The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen - read 24.12.23 (4/5)

Curious and enjoyable book. The main character, Jaako, runs a mushroom farming and exporting business in Finland. The Japanese go big on Finnish mushrooms it appears. Jaako receives a terminal prognosis from his doctor (apparently he is being poisoned), but when he goes home to his wife, also his business partner, he discovers that she is having an affair with one of their junior employees. Convinced that his wife is both behind his murder, and is angling to take over the company, he begins a process of investigating and trying to understand her motivation and methods. To make things more complicated, a rival mushroom exporting business has been established nearby, run by a bunch of local thugs, and they are trying to poach his staff. The story is inventive, clever, funny and well written, and it is obvious that the translation from the original Finnish has obviously been very well done. As a "whodunnit" of a murder, the idea of the victim still being alive, and investigating his own homicide was inspired. The deadpan style was also fun to read, and the serious bits (a man facing his own death with possibly his wife as the main suspect for his murder is fairly serious) were nicely thoughtful. Published in 2017, the book was shortlisted for the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year and the CrimeFest Last Laugh Award.