Dr Torben Helle is back, this time he is investigating the supposed accidental death of his friend and mentor Dame Charlotte Lazerton, he simply cannot believe she just fell down the stairs in her house. Some of the group of friends from the first mystery are there too, notably Leyla, who gets involved in the investigation, although they are often at odds as to who could be responsible. I really enjoyed reading this book, perhaps not quite as good as the first, but then the setting is the whole of London rather than a snowed in mansion house. Well worth a read and full of twists and turns and a very unexpected ending. Thank to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

This is book two in the series featuring Danish academic Torben Helle who we first met when he solved the murder of a university friend during a reunion. This time he is not content with the Met Police's ruling of the death of his mentor, Dame Charlotte Lazerton, as suicide. He is convinced she was murdered prior to being subsequently nibbled by her pet dog, after a fall down the stairs. Initially they ignore his cries for foul play, until they land at the ears of a DI with a penchant for Nordic Noir drama of all things. But, an in is an in, and at least someone is listening. Which turns out to be helpful when the list of potential suspects grows and grows. Even Torben himself has something to gain from her death! I connected well with Torben in his first outing and that that relationship continued throughout this book. He's a bit of a character, and a bit on the quirky side, which is right up my street but he also could take a while to gel with if you are not as inclined as me. The mystery itself is well plotted and executed and the rest of the cast play their parts well. There were all the usual secrets and lies to come to terms with and a host of suspects to whittle down. And indeed, with a "locked room mystery" such as this, the main focus being on the "how on earth". Which was very well explored and exposed, along with, eventually, the "who". And boy is it a tangled web. One of the things that kept me going through all the confusion over the who and why was Torben's relationship with Leyla - some of their interactions and banter are priceless! But I'll leave you to find that out yourself. Pacing was good and, on the whole, matched the narrative all the way through. Occasionally it did drag but I think that was more down to incompetence of Torben's attempt at detecting rather than anything else. He's only an amateur with scant resources after all. Part of his charm! All in all, a worthy followup to what was also a solid series opener. Roll on book three.

This is a second meeting with the jumper wearing Danish throb and amateur sleuth Torben Helle. His friend and mentor Charlotte Lazerton is dead and he is suspicious, as Charlotte confided in him before her death about someone tapping her phone calls. He has five suspects and a trusty sidekick, Leyla, but also no idea how to proceed. I think Torben is such a peculiar character that people either love him or find him incredibly annoying. I am in the first group, of course. The book takes place (mostly) in a very posh and intellectual part of London, and I enjoyed following the characters through the streets and landmarks, visiting restaurants and cafes, talking about art and alibis. Once again Oskar Jensen created a funny and engaging story with very likeable characters and some nice detecting action, but this book in particular tickled me because of all the amount of food eaten. It also made me hungry. In order to interrogate people Torben invites them to different restaurants and I am telling you, I want a schnitzel and a cheesecake now. I also want another book about Torben, for helvede! Many thanks to the publisher and the Netgalley for the proof!

So much of this book isn't about the mystery - it's scenes of the characters enjoying food and wine that they keep bewailing is beyond their means, but clearly isn't since they keep doing it. Maybe that's why I feel a bit baffled having finished the story about what it was all about. The mystery is complex, there are loads of characters, and yet much of the story is about will-they won't-they love interest; the renovation of Torben's house, and cheesecake. Often with this sort of cosy mystery it feels like the murder is almost not taken seriously, everyone's having such fun investigating and they're so pleased with themselves and the conversation is so much witty banter, that the characters seem to have forgotten that their friend's actually died - there's a lack of depth and emotion. Overall it was okay but I probably won't continue if there are further books in the series. With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed the first in the Torben Helle series, "Helle and Death" but the sequel "Helle's Hound" by Oskar Jensen isn't as strong. It takes a while to realise that these books are set in the present day rather than the 1930s as they start off setting the scene of Golden Age mysteries. Some enjoyable moments but I think that Torben Helle needs to bed into these books to make me want to return for a third go.