The Sanctuary

The prologue of Engberg’s nail-biting fourth and final novel featuring Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner (after 2022’s The Harbor) begins, “It was the noise that woke him, a throbbing rhythm like a locomotive moving at high speed.” That sound, which is coming from an industrial saw, is heard by an unidentified man who has just regained consciousness to find he’s been tied up and is helpless to avoid the whirring blade. His grim fate is confirmed months later when a suitcase is found partially buried in a Copenhagen park, emitting a smell consistent with human decay. Werner, a detective with the Violent Crimes Department, opens the luggage to find half of a severed corpse. Another suitcase later turns up nearby, containing the rest of the body. Despite Kørner’s being on leave and working as a lumberjack in response to a romantic disappointment, Werner ropes him into helping her crack the case, which involves figuring out the reason for the killer’s employing of such a bizarre murder method. From the horrific opening to the final reveal, Engberg keeps readers turning the pages. Agent: Federico Ambrosini, Salomonsson Agency (Sweden). (Feb.)