The Wolf and the Watchman | Niklas Natt och Dag

Read If: you're into historical mysteries, you're cool with historical/cultural immersion, you don't mind some dark crevices.

I loved this book! I found myself just not able to get into anything I was picking up, so I plucked this off the shelf at home at random, and it pulled me right in. Cecil Winge and Mickel Cardell are two very, very different main characters who just happen to get drawn into the same crime - and the crime itself is horrific.

What might turn readers off to this book:

1. You are not familiar with/a lover of historical fiction. This is deeply rooted in late 1700s Stockholm, and the author does a beautiful job of describing the surroundings. You can practically smell the trash and waste piles. But if you're a reader who is unable to or uncomfortable with immersing yourself in another time/place, this probably won't be a good fit.

2. Gruesome crimes are too much for you. The body that Winge and Cardell come upon is truly horrifying, and it only gets worse once you learn not only what the body went through prior to death, but what those still living are going through every day at the hands of the prosperous. Based on the (lower) reviews I've gotten a glimpse of, this aspect of the story is too much for some people. But without this crime, I don't think readers would feel the passion and panic that Winge and Cardell feel when it comes to finding the culprit.

What will turn readers on to this book:

Literally everything else. The language and description are wonderful, thoughtful, and comprehensive. The characters are intriguing, multi-faceted, and flawed.