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Cozy Mystery Book Club

Join us to discuss a different cozy mystery on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Leonardtown Library. Be ready to talk about a genre that puts us all at ease while keeping us on our toes.

A little humorous, a little mysterious, The Department of Sensitive Crimes is the first book in Alexander McCall Smith's Detective Varg mysteries and the selection for this month.

The story centers on Ulf Varg, Detective Inspector in the Sensitive Crimes Department of the Criminal Investigation Authority for the city of Malmö, Sweden. He generally investigates crimes that are not too threatening, but definitely odd. Like all Swedish detectives, Ulf leads a life beset with problems of one sort or another. His name, Ulf Varg, literally translates to "wolf wolf," but he is far from vulpine, considering himself a sympathetic, well-educated, and likeable man with an interest in both Scandinavian and modern art.

Throughout this first novel of the series, we get to meet Ulf, the crimes he investigates, and his colleagues. His dog Marten, the only dog in Sweden capable of lipreading, is possibly suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. His colleague Erik is only interested in fishing. Carl is the son of a famous Lutheran theologian. Ulf's psychotherapist, Dr. Svensson, makes observations on Ulf that both enlighten and confuse him. Then there's the time someone was stabbed in the back of the knee and the peculiar goings-on in a spa on Sweden's south coast. It seems the sensitive crimes never cease.

Find physical copies of the book in our catalog; search for digital versions on Libby or on the Palace Project app

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