The Man Who Died by Antti Toumainen

 


Think of Scandinavian noir, Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbø, Arnaldur Indriðason, Jussi Adler-Olsen - harsh language, disturbing hyperviolence, multiple violations against humanity. If we liken the above authors' crime fiction to bitter chocolate, then a novel by Antti Toumainen would be a delicious chocolate bar. I mean this in the most positive, generous way possible. Antti Toumainen of Finland writes captivating crime fiction seasoned with unexpected sweetness and tenderness.

On the opening pages of The Man Who Died, our thirty-seven-year-old narrator/protagonist, lovable Jaakko Kaunismaa, co-owner with his wife of a highly successful mushroom company, is about to receive a shock: his doctor informs him he's been poisoned little by little and, considering the buildup of toxins in his system, it's something of a miracle he's still alive.

Facing the inevitability of taking his last breath today, tomorrow, or next week, Jaakko walks out of the doctor's office as a man on a mission: to discover who poisoned him and why.

Rather than returning to his own office, Jaakko heads home where he received the second shock of the day - Taina, his wife of seven years, is out on the back patio engaged in a furious round of lovemaking with Petri, their first full-time employee, their main driver, a handsome lad who looks as if he could be featured in a bodybuilding magazine.

"Taina has her back to me. Her broad back is gleaming with sweat, her round, strong buttocks glow like a pair of ruddy cheeks. She is riding Petri as though she were trying to climb a mountainside on horseback: her feet are placed firmly on the patio decking and her hips are pumping, encouraging the horse to give all it's got. It's an impressive sight."

Does Jaakko rush the couple wielding the iron bar that's now leaning against the side of the woodshed? Decidedly 'no' - Jaakko isn't that type of guy, not at all, and, besides which, Jaakko needs material evidence to prove his wife is the one who poisoned him. Additionally, in his weakened state, Jaakko desperately craves the cool air of his car's air conditioner. Thus he retreats and drives off.

As if his doctor's verdict and watching his wife screwing Petri isn't enough, on the very same morning Jaakko initiates action that will prompt a series of violent encounters - he enters the empty building of a recent competitor, The Hamina Mushroom Company (the novel's setting is in and around Hamina, a town along the Southeastern coast of Finland).

Sure enough, shortly thereafter, the three men who head up The Hamina Mushroom Company confront Jaakko. Watching and listening to this trio in action, I'm reminded of those three crude, rude, nasty, murderous farmers from Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox - Boggis, Bunce and Bean, one fat, one short, one lean. This to say, Antti Toumainen injects hefty helpings of black comedy into his tale.

We follow Jaakko as he takes on the role of amateur detective searching out the truth. One key employee Jaakko must deal with is Sanni. To share a taste of Antti Toumainen's charming storytelling, here's Sanni sitting on her front steps though the eyes of Jaakko:

"Her long auburn hair covers her face and gleams in the sunshine like a new copper roof. As she ties her shoe laces her fingers are quick, agile, seemingly used to finding things, assessing and picking them. Sanni is the same age as me. She is our harvest coordinator; she knows the local terrain like the back of her hand and makes sure our pickers are efficient, able to exercise quality control by themselves, and that they work where they are supposed to. Sanni is divorced and now lives alone, and to my knowledge she is perfectly content with that situation."

Of course, in addition to discovering who's the poisoner and his role as manager, Jaakko must also face the reality of his own mortality. In this way The Man Who Died is not only a thriller but a deeply moving meditation on life and death. As we turn the pages we feel more and more for sweet Jaakko in his plight as victim. Thus the novel takes on a poignancy not usually encountered in crime fiction. As by way of example, here's Jaakko musing on his mushroom company and his brief time on Earth:

"This is my creation. Not only mine, of course, but this is what I have spent years buildings. And with things as they are at the moment, this is my life, my purpose. I have no heirs and I don't have much time. What I have now is all that will be left of me.
The mushrooms."

The Man Who Died - a touching tale, a rewarding, satisfying read.