The Defenceless

By Kati Hiekkapelto

When an old man is run over and killed by a Hungarian au pair, Finnish police investigator Anna Fekete soon realizes that there is more than meets the eye … and a lot more at stake. The international, bestselling Anna Fekete series continues…

***Shortlisted for the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year***
***Shortlisted for the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel***
***Winner of the Best Finnish Crime Novel of the Year***

‘Tough and powerful crime fiction’ Publishers Weekly

'Dark-souled but clear-eyed, Kati Hiekkapelto’s edgy, powerful novels grip your throat and squeeze your heart. Addictive’ A J Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

'A gut-punch of a book’ Metro

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When an old man is found dead on the road – seemingly run over by a Hungarian au pair – police investigator Anna Fekete is certain that there is more to the incident than meets the eye. As she begins to unravel an increasingly complex case, she’s led on a deadly trail where illegal immigration, drugs and, ultimately, murder threaten not only her beliefs, but her life.

Anna’s partner Esko is entrenched in a separate but equally dangerous investigation into the activities of an immigrant gang, where deportation orders and raids cause increasing tension and result in desperate measures by gang members – and the police themselves.

Then a bloody knife is found in the snow, and the two cases come together in ways that no one could have predicted. As pressure mounts, it becomes clear that having the law on their side may not be enough for Anna and Esko.

Chilling, disturbing and terrifyingly believable, The Defenceless is an extraordinary, vivid and gripping thriller by one of the most exciting new voices in crime fiction.

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'Finnish Kati Hiekkapelto deserves her growing reputation as her individual writing identity is subtly unlike that of her colleagues' Barry Forshaw, Financial Times

’There is something fresh and slightly subversive about Hiekkapelto’s writing in The Defenceless. there is something of that restless energy here, a nod to anti-authoritarian and countercultural ideas that makes the novel stand out from the pack’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue

’A taut and provocative thriller with a raging social conscience … cements Kati Hiekkapelto’s position as one of Scandi-noir’s most exciting and important new voices’ Eva Dolan, author of One Half Truth

‘Compelling, assured and gutsy … a gripping and stimulating read’ LoveReading

‘An edgy and insightful chiller with a raw and brooding narrative. Skilfully plotted and beautifully written, Hiekkapelto has given us an excellent and suspenseful crime novel’ Craig Robertson, author of Watch Him Die

'A beautifully written and many-layered mystery novel that illuminates the dangers of prejudice, while still providing a major thrill ride' Mystery Scene Magazine

‘A writer willing to take risks with her work’ Sarah Ward, author of the DC Childs mystery series

‘Seriously good! The taut elegance of the writing brilliantly contrasts the grit of the subject matter. Kati Hiekkapelto is the real deal’ Anya Lipska, author of the Kizka & Kershaw series

• Language: English
• Publisher: ORENDA BOOKS
• Release date: Aug 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781910633144

Kati Hiekkapelto

Kati Hiekkapelto was born in 1970 in Oulu, Finland. She wrote her first stories at the age of two and recorded them on cassette tapes. Kati has studied Fine Arts in Liminka Art School and Special Education at the University of Jyväskylä. The subject of her final thesis/dissertation was racist bullying in Finnish schools. She went on to work as a special-needs teacher for immigrant children. Today Kati is an international crime writer, punk singer and performance artist. Her books, The Hummingbird and The Defenceless have been translated into ten languages. The Hummingbird was shortlisted for the Petrona Award in the UK in 2015 and The Defenceless won the prize for the best Finnish Crime Novel of the Year 2014, and has been shortlisted for the prestigious Glass Key. She lives and writes in her 200-year-old farmhouse in Hailuoto, an island in the Gulf of Bothnia, North Finland. In her free time she rehearses with her band, runs, hunts, picks berries and mushrooms, and gardens. During long, dark winter months she chops wood to heat her house, shovels snow and skis. Writing seems fairly easy, after all that. Follow her on Twitter @HiekkapeltoKati or visit www.katihiekkapelto.com

Reviews for The Defenceless

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Set in Helsinki, this case begins with an old man being run over by a Hungarian au pair. She claims that he was just lying there on the road, his eyes open, and that her car slid on the icy road, and she was powerless to stop it.The title is the clue that this translated novel is more than just about what on the surface is a road accident. It is also about immigrants and refugees who have come to Finland looking for a better life, and the reality of what they find.Policewoman Anna Fekete is herself an immigrant and knows well how many of those she deals with from day to day feel. But she has a determination to make the best of life and to get on with things, which many of the victims of crime don't have.THE DEFENCELESS is the author's second novel and won the best Finnish Crime Novel in 2014

