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How long does it take to read Woman with a Birthmark?

Håkan Nesser

Woman with a Birthmark by Håkan Nesser takes about 6 hours 9 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

Book 4 of Inspector Van Veeteren mystery

Previous: The Return

About 6 hours 9 minutes

A weekend read

First published 2009. 335 pages, about 92,125 words.

13 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 10 hours 14 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 6 hours 9 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 3 hours 50 minutes

The page count is the median across 2 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

A mother's dying wish sealed with a deadly promise. Four men with a secret they thought they'd buried decades ago. A detective in love. A man desperate to live despite the shadow of his guilty past.After hearing her mother's deathbed confession and following the dreary funeral, Maria Adler realizes she has no other option but to seize upon her mother's imperative to do something. Dissolving the life she loathes, Maria changes her appearance and disappears. When she emerges, revenge is her sole occupation. Inspector Van Veeteren and his associates are left bewildered by the curious murder of a man shot twice in the heart and twice below the belt. He was a quiet, utterly dull man, and the only suspicious activity his surviving wife can recall is a series of peculiar phone calls. Repeatedly the telephone would ring, offering nothing but the words of an obscure pop song from the 1960s. This siren song is linked to an identical murder, but the true link between these heinous crimes remains unknown, while a daughter's pride grows with the satisfaction of vengeance and another detective's lover offers telling insights that only an outsider could deduce.With the critical eye and cool observation necessary for a successful chess match, Van Veeteren pursues his subject across the country, wading through outrageous leads and fruitless tips. A breathless thriller full of deception, blackmail, and cold murder, Woman with Birthmark is a chilling read.From the Hardcover edition.

Subjects: Mystery, Murder, Police, Fiction, Investigation

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