Fatal Gambit
by David Lagercrantz (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
Reviewed by Anschen Conradie (Uit die perd se bek)
The exclamation ‘Elementary, my dear Watson!’, is synonymous with one of the most famous detectives in literature. Armed with superlative powers of deduction and an astonishing eye for detail, no riddle would remain unsolved on his watch.
Hans Rekke fits the bill of his Swedish 21st century successor. Described as ‘…Sherlock Holmes without the bravado…’ (222) he is a world authority on interrogation techniques, capable of impressive feats of logic and observation. Unlike Holmes, Rekke possesses a fragile psyche, however, and falls apart under pressure.