The Exiled

Hiekkapelto’s intriguing third Anna Fekete novel (after 2016’s The Defenceless) takes the Finnish Violent Crimes Unit detective to the Balkan village of Kanizsa, her birthplace, for a vacation. During a wine festival in Kanizsa, someone snatches her purse. Retired policeman Gábor Kovács, her father’s former colleague, later returns her purse and explains that the thief’s body was found by the river where he drowned, along with her purse. But lots of things remain unexplained, including the disappearance of the little girl who accompanied the thief. When Anna’s request to see the body and the riverbank meets official resistance, she enlists the help of policeman Péter Vajda, as well as family friends. Anna begins a tortuous search for witnesses—a fisherman, a priest, a politician—that eventually leads her to long-buried corruption. Repeated clashes between Anna’s Finnish upbringing and her Hungarian heritage add spice. [em](Feb.) [/em]