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Alexander McCall Smith makes the irrelevant relevant in The Talented Mr. Varg (Pantheon), a satirical social commentary on the mundane.

Ulf Varg is not your average police inspector — a Scandinavian art enthusiast who loves books about cooking, travel, art and the krimis crime novels he reads for pure entertainment. He’s a sensitive man in a perfectly sensible job — a detective with the Department of Sensitive Crimes — in Malmö, Sweden. Of course, he routinely corrects people after introductions when they mistake it for The Department of Sensible Crimes, or The Department of Strange Affairs. But such is life.

Varg listens to “the same old complaints of humanity.” Isn’t that the job of a detective? But too often, he catches himself contemplating the meaning of life, sometimes fearing he might just be too sensitive for the work he must do. 

It’s the job of Sensitive Crimes to “assess the social and personal harm, and if it’s serious, … take action.” It is the department’s duty “to look into unusual examples of criminality,” many times the obscure and irrelevant. “It’s all very polite Stuff. Very Swedish.” The only department like it in the world. 

But others in the police department aren’t so sure about it. “All crime is sensitive,” they argue. Their resentment causes them to devise special rules for the Sensitive Crimes unit, such as different and more complicated procedures for the ordering of supplies — a passive-aggressive method to inform Sensitive Crimes they aren’t so special. 

Varg tries not to concern himself with such pettiness. He thinks, as he’s often thought, “there was a time for childishness, just as there was a time for being adult. The important thing was to know which time was which.”

A divorcee, Varg combats his loneliness with his dog, Martin. Deaf and depressed, Martin is the only dog in Sweden who can lip-read. Although the vet treats him for depression, more likely than not, Martin is cheered up by going to Pilates class with his dog sitter, Mrs. Högfors.

Varg’s brother, Björn, is the leader of Sweden’s Moderate Extremist Party, not to be confused with the Extreme Moderate Party. Varg isn’t much for politics, deciding the most effective political message might be something as simple as “Free sandwiches for all, for life.” Who could resist voting for that?

When Varg attends a Saturday group therapy session recommended by his psychoanalyst, a woman in the group asks him to investigate the blackmail of her renowned novelist husband. At the same time, Anna — his fellow investigator whom he secretly loves — asks Varg to verify whether her husband is having an affair. 

As Varg investigates both cases, he makes some unusual discoveries, reminding him that sometimes things aren’t what they seem at all. Frequently, reality is the opposite of what we first assume, and, more often than not, innocent explanations resolve the situation. 

Amid dealing with mundane discussions with colleagues — suffering from prickly heat and how to rid oneself from toenail fungal infections — to the persistent angst embedded within all Swedish souls, Varg admits that often all one can do is sigh. He acknowledges that sighing is “sometimes the only reaction one could muster to the world. That was what the world provoked in us — a sigh; for all the things we had to do that we did not want to do; for all the things that we had not done but that we would have liked to have done; for all that and more.”

This witty tongue-in-cheek examination of the routine is a reminder that none of us — even those with wealth and power — should take ourselves too seriously. We can’t help but love Ulf Varg, laughing when we recognize the small things in life that both confound our sensibilities and make every day worth living.

As Martin’s dogsitter, Mrs Högfors, often declares, “The world is a funny place.” Varg can’t agree more.

Genre: Thrillers

K.L. Romo

K. L. Romo writes about life on the fringe: teetering dangerously on the edge is more interesting than standing safely in the middle. She is passionate about women’s issues, loves noisy clocks and fuzzy blankets, but HATES the word normal. She blogs about books at Romo's Reading Room. For more, visit klromo.com, @klromo on Twitter and @k.l.romo on Instagram.

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