Not only have Nordic or Scandinavian crime thrillers become their own unique genre, they continue to crank out increasingly talented writers who produce great stories set in this part of the world. DISSOLVED is my second time around with Sara Blaedel, but my first with her coauthor, Mads Peder Nordbo.

This outstanding novel takes place in the small Danish village of Tommerup. We are immediately set up with a serious stalker situation whereby the perpetrator kidnaps a woman, Charlotte, who is leaving the neighborhood gym. Her husband, Claus, contacts the police as soon as she fails to pick up their children from school. Even though they inform him that she may not be missing, he does not buy it. Their son is autistic, and she never would abandon him.

"DISSOLVED is a top-notch thriller that clearly spreads out the potential suspects as our dynamic police duo eventually figure everything out."

When Chief Superintendent Liam Stark and Superintendent Dea Torp take on the investigation, they begin to believe that Claus’ fears are well warranted. Charlotte never made it to work after her gym session, and her bicycle was found stashed behind a nearby dumpster. Claus is fortunate to have a strong support network that includes his pastor, Beate Nielsen, and her husband Peter, who become genuinely concerned about the disappearance of one of their parishioners.

Unfortunately, Charlotte is far from the only person to suddenly vanish in Tommerup. We witness an elderly gentleman with car trouble who is approached by someone seeking to assist him. He is alarmed when this apparently helpful stranger shows him a photo on his cell phone that he immediately identifies as Charlotte. Of course, this is indicative of him becoming the next to disappear. As the number of victims begin to mount, Liam and Dea are in a race against the clock to produce some sort of connection that might link all of them.

The police are confused as to whether or not this is the work of a serial killer or kidnapper, especially as the bodies of the missing have yet to turn up anywhere. The other issue is the calling card being left behind after each abduction in the form of a different religious passage from the Quran. This forces Liam and Dea to involve their Muslim colleague Nassrin on the case --- at least up until the point when she herself is abducted.

With the culprit seemingly laughing in the face of the police with his bold and frequent kidnappings, the pressure becomes almost unbearable on Liam and Dea. They must tread carefully as they do not want the public to participate in any hate crimes against the Muslim community based on the fact that the local press has tabbed the perp as the Quran Killer.

The victims are being kept somewhere that is literally dissolving their bodies the longer they are detained there. I will leave that image to the readers’ imagination. Let me just say that Blaedel and Nordbo have come up with an extremely dangerous and devious circumstance to threaten these innocent people. DISSOLVED is a top-notch thriller that clearly spreads out the potential suspects as our dynamic police duo eventually figure everything out.