Author: Antti Tuomainen
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Publisher supplied copy
Publisher: Orenda Books
Publication Date: 18th October 2018
Rating: 4 Stars
Sex, lies and ill-fitting swimwear … Sun Protection Factor 100
Jan Nyman, the ace detective of the covert operations unit of the National Central Police, is sent to a sleepy seaside town to investigate a mysterious death. Nyman arrives in the town dominated by a bizarre holiday village – the ‘hottest beach in Finland’. The suspect: Olivia Koski, who has only recently returned to her old hometown. The mission: find out what happened, by any means necessary.
With a nod to Fargo, and dark noir, Palm Beach, Finland is both a page-turning thriller and a black comedy about lust for money, fleeing dreams and people struggling at turning points in their lives – chasing their fantasies regardless of reason.
I really had no idea what to make of this, other than it kept me interested and entertained me throughout.
This was the first book I have read from this author, and he certainly had an interesting way of putting things. This is quite fast paced and the focus of each chapter is a different character, so it does take a bit of time to get to know all the different people involved.
From the start as readers we know who did it and the motivation, but what kept me reading was seeing just how many different people had a vested interest in working it out, and just how many different potential motives there were. At times it was almost farcical.
I enjoyed reading about all the various characters, we have Olivia, whose house had the dead man in it, the under cover police man Jan, a pair of bumbling friends who dream of getting out of the town to bigger and better things. There is a man who is related to the dead man who I didn't really get to grips with but he had some a unique perspective on life.
And then there was Leivo, the owner of Palm Beach, Finland who was arguably my favourite - listening to him describe his big plans for he new beach resort, that is going to be the biggest thing in Europe if not the world was frankly hilarious. He had fabulous ideas, big big plans, and at times seemed completely deluded, but it was incredibly amusing.
There was practically a comedy of errors in this story, as all the characters were flawed in various ways and all very capable of making mistakes, and poor decisions, it was just some were more critical than others.
Being a fan of anything featuring a holiday destination, and not having read anything before set in Finland are what attracted me at first to the book - but its not nor was it ever going to be a gentle chick lit summer read, but neither is it a heavy thriller with a huge body count. If I was asked to describe it I would say its comic crime - not sure if that is a thing but its funny and had me smiling in places, and there were certainly criminals!
I would certainly recommend it to those who prefer slightly lighter crime stories, those after a laugh, or just anyone wanting something slightly different to read.
Thank you to Orenda Books for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Please follow along with the rest of this amazing blog tour for Palm Beach Finland
This was the first book I have read from this author, and he certainly had an interesting way of putting things. This is quite fast paced and the focus of each chapter is a different character, so it does take a bit of time to get to know all the different people involved.
From the start as readers we know who did it and the motivation, but what kept me reading was seeing just how many different people had a vested interest in working it out, and just how many different potential motives there were. At times it was almost farcical.
I enjoyed reading about all the various characters, we have Olivia, whose house had the dead man in it, the under cover police man Jan, a pair of bumbling friends who dream of getting out of the town to bigger and better things. There is a man who is related to the dead man who I didn't really get to grips with but he had some a unique perspective on life.
And then there was Leivo, the owner of Palm Beach, Finland who was arguably my favourite - listening to him describe his big plans for he new beach resort, that is going to be the biggest thing in Europe if not the world was frankly hilarious. He had fabulous ideas, big big plans, and at times seemed completely deluded, but it was incredibly amusing.
There was practically a comedy of errors in this story, as all the characters were flawed in various ways and all very capable of making mistakes, and poor decisions, it was just some were more critical than others.
Being a fan of anything featuring a holiday destination, and not having read anything before set in Finland are what attracted me at first to the book - but its not nor was it ever going to be a gentle chick lit summer read, but neither is it a heavy thriller with a huge body count. If I was asked to describe it I would say its comic crime - not sure if that is a thing but its funny and had me smiling in places, and there were certainly criminals!
I would certainly recommend it to those who prefer slightly lighter crime stories, those after a laugh, or just anyone wanting something slightly different to read.
Thank you to Orenda Books for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Please follow along with the rest of this amazing blog tour for Palm Beach Finland
Thanks so much for supporting the Blog Tour Rachel, so glad you enjoyed it x
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