Gunnar Staalesen – författare

This is one of Scandinavia's top crime writers in the tradition of Henning Mankell. It was one of those days in February of which there are far too many, despite its being the shortest month of the year. February is the year's parenthesis. The tax forms have already been sent in and the tourist season has not yet started: there is nothing on the schedule. Greyish-brown slush lay in the gutters and the hills around the city were barely visible through the fog. Like the golden buttons on the waistcoat of a forgotten snowman, you could just make out the lights of the funicular up the hillside and the street lamps were lit even in the middle of the day...In this crime drama detective Varg Veum's adventures lead him into a dark world of privileged teenage girls who have been drawn into drugs and prostitution. The situation worsens when the local judge is discovered in a luxury hotel, dead and clad only in women's lingerie. Called in by anxious parents to look for a missing daughter and explain the judge's death, Varg finds clues that lead him only deeper into Bergen's criminal underworld.

'The Norwegian Chandler' Jo Nesbø'One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors' Ian RankinMORE THAN FIVE MILLION BOOKS SOLD WORLDWIDEAn unbearably tense thriller of revenge, murder, bereavement and the destructive force of passionIt is at their 'torture chamber', a hut in the pinewoods nearby, that Varg Veum, Private Investigator, first encounters the gang's pathetic but deadly ferocity. Eight-year-old Roar's bicycle had been stolen and not an adult in sight dared retrieve it. But that preliminary brush with youthful violence is nothing compared to what awaited Veum when he got to know Roar's blue-eyed, shy yet sensuous mother, Wenche Andresen, and her estranged husband, Jonas. Veum's attempts to break up Joker and his pack of young thugs by enlisting the help of the local youth club leader proves a dead end. But not so dead as the man who found lying prone with a knife in his back on the floor of Andresen's flat. Yours Until Death is an unbearably tense novel of revenge and murder about marriage, childhood, bereavement and the destructive force of passion. First published in Norwegian in 1979, it was described by the critic Nils Nordberg as 'one of the finest, most serious, most ambitious books in post-war Norwegian crime writing'.Translated from the Norwegian by Margaret Amassian

The 25-year-old case of a missing girl sees Varg Veum dig deep into the past to find her kidnapper, as the secrets and lies of a tiny community threaten everything … Gunnar Staalesen’s award-winning, international bestselling Varg Veum series continues in this chilling Nordic Noir thriller.***WINNER of the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year***'Mature and captivating’ Herald Scotland‘One of the finest Nordic novelists – in the tradition of Henning Mankell’ Barry Forshaw, Independent‘Masterful pacing’ Publishers Weekly_________________September 1977. Mette Misvær, a three-year-old girl disappears without trace from the sandpit outside her home. Her tiny, close middle-class community in the tranquil suburb of Nordas is devastated, but their enquiries and the police produce nothing. Curtains twitch, suspicions are raised, but Mette is never found.Almost 25 years later, as the expiry date for the statute of limitations draws near, Mette’s mother approaches PI Varg Veum, in a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. As Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets, lies and shocking events that have been methodically concealed. When another brutal incident takes place, a pattern begins to emerge…Shocking, unsettling and full of extraordinary twists and turns, Where Roses Never Die reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost thriller writers. _________________Praise for Gunnar Staalesen'There is a world-weary existential sadness that hangs over his central detective. The prose is stripped back and simple … deep emotion bubbling under the surface – the real turmoil of the characters’ lives just under the surface for the reader to intuit, rather than have it spelled out for them’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ Publishers Weekly'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent‘With an expositional style that is all but invisible, Staalesen masterfully compels us from the first pages … If you’re a fan of Varg Veum, this is not to be missed, and if you’re new to the series, this is one of the best ones. You’re encouraged to jump right in, even if the Norwegian names can be a bit confusing to follow’ Crime Fiction Lover‘With short, smart, darkly punchy chapters Wolves at the Door is a provocative and gripping read’ LoveReading‘Haunting, dark and totally noir, a great read’ New Books Magazine‘An upmarket Philip Marlowe’ Maxim Jakubowski, The Bookseller‘Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest’ Quentin Bates

