Nights of Awe by Harri Nykänen

" I'm first and foremost a police officer, second a Finn, and only third a Jew." - announces Inspector Ariel Kafka of Helsinki when confronted with the idea of conflict of interest. He also points out the reason Jews are rare in police force in Finland.

"People seemed to have a strong belief that Jews have some secret, Old Testament-based motive for not joining the police force. In reality, there was only one reason: the lousy pay."

Inspector Kafka is called to the scene of crime where bodies of two Arabs are found, one stabbed, shot and mutiliated, the other crushed by a train as he jumped off a bridge in front of a moving train. From the sparse clues they find on the bodies, they discover another location with uhm.. two more bodies of Arabs. Also from the initial clues they find uhm... two more bodies. So that's six so far. The story starts with finding another body that is not connected to this crime. That's not all there are three more bodies to be discovered before the story comes to a conclusion. That's ten bodies, nice round number.

After finding the first two bodies, Kafka's subordinates come up with a few theories. After discovery of two more, they come up with some more theories. There are abundant theories, do they accommodate all the dead bodies that would crop up?

The problem with finding these bodies, in usual crime fiction/ thriller, the suspicion moves from one to another, as the person comes into focus, he/she is killed and there is some build up of suspense before the person is killed. Nothing like that at all here. It is more like digging a graveyard. You just unearth more and more bodies. Mostly Arab, some Jews, and a few Finns too.

I liked the beginning and the humour when it surfaces now and then. And as the story progresses and more bodies crop up I got irritated. And by the time suspicion moves from one person to another there are just too many theories to even bother.

Ariel Kafka is a Jew for a purpose, isn't he? Bring in the anti-semitism angle, Mossad, Israeli-Palestinian problem, with it terrorism. Also involve important members from his Synagogue in the plot. They show keen interest in the case, including his own brother. So why are these people interested in the investigations? Do they have a personal stake?But we know in the fictional world, the reason for killings is always simple. Will the solution for these deaths be simple? It is. And that's part I liked most. The final twist with its simple solution. To reach the simple solution you have to go through a really complicated plot with lots of twists.

Translated from Finnish by Kristian London and published in English in 2012.

Snow Angels by James Thompson

It is Kaamos, two weeks of endless dark night with no sun or light before Christmas. In Kittila in northern Finland it is minus forty degree Celsius outside and too cold that people start drinking in the early afternoons.

Inspector Kari Vaara is called to investigate the death of a beautiful Somali Immigrant actress, Sufia Elmi who was brutally murdered and mutilated in what looks like a sex and race crime. Kittila is a small town. So small that the murder takes place where Kari met his American wife, Kate for the first time. And Kari has to scout the street his parents live for possible witnesses. And suspects are too close to home for the investigative officers. No it is not a cosy. It is as hard-boiled as it comes violent with sexual content.

When Kari gets an early break in the case, we know that there is more to the case than what appears. The scenarios Kari build on what could have happened are ugly, and what Kate suggests gives it a nightmare quality. As the body count piles up, can't help wondering if I accidentally stepped into a Zombie movie. I didn't guess the ending or the murderer. If it hadn't been a series, I would definitely have suspected Inspector Kari Vaara for the murders.

James Thompson gives details on weather, history, attitudes, local communities, and how the weather affects people. He gives interesting information about various aspects of Finland. With so many stories featuring crime, especially the Scandinavian noir, if you wonder what is the statistics of serial killers, that there are no known serial killers walking free in Europe, says Kari Vaara. Other bits of information that caught my attention is that in the previous decades, teenagers were gifted dentures as confirmation gift because by puberty their teeth were rotten.

I did get a feel of Finland and it is sad that when Kari sees Aurora Borealis he is not able to enjoy it or get fascinated by it. He is burdened with these murders and its impact. The sexual content was explicit and disturbing. Yes, the endless night can drive one to insanity.