After The Monsoon, Karjel - B

                                                This is an intriguing novel about a Swedish inspector sent to Djibouti to investigate the accidental death of a lieutenant and who is then asked to assist in the investigation of the kidnapping a wealthy Swedish family by Somali pirates. As you would expect from the central character in a burgeoning series, Ernst Grip handles both issues with aplomb and is successful. The important take away for me is the significant role of Sweden and other nations we do not associate with overseas military action. An earlier series outlined Denmark's activities in Afghanistan. Apparently, under NATO's umbrella, Nordic and other European nations have sent a meaningful number of combatants to Asia and Africa and have their own histories of deployment and the effect that has had on their countries. Part of this story, as it is part of almost every novel from Europe in the last twenty-five years, is the ongoing impact of immigration on what, in the post-war era, had been relatively homogenous societies.