Blind Goddess by Anne Holt Book Review

As book lovers, we have all been there – picking up a book that seems promising, only to be disappointed with what we read. The same happened to me when my book club selected “Blind Goddess” by Anne Holt as our May read. Despite my disappointment, I decided to persevere as much as I could, I even tried to continue with it after we discussed it, but I didn’t manage to finish it. In this review, I will discuss the aspects that I found lacking in the book.

Click me to go to my Review

Synopsis

In the first instalment of the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, Anne Holt delivers a superbly chilling story of corruption in the corridors of power.

‘Anne Holt is the Godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction’ Jo Nesbo

A drug dealer is battered to death in the outskirts of Oslo. A young Dutch student, covered in blood, walks aimlessly through the streets of central Oslo. He is taken into custody, but refuses to speak.

Five days later a shady criminal lawyer called Hans Olsen is murdered. The two deaths don’t seem related, but Detective Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is unconvinced. Soon, she uncovers a link between the bodies: Olsen defended the drug dealer.

But there are powerful forces working against Hanne; a conspiracy that reaches far beyond a crooked lawyer and a small-time dealer. The investigation will take her into the offices of the most powerful men in Norway – and even put her own life at risk…

About The Author

Anne Holt is Norway’s bestselling female crime writer. She was a journalist and news anchor and spent two years working for the Oslo Police Department before founding her own law firm and serving as Norway’s Minister for Justice in 1996 and 1997. Her first novel was published in 1993 and her books have been translated into over thirty languages and have sold more than 7 million copies. Her novel 1222 was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. She lives in Oslo with her family.

My Review

This was our May book club read, none of us had ever heard of this Anne Holt before but one had seen this series advertised in the library and was intrigued. We then looked it up and saw Jo Nesbø’s comments (an author some of the club like but I haven’t tried myself) proclaiming Holt to be “the godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction,” it was settled that this was to be the book. Having read as much as I could, I now wonder if this may have referred to the Norwegian edition rather than the translated version as it wouldn’t be anywhere near my idea of a great book.

A shocking start to a book is often a great thing but here, not so much. The graphic descriptions felt unnecessary and to be honest, around four pages in I thought this isn’t the book for me and went off to read something else. However, determined to finish I came back to it straight after ready to complete it before our book club meeting. However, the book feels quite dated, which is understandable as it is over 30 years old, which I didn’t realise until much later. I didn’t manage to finish the book in time and despite trying again after, the slow pace and clunky wording grated too much to finish. Additionally, the author’s outdated views on women who identify as lesbians and their appearance, suggesting they cannot be both attractive and wear skirts, contribute to the book’s overall antiquated tone.

Probably due to the book being translated, the language used throughout the book is quite clunky, making it a difficult read, there are words not in common parlance in the UK and some which had a different meaning to what I think they should have had. The large cast of characters became confusing, and each came with a lengthy backstory while Holt filled us in on their story, often these weren’t relevant to the overall plot.

The novel didn’t make much sense from the start when a murderer requests a civil lawyer to represent him over a criminal defence lawyer. This made it more clunky in that, though she insisted she knew what she was doing, she seemed to be fitting this around her civil work making it a bit of an afterthought. Alongside the other odd happenings, and the very slow pace (often with too much detail) this was a difficult book to hold your interest.

I can see that the book was obviously very successful for its time, there are many more in the series that I can only assume would happen due to its popularity. Maybe we are just too spoilt with good books now or maybe the story was just lost in translation. Either way, it wasn’t the one for me.

In conclusion, Blind Goddess was a disappointing read for me, four out of the five in our book club didn’t manage to finish it. The book dragged on, it was hard to follow, had weak characters, and lacked a gripping plot. I would not recommend it to others, but everyone has their own opinions, and some readers may enjoy the book.

Rated