Today it's my turn on the BlogTour Murder in Lima by Mats Vederhus.
Mats Vederhus is a journalist and author from Norway, born in 1988. He's written several books, and has interviewed many of Norway's greatest stars such as Nicholai Cleve Broch, Jonas Alaska, Vebjørn Sand, Unni Wilhelmsen and Mathias Eick.
Follow on @Afr0 Twitter, on Goodreads, on Instagram, on Facebook, Visit matsvederhus.com
Buy Murder in Lima
About the book
Kurt Hammer ends up in Lima, Peru to escape his demons and put an end to his alcoholism.
The holiday soon takes a sinister turn though, when Kurt witnesses the brutal murder of an old friend.
Facing the most difficult case of his life, can Kurt find the killer - and avoid succumbing to his demons?
Whilst this is predominantly a murder mystery/thriller, it is very much also about recognising the way people can be swallowed up by their inability to deal with the stress, friction and problems life tends to deal them. Kurt is no stranger to slipping into the deep end of any bottle of alcohol that comes his way to avoid having to confront the tension and people he would rather avoid.
Avoiding any emotional depth or response is the reason he ends up travelling and finding himself in the midst of a dangerous game of murder and violence. When he becomes a witness to the murder of a friend the events take Kurt on a journey he wasn't quite expecting to make. Not sure it's very therapeutic to recommend a trip and banter about the alcohol being cheap there though. Just saying.
It also bandies around with the suggestion that sometimes it takes an epiphany resulting from tragedy, close calls and events that make one reconsider what is really important in life and worth living for, to be jolted into confronting addiction. It depends on the addiction and the addict of course.
It's a murder mystery come thriller. Vederhus keeps the story and narrative short choppy and doesn't dwell on moments, emotions or details. This particular style can make the story a wee bit discombobulated, however if it is indeed a style it also lends itself to a bullet point/news info fiction approach.
I wonder whether the translation does the story justice, because the English is basic. It sounds amateurish, which doesn't really gel with the experience one would assume Vederhus has as a journalist and author. This isn't uncommon in translations of foreign language origin books, which can be lacking when it comes to idioms, structure and level of the language they are translated into.
Buy Murder in Lima by Mats Vederhus at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published in paperback and ebook formats by Terminal Velocity, an imprint of Next Chapter Publishing on 13th November 2019. Buy at Amazon com.
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