizzly January day. An easy read, not taxing at all, and fun to just sit and let the story unfold. Don't think about it too much. I wonder whatever happened to that sassy guy and his cichlids from 2003. He's probably really insufferable still today.