He Who Kills the Dragon: Bäckström 2 - Couverture souple

‘This may be just what fans of Jo Nesbo and Stieg Larsson are looking for.’
Booklist

It should have been an open-and-shut case. Two drunks, previously acquainted with one another, meet for a bite to eat and considerably more to drink, fall into an argument about one of the many pointless matters that make up their private shared history. And one of them brings their evening together to an end by beating the other to death.

A strangely routine and yet puzzling scenario for Detective Superintendent Evert Bäckström, whose legendary poor temper not been improved by strict orders from his doctor to lead a healthier life. His gut feeling proves him right: within days, his team has another murder on their hands, linked to the first, and reports of alleged ties to a van heist in which two people died.

The nation needs a hero, and who better to save the day than Evert Bäckströ - misanthropic, ostentatious, devoid of morals, Hawaii-shirt-clad, and latterly armed? Once again a combination of laziness, luck and an unbelievable sense of timing may rescue him from the perils of his fifteen minutes of fame…

‘Bäckström is a character worthy of Joseph Wambaugh at his best…Underneath the humour, Persson does shine a light on Swedes and their society, and in that broader sense may be the most interesting of the novelists in the current Swedish crime boom.’
Barry Forshaw, Crimetime

9780857520739
£12.99
www.transworldbooks.co.uk
ebook available

In this second installment of Persson’s trilogy of police procedurals featuring the "small, fat and primitive" Evert Bäckström, the grand master’s most appallingly repulsive (and funniest) character is finally given his fifteen minutes of fame by way of his patented combination of laziness, luck, and an unbelievable sense of timing.

A seemingly ordinary murder puzzles Bäckström, who is struggling with strict orders from his doctor to lead a healthier life. His gut feeling proves him right: within days, his team has another murder linked to the first on their hands, and reports of alleged ties to a Securicor heist gone out of control, killing two. The nation needs a hero, and the newly appointed head of the Västerort police force Anna Holt needs somebody to kill the dragon for her. Who better to heed to the task than Evert Bäckström: self-sufficient, ostentatious, devoid of moral, Hawaii shirt-clad, and, latterly, armed?