Author: Katrine Engberg
Published: 2021
Rating: 3/5
A serial killer is on the loose in Copenhagen. Three bodies have been discovered in fountains throughout the city; all the blood drained from their bodies. There are few leads to go on to find the killer before the next victim.
Investigator Jeppe Korner is thrust into a race against time as he works to prevent the next murder, and also his firing as the police superintendent becomes increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress on the case. It doesn’t help that his usual partner, Annette Werner, is out on maternity leave. Werner can’t resist the thrill of the chase however, and begins her own armchair sleuthing.
Sharing tips with each other, Korner and Werner begin to piece together a puzzle that ties the victims and suspects back to The Butterfly House, a closed down rehabilitation facility for mentally ill teens. Things are not what they seem, and Engberg’s compelling prose eventually winds the reader down a trail that culminates in a high stakes showdown that puts everything on the line for the protagonists.
The Butterfly House is a unique police procedural containing plenty of mystery and compelling characters.