[annbury_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rate a thriller at five stars? That's something I almost never do, but this one is different. To begin with, it's a terrific thriller -- briskly paced, well plotted, with an unusual twist at the end. The story, the second available in English from this Finnish author, is set in a northern Finnish city: the backdrop, in particular the influence of climate, is vividly realized. Most of the characters are interesting and highly individualized (if not always highly likable). The central character is both convincing and appealing. And the writing/translation is supple and clear.But what gets it that fifth star is something that puts it beyond the usual thriller -- the central theme is right out of today's headlines, and it is treated brilliantly. That theme is refugee immigration into Europe, and the book gives us a 360 degree view of the issue. Our heroine is herself a refugee, though highly "Finnicized", her family having fled to Finland during the Balkan wars of the 1990's. The most obvious suspect is a Pakistani in Finland illegally, while a group of suspects who emerge gradually are members of a Muslim gang. Some of the native Finns are friendly to immigrants, while others are strongly anti-immigrant. And neither immigrants nor anti-immigrants are treated as being entirely good or bad, entirely right or wrong, or at all homogenous. This gave me an inside view of what large-scale Muslim immigration into Europe is like, from the point of view of the immigrants and from the point of view of the native-born. That's a lot more complexity, and a lot more insight, than Iusually get from a thriller.

[Sheraleehf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I would love my daughter to grow up to be Anne Fekete! A flawed heroine for our times who is admirable and engagingly human. Brilliant writing and social context, great plot, read it!

[edgoldberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A body is lying in the middle of the road and is hit by an au pair from Hungary/Serbia. This starts the ball rolling on an investigation that covers drug gangs like the Cobra and Hells Angels, illegal aliens, bigotry, pregnancy and termination.There is a lot of action but I found the book very slow going. I got this book through the NY Times book review section on Nordic Noir but will probably not read any more by this author.

[keepa leyshon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very well structured crime novel. I didn’t work out who the killer was at all!

[Lily Lee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For such a great story, a lot of audience must read your book. You can publish your work on NovelStar Mobile App

[atticusfinch1048 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Defenceless – A Stunning ThrillerKati Hiekkapelto brings us a second outing for Police Investigator Anne Fekete with a stunning thriller The Defenceless, and easy to see why this was the best Finnish Crime Novel of 2014. This is a brilliantly written Scandi-noir that is at times provocative with a wonderful social conscience that challenges our own prejudices. At the same time as Europe is tearing itself apart over immigrants and how we deal with refugees Kati Hiekkapelto pricks our conscience in this exciting thriller.An old man is found dead on an ice covered road, and a Hungarian au pair is accused of running him over, Anna Fekete is assigned the investigation and from the beginning she realises that nothing is as it seems. As the investigation grows from a seemingly innocent start becomes increasingly complex where illegal immigration, drugs and murder come to the fore. Anna’s curmudgeon of a partner Esko is involved in a separate case in which his life is at risk from not only the criminal world but his own body. He has been asked to investigate the Cobras a gang made up of immigrants who are challenging a biker gang on its territory for drugs. The Cobras already gained a reputation across Scandinavia for challenging and taking over territories and are not afraid to leave dead bodies in their wake.When two teenage girls find a bloody knife in the ever ending snow and ice of northern Finland the two separate cases come together in a way that is not expected. As Anna and Esko continue their investigations even though they may have the law on their side, the law can sometimes be a harsh tool for justice and will justice be done by the end of the book?Kati Hiekkapelto delivers a strong and powerful investigator who is a tough and powerful character who still cannot define herself, she still sees herself as an immigrant but also Finnish. She also has the same feelings of loneliness many successful career women have in that they have to make sacrifices to be successful and should be personal happiness be really sacrificed on the altar of work life balance.Kati Hiekkapelto is a brilliant new talent who is seriously good as a thriller writer, her characters continue to develop, who is not afraid to take risks and challenge the reader. Kati Hiekkapelto will continue to get better with her writing she avoids all the usual clichés with crime writing, so everybody comes across as human. The only problem for me with the setting is all that bloody snow and ice, makes me feel cold but even I will put up with the snow if it means I can have more of Anna Fekete....... please!

[wassilissa · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ein Thriller, wie auf dem Buchcover deklariert, ist das Buch sicher nicht. Dazu ist es zu wenig spannend und reißerisch. Eher ist es ein sozialkritischer Krimi, der relativ subtil das Thema "Flüchtlinge" aufgreift.Und das finde ich ziemlich gelungen, denn sowohl die Kommissarin Anna ist ein Flüchtling (Serbien), als auch einer der Verdächtigen (Pakistan). Insofern wird deutlich, dass Flucht ein Dauerthema ist, es wird klar, welche Motive die Menschen verfolgen und es wird auch klar, das niemand gern die Heimat verlässt, in der er Klima, Bräuche, Menschen, Sprache kennt.Doch das Thema ist auch nicht zu dominant, der Fall selber geht in alle Richtungen: Drogen, organisierte Kriminalität, Habgier.Finnland als Handlungsort fand ich auch interessant.