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

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

Faithless is a newly translated book in the Oslo Detectives series featuring Frank Frølich and Inspector Gunnarstranda. Frølich has been invited to a school friend’s 40th birthday party. He has not seen his friend for some twenty years, but he goes anyway and discovers his old friend’s fiancée Veronika is the woman he just arrested for cocaine possession. The party is great fun, but when he is called out to his next murder case, the fiancée is the murder victim. Clearly he must tread show more carefully in this investigation.

There are too many connections on this case. Veronika is suspected of working with their original investigative target, Kadir Zahid who they wish was the murdered, too bad he has their own investigators for an alibi. Then there is the possible gang of thieves who seem to be robbing Veronika’s clients. There is a stalker, her fiancé of course, and then to complicate everything, a possible serial killer connection is made with a similar murder of a victim who resembled Veronika.

They manage to rule out the stalker when Gunnarstranda finds him dead. But they still have far too many suspects, including a psychologist who connects to all three victims. Team member Lena Stigersand risks far too much pursuing a private investigation and Frølich reaches too far when he finally figures out the last piece of the puzzle. These are detectives who care deeply and risk much while Gunnarstranda struggles to provide inspiration, mentorship, and restraint.

I liked Faithless a lot. It’s fair, we learn what the detectives learn when they learn it and yet it’s complex enough we aren’t rolling our eyes, begging them to put two and two together. Their leaps of logic happen in time with or even before my own. That makes me happy. The characters are complex individuals, but they are not filled out with the kinds of quirks that become tedious when repeated in book after book.

This is a Scandinavian mystery in the best sense, with professional cops who don’t fantasize about being Dirty Harry. Even when the detective color outside the lines, there is a respect for the lines and they suffer consequences and disapproval rather than glad-handed praise from people who think bullying is bravery and brutality is strength. Folks who like law-breaking, violent thugs for their police will be disappointed, even though there is some extrajudicial action.

I admire K. O. Dahl and look forward to more in the series.

Faithless will be released September 1st. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Other English translations of books by K. O. Dahl are The Fourth Man, The Man in the Window, The Last Fix, and Lethal Investments.

Faithless at Orenda Books
Kiel Ola Dahl author site

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