The Grand Man-A Swedish Mystery by Florence Wetzel (2019) – An American jazz journalist goes to Sweden to interview several top artists. She discovers the seedy side of her subjects, and is drawn into two murder investigations. One is the husband of the singer she interviews, and the other is the unsolved assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. Along the way, she also touches on the mystery of the legendary fourth novel of Swedish writing icon Stieg Larsson.
Why I Liked It – Wonderful writing and a fast-paced, tight trio of stories that slowly wrap themselves together. It comes with a twist that blindsided me.
Here’s my prediction. I’ll bet that this book makes it to my Best of the Year list. It’s that good. I made time in my schedule for more reading time. Even better, I was well rewarded for the change.
Florence Wetzel is a new author for me. The book looked interesting overall, but it was the jazz connection that sealed the deal. Turns out the author is a big fan as well. Before any non-jazz fans decide to walk away, she does a great job of making it part of the story, but never falls into an info dump on the genre. A quick glance at some of her other books shows that love of jazz running through them as well. Definitely looking at reading some more by her.
What works so well here are the characters at the center of the story. Juliet Brown is a character of depth and multiple facets. She’s reached middle age and carries the scars to prove it. There’s an interlude where she reviews a painful relationship. The resolution of that story was very emotional, and touched me. The other primary characters are Magnus Lindblom, a Swedish journalist who was Larsson’s close friend, and is working on a book about the Palme assassination. His ex-wife is a successful author who based the weakling husband of her iconic character on him. Last but not least is police inspector Ulrika Johansson, who relies on the intuition she inherited from her grandmother to solve cases. It was a delight that Wetzel didn’t make the character too perfect as a cop. She and her long-time partner carry the names of two inept fictional Swedish cops after a deeply embarrassing moment early in their careers. She is introverted, but not without empathy. Flawed but not broken. It’s refreshing, honestly.
The story revolves around three mysteries. There is the still unsolved assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. In real life, the Swedish authorities believe they know who did it, but lack the final proof. (The suspect has since died). Here, it’s treated as an open cold case, one that fascinates people both inside and outside the police. Next is the mystery of Stieg Larsson’s fourth book in his best-selling “Millennium” series. Larsson died before any of the books hit the bookshelves, but only had three of the planned ten novels completed. There was an incomplete fourth novel, and Wetzel presents it as mysteriously disappeared. Finally, there is the brutal murder of a beloved jazz club owner. The three characters listed before fall into the growing whirlpool that involves the three mysteries. There isn’t a common denominator until there suddenly is. The story gave me an honest “Didn’t see that coming” moment that I enjoyed.
Add in Wetzel’s clear love of Sweden and its culture and food, and you end up with a great read. I hope to add a couple more of her titles to my TBR list soon.
Rating – **** Recommended
Stories Are My Life 
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