The Ravens by Vidar Sunstol

Category: 50 Books

I praised the first two books in Vidar Sundstol’s Minnesota Trilogy for their interesting mystery, use of historical fiction intermingled with the present, and overall sense of melancholy. This is the third book about Lance Hansen trying to figure out if his brother is a murderer or not. This mystery is really good, and I love that the author gives nothing away, but keeps dangling possible suspects in your face the whole time. So the mystery gets an A+.

This book is different from the other two. First off, the historical part with Hansen’s Norwegian relatives is severely lacking. Those parts had been so important to the story in the other two books! I loved those parts! Why were there no historical bits in this one? Bummer.

Secondly, while I do love a well-paced book, the first half of this book was very slow. In fact, it all seemed a bit too long. The second half sped up, but I don’t think it was enough to save the bloated feeling of the whole book.

I love the trilogy as a whole. I love how ambitious it is to include the history of immigrants, Native Americans, as well as an overarching mystery, but this last book was the weakest of the three.

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