Kjell Ola Dahl

DO NOT READ REVIEW BEFORE YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS.

How do you tell a story that teaches you to be abhorred by a father that kills his baby daughter´s mother in front of her, while at the same time cheering a mother that kills her son´s father without remorse? Without even realizing that is what this author is capable of doing with your judgmental capacity before you start analyzing your reading experience? Many books about WWII is about the greater issue, and show more rightly so (too many people today are too much concerned about staging themselves at the world scene - it seems we have forgotten that the world as a scene needs care-taking too) - treating this important subject through the stories of war heroes and villains. This book is not about the more modern approach of making both heroes and villains grey, it shows how character will manifest itself under all circumstances, even bloom when challenged by the extreme conditions that war is. It also shows, quite elegantly, that a certain act, however extreme cannot be judged out of context. show less

Detective Frank Frølich is in a bit of a spot. A few days ago he arrested a woman after finding cocaine in her purse. That night he attended a birthday party for old school chum Karl Anders where he met Karl’s new fiancée, Veronika Undset….yup, the woman he arrested. Well, that was awkward.

Unfortunately, the next time they meet is after her horribly beaten body is pulled from a dumpster. Frank is uneasy about having personal ties to a murder investigation & requests to be left off the show more case. Even though they hadn’t spoken for years before the party, he knows Karl will be front & centre as a suspect. Besides, he has another case that needs attention. Rosalind M’Taya is a beautiful, young exchange student who came to study in Oslo for the summer & promptly disappeared. When Frank finds all her belongings still in her room, he knows she didn’t leave willingly.

Inspector Gunnarstranda needs all hands on deck & denies Frank’s request. Another body has been found & the victim had ties to Veronika. And so they begin the process of picking apart her life, gathering an odd assortment of suspects as they dig.

This is a fast paced procedural that definitely qualifies as Nordic Noir. As Frank & Gunnarstranda follow separate lines of investigation, they both encounter people who are shifty, scary and/or crazy. Early on there are hints something happened between Frank & Karl when they were teenagers that led to them drifting apart. As the story progresses, Frank has to come to terms with the event & his role in how it all played out.

Along with the cast of suspects, we also meet other members of the police & forensic units. Personal details & glimpses of their private lives help flesh out the characters. But it’s Frank we get to know best as he works the murder case & continues his hunt for Rosalind. He’s a smart cop & complex man who is forced to confront past mistakes & fears. He may not like what he finds & although both cases are solved the results take their toll, personally & professionally.

Many Scandinavian thrillers are very different stylistically from their typical American cousins. There’s no spoon feeding here. Not everything is spelled out & some questions go unanswered. And just as you reach the end….well, turns out the author kept a few zingers in reserve.

It’s my first time reading this author & although I found 5 books listed as part of the Oslo Detectives series, I was unable to determine where this one fit in. As usual, Don Bartlett has done a stellar translation & I look forward to catching up with Frank & Gunnarstranda in the next one. show less

Back to some Scandi-crime and a rather routine offering unfortunately.

A young woman is killed rather brutally and the crime is linked firstly to her one night stand. However when he is also killed then the clues point to her employers. She works for a small IT company who are clearly operating a scam. The owner has a track record of setting up bogus companies and disappearing with the investments. He had also had an affair with the first victim.

There is some good characterisation in the book show more but the outcome is easily worked out by about halfway. Having said that it is a logical conclusion and a believable plot, unlike many in this genre the novel does not go into the realms of extreme fantasy.

This is a sound example but does not set the pulse racing. show less

The Courier – A Brilliant Standalone Thriller

Kjell Ola Dahl has written a brilliant standalone thriller, that is based around one of the darkest periods of Norwegian history in the twentieth century. He bases this book around one of the most horrific periods when the Germans were in control of the country, and the Quisling government was aiding and abetting the occupation.

It is 2015, and Turid notices an advert for an auction, and that one of the items for sale is a bracelet that she knows show more was stolen from her in 1967. As she tries to stop the sale and reclaim her wonderful bracelet. What the reader gets it a journey back to 1942, and to actions in 1967.

Ester sees that her father has been arrested by his jeweller’s shop daubed with anti-Jewish graffiti, she goes home to find that her mother and grandmother have been taken as well. Ester goes to her friend Åse’s apartment which she shared with her baby Turid and Gerhard Falkum.

In 1942, Ester is a courier for the resistance, but she has been betrayed and narrowly escapes the clutches of the Gestapo, and escapes to Sweden. It is in Stockholm, she once again comes across Gerhard, who tells her that Åse has been murdered and that he is on the run from the police. Ester is the liaison officer assigned to take care of Gerhard. Ester has a burgeoning relationship, until it is ended by a fire which kills Gerhard.

1967, Ester has not been back in Oslo that long when an old acquaintance from the war is on her doorstep, telling her that Gerhard Falkum is alive. He wants to reconnect with his daughter and get to the bottom of Åse’s murder. Ester knows she must use her skills and revisit what happened during the war and stay alive. As Ester revisits her past it takes her closer to the truth.

A truly wonderful book, a book I can highly recommend. show less