Alexander McCall Smith's Swedish sleuth Ulf Varg makes his eBook debut in a Valentine's Day puzzle for the super-cool detective with the cult following on Twitter.

Short story available free online at https://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.u... (UK & world) and at https://www.alexandermccallsmith.com/... (North America) This could be described as an early draft of the first case in full-length Varg novel, The Department of Sensitive Crimes. Readers familiar with that novel will note differences in pertinent details like character names, situations and even Varg's marriage.

Detective Ulf Varg from the Department of Sensitive Crimes is often called upon to investigate unusual matters. But rarely is he asked to conduct an inquiry on behalf of his own family. Is such a thing ethical? Adding to Ulf’s moral discomfort is the fact that he does not exactly see eye to eye with his younger brother Bjorn—a leading player in one of Sweden’s right-wing parties, the Moderate Extremists. Still, family is family, so Ulf finds himself working to uncover the mole leaking secrets to a rival party, the Extreme Moderates. All of this in addition to his responsibilities to the Department, which include investigating a case of cat-related sabotage. As always, it’s up to Ulf to close the case . . . even if he encounters unexpected resistance from the victims themselves. From literary master McCall Smith, this is a bewitching short foray, witty and warm, into Scandinavian mystery. A Vintage Short original. An ebook short.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes is Scandinavian Blanc, vastly different from Scandinavian Noir. There is nothing noir about the world of Ulf Varg, Detective Inspector in the Sensitive Crimes Department of the Criminal Investigation Authority for the city of Malmö, Sweden. Ulf is concerned with odd, but not too threatening crimes, such as a stab wound to the back of the knee caused by an unknown hand, young women who allow their desperation for a boyfriend to get the better of them, and peculiar goings-on in a spa on Sweden's south coast. Of course, Ulf is a Swedish detective, and Swedish detectives, by convention, lead lives beset with problems of one sort or another. For a start, there is his name: Ulf means “wolf” in modern Swedish, and Varg derives from the Old Norse word for “wolf”. But his character is far from vulpine: Ulf is a sympathetic, well-educated, and likeable man, with a knowledge of and interest in Scandinavian- and modern art. He has a dog named Marten, the only dog in Sweden capable of lip-reading (but only in Swedish). Martin becomes depressed and needs treatment. Dogs in Sweden are apparently particularly prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). But this is summer—so there must be something else going on. Ulf has a number of colleagues into whose lives we gain insight. There is Anna, married to an anaesthetist, but very fond of Ulf; Erik, whose sole interest is fishing; Carl, whose father is a famous Lutheran theologian who has written a book on Danish philosopher Kierkegaard; then there is Blomquist from the uniformed branch, who goes on and on about his health problems but seems to have extraordinary luck in investigations. There is also Ulf's psychotherapist, Dr. Svensson, whose observations on Ulf's life—and many other topics—enlightens...or possibly confuses. The Department of Sensitive Crimes is the first full-length novel in the Detective Varg series.

In the second installment in the best-selling Detective Varg Novels, Ulf and his team investigate a notorious lothario—a wolf of a man whose bad reputation may, much to his chagrin, be all bark and no bite. The Department of Sensitive Crimes, renowned for taking on the most obscure and irrelevant cases, led by Ulf Varg, their best detective, is always prepared to take on an investigation, no matter how complex. So when Ulf is approached by the girlfriend of Trig Oloffson, who claims her beau (the infamous bad boy of Swedish letters) is being blackmailed, Ulf is determined to help. It turns out that this wild bear of a man may be more of a teddy. And while Swedes are notoriously tolerant, finding out that their beloved rough and tumble ink slinger is more likely to use a pen than a sword . . . well, there are limits. Even for the Swedish. The case requires all of Ulf's concentration, but he finds himself distracted by his brother's questionable politics and meteoric rise within the Moderate Extremist Party and by his own constant attraction to his married co-worker Anna. When Ulf is then tasked with looking into a group of dealers exporting wolves that seem decidedly domestic, it will require all of his team's investigative instincts and dogged persistence to put these matters to bed.

Perplexing, unfathomable, and perhaps unimportant, the cases that Malmö’s Department of Sensitive Crimes take on will test them to their limits. Life—and crime—is not always as it seems for Ulf Varg and the other fearless detectives in Malmö's Department of Sensitive Crimes. There are always surprising new cases to take on, and the latest batch is no exception. And that's not to mention Ulf's struggle to contain his feelings for his colleague Anna Bengsdotter. All in all, things are distinctly difficult in Malmö, and it seems up to Ulf and the Department to set them right.

In the new Detective Varg novel, Ulf Varg's future with the Department of Sensitive Crimes is put to the test, but in the face of upheaval he must forge ahead with the latest delicate case that will take him out of the streets of Malmö and into the great forests of Sweden. The Department of Sensitive Crimes has been asked to downsize in light of a recent downturn of sensitive crime, and staff members are wondering who among them will be transferred elsewhere. As the bickering between colleagues intensifies, Ulf tries his best to stay above the fray. In the midst of all this, Ulf embarks on an important inquiry: a wealthy businessman's holiday cabin has mysteriously disappeared from its spot in the woods and Ulf is tasked with finding out what happened. How exactly does one steal a house? And, more to the point, how does one track down a stolen house? Meanwhile, a promising veterinary treatment for deafness in dogs has been announced, and Ulf's dog, Martin, might be the perfect patient. This latest novel is another masterful, farcical installment in the series that defines the genre that Alexander McCall Smith is singlehandedly championing: Scandi blanc.