In book number two of the Mortui non silent crime novels, a man who died ten years ago dies a second time.
Author: Sari Rainio & Juha Rautaheimo
Finnish original: Vaeltavat vainajat
Publisher: Siltala, 2023
Genre: crime, suspense
Number of pages: 476 pp.
Reading material: Finnish original, English sample, English synopsis
It’s the middle of a March night in an old industrial area at the fringes of Helsinki. Snow drifts down on detectives Minna Perkola and Tommi Pohjalainen as they gaze at the RV parked in front of them, where a bloody corpse sprawls in the open doorway.
The first mystery flummoxes the detectives before sunrise: how is it possible that a man who died ten years before is lying here now, stabbed to death? Who in the end was this middle-aged man who lived the life of a hermit?
With the assistance of medical examiner Viola Kaario, the homicide unit led by Detective Sergeant Ville Karila launches into an investigation of what initially appears to be a straightforward murder-robbery. But gradually a decades-old tragedy is uncovered, resurrecting Karila’s memories of his own youth.
The noose tightens not only around the murderer, but also a dangerous con man. Will evil finally receive its due? And will the scamming Casanova be forced to face the consequences of his actions?
Death Comes for the Dead is the second novel in the shamelessly nostalgic crime series Mortui non silent.
Also available:
The Dead Still Speak (2021)
About the authors:
Sari Rainio & Juha Rautaheimo