Review: The Scarred Woman: Department Q 7

The Scarred Woman: Department Q 7 by Jussi Adler-Olsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh my lord this was so tangled! And I loved it!!

As with the previous books in the series, we're trying to solve several cases all at once, so it never gets boring. This time there are a ton of psychopaths to deal with and don't hold me to it but ... is Carl actually starting to mellow a little?

BE WARNED: This review contains minor spoilers for the previous books in the series.

First, we've got the cold case, which bears striking resemblance to a new case - a murdered woman, skull caved in by an unidentified object.
Then you've got Anneli, who is a social worker having to deal with a bunch of good-for-nothing women who are clearly not stable themselves.
So Carl, Assad and friends are trying to solve the mystery while bodies continue turning up, and meanwhile they're trying to figure out how to help Rose, who is 100% losing the plot after the events of the last book. She's not in a good way, and honestly it was the most heartbreaking part of this whole book for me.

The camel cracks have been dialled back and there's less grumbling from Carl and I think it's all out of respect for just how debilitating Rose's condition is. They're her friends, so they're really worried, so there's a solemnity that hasn't been present in previous novels. They have her back, though, and that really made me happy. They just want her to be okay, so they'll do whatever it takes to help her. Good friends right there.

The split POVs are one of my favourite aspects of this series, because we get insight into the minds of the killers, and yet the full explanation is never revealed. You know these people are criminals, and they're doing horrible things, but you still have to work out how their actions tie in to the investigation, and how much they're actually responsible. For the amount of detail in these books, I always seem to stay firmly in the dark.

The dynamic between the characters is always fun and, as mentioned, the team seems a tighter unit this time around, as though they're being extra-nice to each other to make up for Rose's absence. It's really interesting to go from the comedy of her having pretended to be one of her sisters to the sombre exploration of her background and just how not-funny her situation is.

Like I said: heartbreaking.

It's not all depressing, though, as there's a nice tangled crime (or six ... ish) to sink your teeth into and once again you'll find yourself questioning your own beliefs of right and wrong, and how far you might go when you're pushed too far.

Another solid addition to the series and of course I'm keen as ever for the next one!

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