Crime & Mystery
The Butterfly House is one of those crime novels that keeps its temperature low and its nerves sharp. Copenhagen comes through well, but what stayed with me more was the cold, clinical edge to the whole thing, especially around vulnerable patients and children at risk.
It’s not cosy in the slightest, despite the title trying to sound almost delicate. Which is probably the point. There’s a nasty precision to it that works. I’d rather that than a thriller pretending to be “dark” because somebody turned the lights down.
It’s not cosy in the slightest, despite the title trying to sound almost delicate. Which is probably the point. There’s a nasty precision to it that works. I’d rather that than a thriller pretending to be “dark” because somebody turned the lights down.
That kind of clinical cruelty can work well in crime, provided it doesn’t tip into misery for its own sake. The hospital and child-at-risk angle sounds properly unsettling, which is usually more effective than a book trying very hard to be “gritty”.
Copenhagen as a setting also helps. Cold city, colder crimes. Efficient, unfortunately.
Copenhagen as a setting also helps. Cold city, colder crimes. Efficient, unfortunately.