The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen – Blog Tour Review.

About the Book

A successful entrepreneur in the mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just 37 years of age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he’s dying. What is more, the cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone has slowly but surely been poisoning him. Determined to find out who wants him dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful rollercoaster journey full of unusual characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists. With a nod to Fargo and the best elements of the Scandinavian noir tradition, The Man Who Died is a page-turning thriller brimming with the blackest comedy surrounding life and death, and love and betrayal, marking a stunning new departure for the King of Helsinki Noir.

My Review

The Man Who Died is a dark, extremely funny novel about the murder of Jaakko. He has not yet died but he knows that his death is imminent and that somebody else is responsible for it. You might think that this book would be depressing but it’s not. Not even Jaakko is depressed, he just wants to find out who wants him dead, eat ice cream and chocolate and drink cola. Without having to worry about weight gain. There was no self-pity, at times he found his situation comical. Even the parts that should have been hurtful, embarrassing or annoying were just accepted.
There were parts of this novel where I couldn’t talk for laughing. It reminded me of a Coen Brothers movie I watched years ago when I had the same reaction. Once I had that image, I started to see this book as a film. I even picked the cast, strangely the lead actor is mentioned later in the book.
As with many reviews, it is easy to reveal too much in a review. There are only a few characters and many bizarre situations that made me think I knew who the murderer was, only to find out that I had been duped. After a while, I gave up trying to work out who had murdered Jaakko and just enjoyed every bit of it.
It is at times slapstick, but original and I could visualize everything as I was reading, unfortunately it could be a while before I eat mushroom soup again.
It will probably be a long time before I read a novel as funny as this

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.