I'm over the moon to be one of the stops on the blog tour for Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen and sharing my review today. First of all though let's take a look at the description for the book...
Jan Nyman, the ace detective of the covert operations unit of the National Central Police, is sent to a
sleepy seaside town to investigate a mysterious death. Nyman arrives in the town dominated by a
bizarre holiday village – the ‘hottest beach in Finland’. The suspect: Olivia Koski, who has only recently
returned to her old hometown. The mission: find out what happened, by any means necessary.
With a nod to Fargo, and the darkest noir, Palm Beach, Finland is both a page-turning thriller and a
wicked black comedy about lust for money, fleeing dreams and people struggling at turning points in
their lives … from the 'King of Helsinki Noir’.
Buy Link
I'm going to try my best and not ramble on as I try to describe how brilliant this book is. Palm Beach Finland is the kind of book where I felt as if it had been written for me and my sense of humour. The wonderful dark humour that is used is the kind where you find yourself smiling and grinning away, along with maybe a few inappropriate giggles! The opening sets the scene for what is to follow and you really are in for a treat!
I loved all of the bizarre situations within this book they all combine to create something truly entertaining. There are some larger than life characters who all bring so much to this offbeat and original story. Palm Beach Finland follows a range of characters who all have their individual quirks and I loved how these characters all end up on a collision course. I couldn't wait to see how it would all turn out!
Antti Tuomainen has a way of setting the scene so I felt as if I was experiencing everything with the characters. With surprises and twists that will keep you guessing. Even though there are a few characters to follow I became invested in each and every one with me easily being drawn into whatever trouble or drama they found themselves in. However I do have to give a special mention to Muurla for his brilliant but wildly inappropriate anecdotes.
If you are looking for a book that is just that little bit different then look no further. What you will find is a very cleverly crafted plot that balances a dark undercurrent with humour and twists. With a seamless translation from David Hackston I'm so glad that I was able to pick up a copy of this book. There are so many words to describe this book but I will sum this story up as fun, dark, witty and brilliant!
Palm Beach Finland is a fantastic topsy-turvy kind of story!
With thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for my copy.
I can't go without recommending The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen, it was my top pick of 2017 and you can catch my review here!
Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary
debut in 2007 as a suspense author. The critically acclaimed My Brother’s Keeper was
published two years later. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the
Clue Award for ‘Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011’ and was shortlisted for the Glass Key
Award. Two years later, in 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of
Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. With a piercing and evocative style,
Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and his
poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller,
shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards.
Once, again, thanks so so much for your support Rachel x
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure xx
Delete