The Absent One

In Adler-Olsen’s latest installment of his Department Q series, Copenhagen detective Carl Mørck is drawn into a case that will reveal the darkest sides of the privileged, the depraved, and the dispossessed. Returning from vacation, Mørck is tasked with investigating a previously closed case: the brutal murder of a brother and sister in 1987. In resurrecting the old case, the detective investigates a group of individuals—now successful and influential—who attended boarding school together at the time of the murders. Mørck’s sleuthing soon leads him to Kimmie, a woman who harbors dark secrets that could change the lives of her former classmates forever. In this audio edition, narrator Steven Pacey ably brings Adler-Olsen’s intricate mystery to life. He lends the characters—the perpetually cranky Mørck, his eager-to-please assistant Assad, or the damaged Kimmie—distinct and absolutely spot-on voices. A Dutton hardcover. (Aug.)