Brother Grimm

Pro: I purchased this book on a whim, had never heard of the author and had never even read a brothers Grimm fairytale. This was a very unique story to be told. An unknown person kills people in refrence to fairytales from the brothers grimm, detective fabel and his team realize they must find the murderer before he kills again. The murderer however has impeccable percision when dealing with his victims, paying careful attention not to leave any clues tying him back to the murder... I have never read a brothers grimm fairytale however the book read and explained well enough so that it wasn't completely necessary, only after the completion of the book did i decide to introduce myself to the tales mentioned and it made me enjoy the book even more This would make a great movie, i could visualize it clearly whilst reading it con This story takes place in Germany so there were quite a few phrases and terms i was unfamiliar with.

Brothers Grimm and, like the folk stories themselves, have a number of hidden messages. Jan Fabel, of the Hamburg Murder Squad, and his team are in a race against time to try to solve the cases and to try to prevent further murders. This is a fast-paced novel. In addition to the actions around each murder, the reader is drawn into the mind and motivations of the murderer. From the perspective of the investigating team, there are a number of potential suspects and exploring each of these raises the tensions within the story. Even if the reader works out who the murderer is before the end of the story, there is sufficient interest and momentum to keep reading to the end just to tie off the loose ends. This is the second of Craig Russell's novels to feature Jan Fabel: I've added the other two to my reading list, and this author to my list of fiction favourites. Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I thought that Mr. Russels first novel "Blood Eagle" was not only very well written, fleshing out nicely the characters, giving them faces and thoughts and all, but also stuctured in a way that more reflected reality than you would normally expect from a whodunnit novel. His second book, "Brother Grimm" is even better. It follows the same team of Hamburg murder detectives as "Blood Eagle", Jan Fabel and his murder commission officers. Once again the writing is spot on, captivating, and yet somehow manages to give this police thriller another dimension. A dimension of litterature really (in lack of better words anyway). The author does seem to be particularly fond of the words "azure blue", which he uses two times on the opening page and more throughout the novel. The story and the plot itself, is very well made up. We're kept guessing till the very end who the grim murderer is, and along the way we're led through many a wild goose chase, but it dosen't subtract or lessen the pace or 'feel' one bit, it actually adds to it. A very good thing about this novel is, that you can reed as a stand alone adventure without having read the first story about the Hamburg murder commission team. Of course having read the first novel will only add to the experience, but it is not a must. To reiterate: well written, well thought out, well plotted, very recommendable.

A girl's body lies, posed, on the pale sand of a Hamburg beach, a message concealed in her hand. 'I have been underground, and now it is time for me to return home...' Jan Fabel, of the Hamburg murder squad, struggles to interpret the twisted imagery of a dark and brutal mind. Four days later, a man and a woman are found deep in woodland, their throats slashed deep and wide, the names 'Hansel' and 'Gretel', in the same, tiny, obsessively neat writing, rolled tight and pressed into their hands. It becomes clear that each new crime is a grisly reference to folk stories collected almost two hundred years ago by the Brothers Grimm. The hunt is on for a serial killer who is exploring the darkest, most fundamental fears hidden in ancient fairy tales. A predator who kills and then disappears into the shadows. A monster we all learned to fear in childhood. Murder is no fairy tale