On the path to self-destruction after the death of his girlfriend, things take a turn for the worse, when child pornography is found on Varg Veum’s computer and he must battle to prove his innocence … the chilling new instalment in the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir.  ‘Mature and captivating’ Rosemary Goring, Herald Scotland‘Moving, uncompromising’ Publishers Weekly––––––––––––––––––––––––  Reeling from the death of his great love, Karin, Varg Veum’s life has descended into a self-destructive spiral of alcohol, lust, grief and blackouts.When traces of child pornography are found on his computer, he’s accused of being part of a paedophile ring and thrown into a prison cell. There, he struggles to sift through his past to work out who is responsible for planting the material … and who is seeking the ultimate revenge.When a chance to escape presents itself, Varg finds himself on the run in his hometown of Bergen. With the clock ticking and the police on his tail, Varg takes on his hardest – and most personal – case yet.Dark, emotive and compulsive, Wolves in the Dark is the absorbing, shocking next instalment in the addictive Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir.  ––––––––––––––––––––––––Praise for Gunnar Staalesen'There is a world-weary existential sadness that hangs over his central detective. The prose is stripped back and simple … deep emotion bubbling under the surface – the real turmoil of the characters’ lives just under the surface for the reader to intuit, rather than have it spelled out for them’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue  ‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times‘Chilling and perilous results — all told in a pleasingly dry style’ Sunday Times‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ Publishers Weekly  'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland  'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent  ‘Not many books hook you in the first chapter – this one did, and never let go!’ Mari Hannah‘With an expositional style that is all but invisible, Staalesen masterfully compels us from the first pages … If you’re a fan of Varg Veum, this is not to be missed, and if you’re new to the series, this is one of the best ones. You’re encouraged to jump right in, even if the Norwegian names can be a bit confusing to follow’ Crime Fiction Lover‘With short, smart, darkly punchy chapters Wolves at the Door is a provocative and gripping read’ LoveReading‘Haunting, dark and totally noir, a great read’ New Books Magazine‘An upmarket Philip Marlowe’ Maxim Jakubowski, The Bookseller‘Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest’ Quentin Bates

Varg Veum is persuaded to take on the case of a missing teenager, by a half-sister he didn’t know he had, in a case that quickly becomes personal … A dark, chilling and startling relevant new instalment in the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir.  ***Shortlisted for the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year***  ‘Staalesen continually reminds us why he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Barry Forshaw, Financial Times  ‘Chilling and perilous’ Sunday Times‘Employs Chandleresque similes with a Nordic Noir twist’ Wall Street Journal––––––––––––––––––––––––  Varg Veum receives a surprise visit in his office. A woman introduces herself as his half-sister, and she has a job for him. Her god-daughter, a 19-year-old trainee nurse from Haugesund, moved from her bedsit in Bergen two weeks ago. Since then no one has heard anything from her. She didn't leave an address. She doesn't answer her phone. And the police refuse to take her case seriously.Veum’s investigation uncovers a series of carefully covered-up crimes and pent-up hatreds, and the trail leads to a gang of extreme bikers on the hunt for a group of people whose dark deeds are hidden by the anonymity of the Internet. And then things get personal…Chilling, shocking and exceptionally gripping, Big Sister reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost thriller writers.  ––––––––––––––––––––––––Praise for Gunnar Staalesen  ‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times‘Chilling and perilous results — all told in a pleasingly dry style’ Sunday Times‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ Publishers Weekly  'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland  'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent  ‘Not many books hook you in the first chapter – this one did, and never let go!’ Mari Hannah‘With an expositional style that is all but invisible, Staalesen masterfully compels us from the first pages … If you’re a fan of Varg Veum, this is not to be missed, and if you’re new to the series, this is one of the best ones. You’re encouraged to jump right in, even if the Norwegian names can be a bit confusing to follow’ Crime Fiction Lover‘With short, smart, darkly punchy chapters Wolves at the Door is a provocative and gripping read’ LoveReading‘Haunting, dark and totally noir, a great read’ New Books Magazine

The wolves are no longer in the dark … they are at his door. And they want vengeance … The next instalment in the international, bestselling Varg Veum series by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir …  ‘One of the finest Nordic novelists - in the tradition of Henning Menkell’ Barry Forshaw, Independent‘Masterful pacing’ Publishers Weekly  'Mature and captivating’ Herald Scotland‘The Norwegian Chandler’ Jo Nesbø––––––––––––––––––––––––One dark January night a car drives at high speed towards PI Varg Veum, and comes very close to killing him. Veum is certain this is no accident, following so soon after the deaths of two jailed men who were convicted for their participation in a case of child pornography and sexual assault … crimes that Veum himself once stood wrongly accused of committing.While the guilty men were apparently killed accidentally, Varg suspects that there is something more sinister at play … and that he’s on the death list of someone still at large.Fearing for his life, Veum begins to investigate the old case, interviewing the victims of abuse and delving deeper into the brutal crimes, with shocking results. The wolves are no longer in the dark … they are at his door.  ––––––––––––––––––––––––Praise for Gunnar Staalesen  ‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times‘Chilling and perilous results — all told in a pleasingly dry style’ Sunday Times‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ Publishers Weekly  'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland  'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent‘Not many books hook you in the first chapter – this one did, and never let go!’ Mari Hannah‘With an expositional style that is all but invisible, Staalesen masterfully compels us from the first pages … If you’re a fan of Varg Veum, this is not to be missed, and if you’re new to the series, this is one of the best ones. You’re encouraged to jump right in, even if the Norwegian names can be a bit confusing to follow’ Crime Fiction Lover‘With short, smart, darkly punchy chapters Wolves at the Door is a provocative and gripping read’ LoveReading‘Haunting, dark and totally noir, a great read’ New Books Magazine

Ever-dogged Bergen PI Varg Veum is forced to dig deep into his own past as he investigates the murder of a former classmate. Vintage, classic Nordic Noir from international bestselling author Gunnar Staalesen.‘A vibrant look at the life, loves and betrayals of the past and the ways in which their tentacles cling, never letting you go’ John Harvey  ‘One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors’ Ian Rankin‘Masterful pacing’ Publishers Weekly***Now a major TV series starring Trond Espen Seim***________________Exploring his own dark memories may be the only way to find a killer…When Bergen PI Varg Veum finds himself at the funeral of a former classmate on a sleet-grey December afternoon, he’s unexpectedly reunited with his old friend Jakob – guitarist of the once-famous 1960s rock band The Harpers – and his estranged wife, Rebecca, Veum’s first love.Their rekindled friendship is thrown into jeopardy by the discovery of a horrific murder, and Veum is forced to dig deep into his own adolescence and his darkest memories, to find a motive … and a killer.Tense, vivid and deeply unsettling, Fallen Angels is the spellbinding, award-winning thriller that secured Gunnar Staalesen’s reputation as one of the world’s foremost crime writers.________________Praise for Gunnar Staalesen'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbø' Independent  ‘Well worth reading, with the rest of Staalesen’s award-winning series’ New York Journal of Books‘Staalesen continually reminds us why he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times‘The Norwegian Chandler’ Jo Nesbø‘Not many books hook you in the first chapter – this one did, and never let go!’ Mari Hannah‘Chilling and perilous results — all told in a pleasingly dry style’ Sunday Times‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ Publishers Weekly'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland‘Gunnar Staalesen is a master of the PI genre, and with Fallen Angels he is at the top of his game’ Live Many Lives  ‘It is a story full of mystery, of uncertainty and threat … a truly thought-provoking read’ Jen Med’s Book Review

Fresh from rehab, Norwegian PI Varg Veum faces his most complex investigation yet, when a man is found drowned, a young woman disappears, and the case of a missing child is revived. The classic Nordic Noir series continues…‘As searing and gripping as they come’ New York Times ‘One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors’ Ian Rankin‘The Norwegian Chandler’ Jo Nesbø ***Now a major TV series starring Trond Espen Seim***________________________PI Varg Veum has returned to duty following a stint in rehab, but his new composure and resolution are soon threatened when a challenging assignment arrives on his desk.A man is found dead in an elite swimming pool and a young woman has gone missing. Most chillingly, Varg Veum is asked to investigate the ‘Camilla Case’: an eight-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of a little girl, who was never found.As the threads of these apparently unrelated crimes come together, against the backdrop of a series of shocking environmental crimes, Varg Veum faces the most challenging, traumatic investigation of his career.________________________ 'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbø' Independent‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times ‘There are only two other writers that I know of have achieved the depth of insight in detective writing that Staalesen has: Chandler, and Ross MacDonald …’ Mystery Tribune ‘Employs Chandleresque similes with a Nordic Noir twist … simply superb’ Wall Street Journal‘Masterful pacing’ Publishers Weekly 'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland ‘Unsettling, moving, sad, hopeful and hopeless … it’s rich and it’s sharp and it’s cynical and sentimental all at once’ NB Magazine ‘A complex, layered plot in which human tragedy and mystery combine to play out beautifully in a classic Nordic noir with a touch of Christie’ Live & Deadly For fans of Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, Jorn Lier Horst, Harlan Coben and Jussi Adler-Olse

As Bergen PI Varg Veum investigates two different cases, it becomes clear that they are uncannily similar to harrowing events that took place thirty-six years earlier… A gripping instalment of the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir.Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers.  Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling – and increasingly uncanny – similarities to events that took place thirty-six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car off a cliff, in an apparent double suicide.  As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail … and at terrifying cost...  A chilling, dark and twisting story of love and revenge, Mirror Image is Staalesen at his most thrilling, thought-provoking best.

When Bergen PI Varg Veum becomes involved in the disappearance of a young activist, he comes up against one village’s particular brand of justice … The international bestselling, critically acclaimed Varg Veum series returns…  `As searing and gripping as they come´ New York Times  `One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors´ Ian Rankin  `The Norwegian Chandler´ Jo Nesbø  When Varg Veum reads the newspaper headline ’Young Man Missing’, he realises he’s seen the youth just a few days earlier – at a crossroads in the countryside, with his two friends. It turns out that the three were on their way to a demonstration against a commercial fish-farming facility in the tiny village of Solvik, north of Bergen.  Varg heads to Solvik, initially out of curiosity, but when he chances upon a dead body in the sea, he’s pulled into a dark and complex web of secrets, feuds and jealousies.  Is the body he’s found connected to the death of a journalist who was digging into the fish farm's operations two years earlier? And does either incident have something to do with the competition between the two powerful families that dominate Solvik’s salmon-farming industry?   Or are the deaths the actions of the ‘Village Beast’ – the brutal small-town justice meted out by rural communities in this part of the world.   Shocking, timely and full of breathtaking twists and turns, Pursued by Death reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world's greatest crime writers.

When a dead man appears in his waiting room, Bergen private detective Varg Veum finds himself investigating a controversial death from fourteen years earlier. The internationally bestselling Varg Veum series continues… `As searing and gripping as they come´ New York Times `One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors´ Ian Rankin `The Norwegian Chandler´ Jo Nesbø_________‘There was a dead man sitting in my waiting room.’So begins another unsettling case for Bergen private detective, Varg Veum.The identity of the dead man soon becomes clear. He had come to see Veum about a case of his own, one rooted in a death on the Møre coast fourteen years earlier. A woman walked into the sea and never returned. The verdict was suicide, but not everyone believed it.As Veum follows the trail his silent visitor left behind, the investigation leads back to a radical student collective in Bergen in the 1970s, where political loyalties, personal rivalries and old decisions still cast long shadows. Someone has gone to great lengths to keep that past concealed, and the price of digging too deep has already proved fatal. Tense, atmospheric and uncompromising, Face to Face is Gunnar Staalesen at his very, very best.________