The Man Who Died cover art

The Man Who Died

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

The Man Who Died

By: Antti Tuomainen, David Hackston
Narrated by: Kris Dyer
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

A successful entrepreneur in the mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just 37 years of age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he's dying. What is more, the cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone has slowly but surely been poisoning him.

Determined to find out who wants him dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful roller-coaster journey full of unusual characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists. With a nod to Fargo and the best elements of the Scandinavian noir tradition, The Man Who Died is a thriller brimming with the blackest comedy surrounding life and death, and love and betrayal, marking a stunning new departure for the king of Helsinki Noir.

©2017 Antti Tuomainen (P)2017 Audible, Ltd Amateur Sleuths Crime Crime Fiction Crime Thrillers Dark Humour Fiction Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Medical Modern Detectives Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Detective Exciting Feel-Good Funny Witty Comedy
All stars
Most relevant  
So on the face of it a book about mushroom farmers might seem rather dull, but trust me, The Man Who Dies is far from that. The title itself almost sounds like it should be a spy novel and I guess it is a kind of whodunit.
If you found out you were going to die due to poisoning, what would you do? Would you accept your fate and just enjoy the life you have left, or would you turn detective and try to find out who had done this to you and why? Jaakko Kaunismaa decides to do the latter.
Throughout the book you are taken through events through the perspective of Jaakko. He tries to continue to run his business and stave off the competition that has recently started trading close by, whilst trying to discover the people behind the attack on his life. You really do have to admire how he handles everything even down to securing the loyalty of his staff when it becomes apparent that his rivals are trying to poach them.
I have to say I really loved this book. Listening to it on Audiobook I found I was out for over 1 ½ hrs and 15 chapters in before I even thought to check what the time was. I was easily drawn into the life of Jaakko and his work colleagues and was rooting for him to find out not just who but also the why. Just as he was mentally ticking off the suspects in his head I was doing the same. Despite the fact that it was dealing with the imminent death of someone the story was injected with bouts of humour throughout and as much as I was going ewwww, I was also chuckling.
The book might not be fast paced but there certainly is enough going on to keep you reading to the end. I guess the only question I was left with by then end was about the fate of Viekko the hedgehog.

Chuckle along with this story about a murder

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story.

Very slow reading pace that I’ve had to listen at 1.25x (I normally listen at normal speed for all my other audible books).

Great Scandi Noir

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed this. Humorous & clever. Twists & turns enough to make it interesting, and so darkly funny.
Surprising who dunnit, with great central character.

Finnish crime

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Having read great reviews on Amazon, I was so disappointed with the narrator. Gave up!.

dog walker sussex

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Overall a good book. Decent narration. wasn't blown away by this book but it was an easy listen

Good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a great crime novel with gritt, comedy and philosophy in exactly the right mixture.

The narrator does a great job in rendering both Finnish and Japanese names. He adds and deepens the joy of a brilliant story.

Excellent Scandinavian

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Slow but intriguing thriller. I enjoyed it but the Finnish place and peoples' names were mangled. For comedy value listen to the mangling of Isoympärikatu, but only for Finnish speakers. I'm afraid the terrible pronunciation jarred, but if you don't speak Finnish then a gently moving thriller with an odd set of twists at the end.

Intriguing story but Finnish words mangled

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I must admit I thought I had my fill of Scandi Noir after ploughing my way through the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. This however tempted me in with a very promising storyline. A thriller based around the Finnish Mushroom industry is definitely unusual and when you add a charming and self-deprecating hero who handles the news of his imminent demise with bemusement, you really are in for a refreshing treat. This is a story that keeps you in the dark until the very end and delivers an almost equal quantity of laughs and thrills along the way. People say this reminds them of Fargo and I think they are spot on.
Kris Dyer presents this very well. His voice reminds me of David Mitchell (of Mitchell and Webb) and his natural sparkle is perfect for this material. This I my first book by Antti Toumainen and after this I will be in the market for more. Overall this is a 10/10 from me and a great pleasure to find a new and original author to enjoy.

Innovative thriller with a wry sense of humour

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A refreshingly original story, told with understated black humour, and beautifully delivered by the narrator.

Clever, wry and absorbing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Humorous and sometimes irreverent, but never boring, a crime story with a difference that will not disappoint especially if you are not a person who reads the genre all the time, and a breath of fresh air if you do.

A very entertaining read with a good plot and a likeable character that keeps you engaged and smiling.

A murder with some humour.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews