saga norén, malmö – copenhagen

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“Saga Norén, CID Malmö.”

… always … until the end of the series!

Acts of Revenge

It starts, as a rule, as if some serial murderer is on the way killing people at random … and it’s a long way until some sort of basic pattern is obvious – at least to Saga – which leads finally to uncovering of the motive and the evildoer. Saga’s unique features of intelligence and slight autism (seems to be Asperger’s syndrome) as well as her lack of empathy, which allows her to concentrate completely on the facts, help identifying the crucial jigsaw pieces of any of the murder cases – at first glance without any connection, then some connection seems to appear. At the end there is always some final culmination of violence, perilous actions and chases with impact on the Saga and her colleagues.

Saga’s life wasn’t easy. Her mother suffered from Munchhausen Syndrome by Proxy letting her continuously ruin – slightly – the health of her daughters until Saga incriminated her parents who had to go to jail. Unfortunately her sister committed suicide – and Saga is until now, years later, deeply unhappy about all what happened. She joined the police force because of her sister’s death.

When her mother suddenly reappears and wants to get Saga to meet her dying father she avoids any contact. Unfortunately her mother presses hard and tries to subdue her again – finally by committing suicide … although arranging all facts as if Saga has killed her. Saga even has to got to prison for about a year until she is rehabilitated.

Once at large Saga resumes her former life at the police as well as private. She never had a proper relationship although she tried to live together with a nice guy for some weeks resp. months. There were one-night-stands. Finally there’s some sort of affair with a colleague …

The most stable part of Saga’s life is her work at the police. She needs her work and her obsession with murder cases to survive and to outgrow herself. Because of her demure and somewhat rude behavior she isn’t the most appreciated colleague in the office, but everybody seems to respect her feeling for investigating a case and ask the right questions.

Saga has got a small team in Malmö and she has confidence in her team members. Well, if there is a new colleague … there may be some friction … in the beginning. Together with her team she is very successful in solving crime cases. Her boss is a real friend who covers her whenever she overshoots.

… and then there is Copenhagen and the bridge, the Øresund Bridge connecting Malmö and Copenhagen i. e. Sweden and Denmark. Two countries, two attitudes towards life, two police forces … of course there is some co-operation.

One day a female corpse is found exactly on the border between Sweden and Denmark lying on the Øresund Bridge. Because of the critical site it’s obvious that there is not only a co-operation necessary, but a joint investigation with leaders from Sweden and Denmark. So Saga has to share her responsibility with a Danish colleague who isn’t amused about the shared challenge. However, they work things out and finally start to discuss ideas, question witnesses together, follow traces etc.

Saga’s partner Martin is a man in full, living and loving his life and his women. He doesn’t waste any opportunity, has got four/five children so far from – at least – three (?) women … and his wife is pregnant again. He gets deeply involved in the first joint investigation, not only him, but also his eldest son who becomes a victim. Later he kills the murderer of his son – and has to go to prison for ten years. It’s Saga who provides the crucial evidence for his sentence – not all colleagues, if in Malmö, if in Copenhagen, are happy with this action. However, Saga cannot neglect what she knows, she cannot close her eyes to any crime.

After Martin’s horrible deed there is a new partner from Copenhagen, Henrik. He has his very own destiny to manage after having lost his wife and his two daughters … they simply vanished into thin air. Henrik cannot forget his family and sees and talks to them when at home. Also he has a drug problem. Only now a skeleton is found which is his wife. Later the secrets about his daughters are disclosed. Henrik has got the same difficulties to co-operate with Saga as anybody else, but they work things out and become some sort of lovers. Finally, however, there is a separation.

From the beginning of the series Saga and Martin resp. Henrik are deeply involved in crime cases originating in Sweden as well as in Denmark. There are connections which Saga discovers and which seem often absurd at first glance. There are teams in Malmö as well as in Copenhagen – all struggling to cope with the rising number of corpses and the dangers to the public. Always the evildoer seems to fight for or against something: environment protection, child labor, drugs, exploitation, drug giants, victims of abuse … There seem to be organizations and terror cells who are behind all the murders, but finally … at the end … there is only one single person who orchestrated the whole mess – out of revenge.

People die – are they innocent? Maybe, maybe not. Police officers get involved and die. Are they innocent? Maybe, maybe not. The perpetrator always thinks that all is right whatever he does. Collateral damage? It happens …

The cases are complex and there are several strings of action along the main investigation. All seems somehow connected … in this area of Malmö and Copenhagen … where the Øresund Bridge connects two cities to become a megalopolis and where different states, administration and police forces struggle to control the evil.

By the way: Saga dashes everywhere in her green Porsche.

At the end Saga quits her job at the police.

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a faint cold fear thrills through my veins ... william shakespeare