Review: 1222 by Anne Holt

Publisher: Scribner

Pages: 320

Received: Netgalley

Release Date: December 27, 2011
Buy From Amazon

Goodreads Synopsis:

1222 metres above sea level, train 601 from Oslo to Bergen careens off iced rails as the worst snowstorm in Norwegian history gathers force around it. Marooned in the high mountains with night falling and the temperature plummeting, its 269 passengers are forced to abandon their snowbound train and decamp to a centuries-old mountain hotel. They ought to be safe from the storm here, but as dawn breaks one of them will be found dead, murdered. With the storm showing no sign of abating, retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is asked to investigate. But Hanne has no wish to get involved. She has learned the hard way that truth comes at a price and sometimes that price just isn't worth paying. Her pursuit of truth and justice has cost her the love of her life, her career in the Oslo Police Department and her mobility: she is paralysed from the waist down by a bullet lodged in her spine.

Trapped in a wheelchair, trapped by the killer within, trapped by the deadly storm outside, Hanne's growing unease is shared by everyone in the hotel. Should she investigate, or should she just wait for help to arrive? And all the time rumours swirl about a secret cargo carried by train 601. Why was the last carriage sealed? Why is the top floor of the hotel locked down? Who or what is being concealed? And, of course, what if the killer strikes again?

My Review:

I found this book thanks to a great post over at Book Spark that highlights some new releases on Netgalley. This one sparked my interest because I love mystery books. I was intrigued with the idea that there are so many people trapped in this hotel together that it makes it hard to figure out who the culprit is.

I had some difficulties in the beginning with this book, not that it was bad, I just couldn't seem to find myself getting interested, I feel like there was a little bit too much going on in the beginning of the book that I couldn't wrap my head around everything and everyone. I found it difficult to remember all the characters, the names made it a little difficult (understandable because they are Norwegian). The main disappointment I had was the ending, there were still questions left unanswered as to what was being concealed throughout the book (I'm wondering if it will be answered in a forthcoming book since this is a planned series).

It did start getting interesting though when the murder happened, I found myself wanting to read more to find out who it was (which after awhile I kind of figured out...) but Anne does a pretty good job of taking the reader in circles of who the culprit is. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster with this book, it would get interesting at points where I didn't want to stop and then I found there was so much happening and I wasn't really interested. I finally got really interested in the last half of the book and just really wanted to find out what happened, and who this secret thing was that was being hidden from everyone.

I enjoyed the mystery to this story and Anne Holt has some great writing, she really gets inside Hanne Wilhelmsen's head, readers get to see how she thinks through things. This was an interesting beginning to a new series and I would like to see where it gets taken from here.

Rating: 3 out of 5 comfy couches

Other books by Anne Holt: