“Tucking into a brand-new mystery series by Alexander McCall Smith is a lazy-dazy pleasure . . . What binds the stories are the tight relationships of Varg and his colleagues and their hilariously human crotchets.”
—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
“Alexander McCall Smith’s engaging book tackles bizarre activity and teeters between comedy and pathos.”
—Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
“Droll, droll, droll.”
—John Timpane, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Depend on the author of the “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” and “44 Scotland Street” novels to make even a Nordic Noir mystery delightful.”
—Tom Beer, Newsday
“McCall Smith . . . extends his gift for comic situations and insightful commentary to a projected series set in Sweden . . . Detective Varg promises to be a complex series character, and the department itself looks certain to deliver more oddball yet poignant cases.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“The celebrated Scottish storyteller has turned his pen to Scandi-crime, setting his latest series with Detective Ulf ‘The Wolf’ Varg heading up a department of singular characters in the Swedish city of Malmo. It’s as if Fox Mulder, Lisbeth Salander’s maiden aunt, and Kurt Wallander collaborated on a new unit, and it’s great fun.”
—Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post (10 Books to Read in April)
“The author of more than 80 books has not lost his literary touch, but his latest account of the doings at Sweden’s Department of Sensitive Crimes hits a new high of hilarity.”
—Muriel Dobbin, The Washington Times
“With astonishing heart and mind, Alexander McCall Smith launches a bold and original new series. With The Department of Sensitive Crimes, he invents a new and compassionate genre: Scandi Blanc. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but in the end I did both. I’m already looking forward to the next one.”
—Alan Bradley, best-selling author of the Flavia de Luce series
“Appealing . . . The interpersonal relationships McCall Smith so sensitively portrays and the ethical issues he raises matter far more than the sleuthing. Fans of gentle mysteries will look forward to the sequel.”
—Publishers Weekly
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