The Boy in the Suitcase

The Boy in the Suit Case
Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis
Translated from Danish by Lene Kaaberbol
Soho Press
Random House
November 2011
Trade paperback
ISBN: 978-1-56947-0
320 pages
$24.00

Doing the right thing is not always easy. For Nina Borg, her daily struggles with balancing her family and work are not always smooth or easy. Working as a Red Cross nurse often conflicts with being available for her family and a husband who does not understand when the family takes second place in her priority list.

Nina receives an unusual request from a friend asking her to pick up a suitcase in a locker at a public train station. The suitcase is heavy and she does wonder what is inside. After struggling to get it into her vehicle, for some strange reason Nina feels the need to return to the locker. There she sees a large man opening the locker and hitting it when he realizes that it is empty. Unfortunately, he also sees her.

After frantically running to car and racing away, she finally finds a place where she can open the suitcase. Inside is a small child, naked. She is surprised to find him breathing. What do you do? She is fearful that the police will place the child in a refugee or foster care situation. Is this better for the child? Who is chasing her? What do they want with the boy?

The Boy in the Suit Case is a page-turning intense action-adventure story. The characters are realistically flawed and their personal problems obviously continue after the story ends. The plot is well-developed and organized. The system of governmental influences on a child really exist and Nina’s choices and situations are easy to understand.

The Boy in the Suit Case is part of a bestselling crime series from Denmark by Agnete Friis and Lene Kaaberbol and translated into English for the first time. It has also earned the 2008 Harald Mogensen award for the best crime novel and was short listed for the Scandinavian Glass Key Award for crime fiction when against The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The Boy in the Suit Case has now been translated into ten languages with more the two million copies of the book available. With many Scandinavian novels being translated into English, I hope to read more by either of these two gifted authors.