Synopses & Reviews
From the coauthor of the critically acclaimed
New York Times bestseller
The Boy in the Suitcase, a “gripping plot” (
Publishers Weekly, starred review) and captivating historical thriller.
Strong-minded and ambitious, Madeleine Karno is eager to shatter the constraints of her provincial French upbringing. She wants to become a pathologist like her father, whose assistant she is, but this is 1894, and autopsies are considered unseemly and ungodly, even when performed by a man—hence his odious nickname, Doctor Death. That a young woman should wish to spend her time dissecting corpses is too scandalous for words.
Thus, when seventeen-year-old Cecile Montaine is found dead in the snowy streets of Varbourg, her family will not permit a full post-mortem autopsy, and Madeleine and her father are left with a single mysterious clue: in the dead girl’s nostrils they find a type of parasite normally seen only in dogs. Soon after, the priest who held vigil by the dead girl’s corpse is brutally murdered. The thread that connects these two events is a tangled one, and as the death toll mounts, Madeleine must seek knowledge in odd places: behind convent walls, in secret diaries, and in the yellow stare of an aging wolf.
Eloquently written and with powerful insight into human and animal nature, Doctor Death is at once a gripping mystery and a poignant coming-of-age story.
Review
“Hair-raisingly well done . . . an incredibly successful novel.”
Review
“Excellent . . . The author sucks the reader into a fascinating universe from page one.”
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"An utterly fresh, insightful, and enthralling thriller."
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Praise for
The Boy in the Suitcase
"It packs an almighty punch.”
Review
"A wild ride.”
Review
"Once you start reading, you can’t stop."
Review
"[The] uniquely Scandinavian style sure to draw comparisons with a certain blockbuster trilogy (this is better).”
Review
"Ready to be discovered by an American audience.”
Review
“Stieg Larsson fans will find a lot to like in The Boy in the Suitcase.”
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"A debut that’s a model of finely tuned suspense.”
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“Deftly exploring such themes as the struggles between mind and body, science and spirit—without detracting from a gripping plot—the novel transcends its period to contemplate the eternal.”
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“Madeleine Karno is a sleuth both true to the period and rooted in strength of will, gumption, and ambition.”
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"Engrossing... Sure to please fans of historical mysteries.”
Review
“A convincing thriller taking place in 19th century France, Doctor Death is a unique tale.”
Review
"This beautifully crafted story had me riveted from start to finish!... I will definitely be looking for more of Lene Kaaberbol’s books to add to my reading list.”
Review
“Eloquently written and with powerful insight into human and animal nature.”
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"Readers can only hope this is the first of many Madeleine installments."
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“Madeline and the way that she handled the murkier parts of humanity mesmerized me.”
Review
“If you're looking for a great historical, gothic-based mystery then this is the book you should grab.”
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“Madeleine’s inquisitive mind and candid voice are enough to keep us reading.”
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“A one-sit read […] made me a confirmed, and impatient, fan of what I hope will be a long-running series.”
Review
“Nail-biting Gothic Historical Thriller.”
Review
“Right away I was drawn in by Danish author Lene Kaaberbol's descriptive prose.”
Review
"The author has given us once more a strong main character that is both intelligent and willing to get her hands dirty.”
Synopsis
From the
New York Times bestselling coauthor of
The Boy in the Suitcase, a gripping historical thriller and poignant coming-of-age story set in nineteenth-century France.
Madeleine Karno is an ambitious young woman eager to shatter the confines of her provincial French town. Driven and strong headed, Madeleine is set apart by her unusual occupation: assisting her father, Dr. Albert Karno, in his job as a forensic doctor.
The year is 1894, and a young girl is found dead on the snowy streets of Varbourg. Dr. Karno is called in to determine the cause of her death, but before he can examine the body, the girl’s family forbids the autopsy from taking place. The only anomaly he manages to find is in the form of a mite in her nostril. Shortly after, several other dead bodies are discovered throughout the city, and Madeleine, her father, and the city commissioner must use the new science of forensic evidence to solve the mysterious cases before they all become the next victims of a deadly disease—or of a heinous murderer.
The Associated Press raved of Kaaberbøl’s The Boy in the Suitcase, “[The] uniquely Scandinavian style [is] sure to draw comparisons with a certain blockbuster trilogy (this is better).” For all crime and historical fiction aficionados, Kaaberbøl’s latest is a book you can’t afford to miss.
About the Author
Lene Kaaberbøl was fifteen years old when her first two books were published, and since then she has written more than thirty novels and children’s books. She has won several national and international awards for her fiction, and her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. The coauthor of The Boy in the Suitcase, Invisible Murder, and Death of a Nightingale, she was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and lives near Aarhus, Denmark.