Locked In

Adler-Olsen, Jussi. Locked In. New York: Dutton. 2024. Print.

First Sentences:

The predicament in which Carl now found himself reminded him of childhood, of the moment when its haze of innocence had been cruelly and definitively lifted. When, for the first time, he had come to see everything a little too clearly,to feel the sting of lies. It was the experience of injustice burning itself into his cheek after an unearned slap.

[**Note: I strongly suggest you read the first Deparrtment Q book, The Keeper of Lost Causes (see below) before reading Locked In as there are spoilers in Locked In involving characters, situations, clues and references from previous cases. FR]

Description:

In the opening chapter of Jussi Adler-Olsen's Locked In, Danish homicide detective Carl Morck finds himself in handcuffs while being driven to the "bleak, mammoth" Vestre Prison. He and his Department Q team, assigned to work on a cold murder case, had just successfully investigated and stopped the person responsible for a brutal crime spree involving nail guns, kidnapping, and other atrocities. 

But instead of congratulations, Morck is heading to prison. His crime? A long-forgotten suitcase was found in his attic containing copious amounts of drugs and cash, with Morck's fingerprints on the bills. Years ago, Morck had agreed to hold that suitcase for his partner who was relocating his residence. Unfortunately, this partner was killed and Morck eventually forgot about the suitcase. Morck never had any knowledge of what was in the case, assuming it to be clothing and personal property of his partner.

Now, he is thrown into a prison full of men who he had been instrumental in solving their crimes and putting them behind those same bars. Worse, for some unknown reason, Morck is not put into a protective solitary area, making his life vunerable to any attack. Communiction with his department, family, and friends is completely cut off.

Survival is key. Will he be able to fight off any attackers inside the prison? Can his team figure out what is going on, and who is behind the program to imprison and potentially kill him? And why, after his years of dedicated service on the Danish police force, is Morck accused of corruption?

This plotline revisits several ancient Department Q cases, especially the nail gun murder spree that left one of Mork's partners dead (the man with the suitcase) and one parnter paralized by a bullet in a police raid gone wrong. Morck has carried the guilt from that raid and the results because he hadn't pulled his gun out in time to stop the criminals from shooting his friends.

Slowly, painstakenly the Danish police, Department Q, and others work on Carl Morck's situation, some trying to free him and others seeking to hold him responsible for corruption, drug-dealing, and other criminal activities. All the time, Morck sits locked in to his prison cell, unable to defend himself much less get to the bottom of the accusations.

It's a gripping, thrilling, and twisty-turny police procedural, one that is unusual because the Danish force is investigating one of their own stars. I loved it as one of those novels not easily put down, grabbing a few pages to read during any moments of free time.

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

  

Adler-Olsen, Jussi. The Keeper of Lost Causes.   

Carl Morck, the crusty Danish police homicide detective, is banished downstairs to form a one-man, unsolved crime division, Department Q, where he will be buried in impossible cases. He is immediately involved in a missing woman case. This is the first in the Department Q series. Clever, powerful, sometimes violent, and always totally engrossing. 

Happy reading. 

Fred

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