Anne Holt (1) (1958–)

I liked, and with later volumes loved, Anne Holt's Hanne Willemsen novels; so it was natural that I ended up trying out one of her other series. Death in Oslois the third volume in her Modus series which centers around psychologist Johanne Vik and police officer Adam Stubo, and it is sort of a cross-over, as Hanne Willemsen actually also plays an important part in this volume, though we only get an outside perspective on her.

Holt loves to subvert crime novel clichés; in the previous show more Modusnovel she did this mostly by interweaving the criminal case with the domestic lives of her protagonists, like them discussing a murder while changing nappies - something quite a few readers took issue with, but which I found rather endearing. The private life of Vik and Stubo, however, plays only a very minor role in Death in Oslo; this novel follows another but (just check the reviews on Goodreads) equally successful strategy of frustrating its readers. Spoilers to follow, so you may want to stop reading here if you care to avoid them.

The point where Death in Oslo goes most blatantly against expectations readers bring to a work of crime fiction is in denying them any kind of neat and orderly solution, in fact a neat and orderly anything. Which is quite fitting, as the novel is very political, to the point that it is more of a political thriller than a police procedural, and politics of course do tend to be very messy. (And as Anne Holt served for a short period as Norway's Minister of Justice, it can be assumed that those parts carry a particular authenticity, anchored by the weight of first-hand experience.)

Now, it is nothing new or extraordinary for crime novels to leave some things unresolved as an indication of realism, but the way Death in Oslo goes about it feels almost like an act of purposeful aggression towards its readers. The novel is centered around the abduction of the first female president of the United States of America (entirely fictional, in case you had not noticed, and likely to remain so for quite some time to come). We do meet the man who is pulling the strings quite early on, but through the whole course of the novel he remains at several removes from the crime itself, and not only is he not caught, the police never even come close to identifying him, and at the end, he is left having learned from the experienced and scheming to come up with a better plan next time.

For most of the time, the police are not only in the dark about the perpetrators of the crime but also about what exactly happened and even which crime was actually committed. And when the abducted president is found, it only is by a coincidence of hair-raising unlikelihood. That latter bit (the kidnappers hide the president away in the basement of the building Hanne Willemsen lives in, of all places, where she is found by her household aid) I actually had some issues with myself and at first assumed it to be some really sloppy plotting; but in retrospect and seeing how the novel as a whole plays out, I am now convinced that this was done intentionally by the author in order to mess things up even more.

But that it was done on purpose does not mean that I have to like it. I can see what Holt was aiming for here and in other place, but I can't but feel that she is going about it rather heavy-handedly and has in fact been doing this both subtler and more effectively before, as in the later volume of the Hanne Willemsen series. I am all for subverting genre clichés and frustrating reader expectations but just doing the exact opposite is rather reminiscent of a child throwing a hissy fit and hurling their toys into a corner. What I am missing in Death in Oslo - and which Anne Holt has proven capable of delivering in earlier novels of hers - is an actual engagement with the clichés and expectations that would show why the have to be subverted and frustrated. As it stands, the novel's response to that question seems to be "Because" and that just is not enough.

Having said that, Holt still knows how to spin a cracking yarn, and if you can overlook those issues or do not mind them too much, it still is quite an entertaining read. And she also knows how to create interesting, complex characters, so Death in Oslo is rwarding on that level, too, and I don't regret the time I have spent reading it (too much). show less

Anne Holt’s latest novel is “1222”. The numbers refer to the height above sea level of the town where this modern version of the classic crime story takes place. The story starts with a derailment just as the train leaves Finesnut on its journey from Olso to Bergen. Plenty of injuries, but the train driver is the lone casualty. Amongst the 269 passengers who are evacuated to the nearby century-old mountain hotel are self-indulgent teens, German tourists, a church group, a sports team, show more the unseen occupants of a mysterious extra carriage, a group of doctors (conveniently for those injured) on their way to a conference and retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen. Add some locals and hotel staff, a snowstorm to ensure everyone has to stay put, a murder (or two) and you have the definitive locked room mystery. Hanne is not Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot: there’s no rubbing of hands together with glee at the challenge; she doesn’t want to get involved. Hanne is paralysed, confined to a wheelchair, limited to the lobby level. Whilst relying on those around her for some pertinent information, her powers of observation and deduction are obviously acute and she has the case solved in time for the classic denouement when the cops finally arrive. Anne Holt gives us a prickly heroine. She’s cynical, perceptive, has a very dry sense of humour and an incisive wit. Hanne’s inner monologue is a delight; her other characters and the dialogue are realistic and the action is non-stop. Holt touches on several topical issues and throws in a bit of philosophy. The Beaufort scale chapter headings are a fitting touch. “1222” gives the reader undiluted pleasure throughout: this novel is hard to put down. Marlaine Delargy’s excellent translation certainly deserves a mention. show less

I listened to this and there's a lot to like. It is set in a snowbound hotel to which the passengers of a train are transferred after a crash in a storm on the Oslo-Bergen trainline. Which makes it certainly unusual, if nothing else. It also turns out to be the 8th in a series, of which this is the first I've read, but I certainly didn't feel I'd missed anything not having read the earlier books. The central character is Hanna Willemsen, and she narrates this. She's an ex police officer who show more was shot in the back and is now paralysed from the waist down. She's also rather grumpy, anti social, and has a lesbian muslim lover. Which, again, is somewhat unusual. She's also quite aware that she's grumpy, antisocial and inclined to be brusk, rude and less than communicative, which at least gives her an air of humanity that the is more appealing than the veneers she presents to the world is. The cast of characters is equally varied, with some religious people, some divisive characters, a runaway, families, a murderer, the works, really. There is also an additional carriage with police escort and lots of speculation. It's inventive, varied, neatly done and I really liked the way each chapter is prefaced with the description of the Beaufort scale, from calm to hurricane. It's an effective mystery and it works really well. show less

Ein klarer Fall – eigentlich. Kurz vor den olympischen Spielen wird die beste Skifahrerin Norwegens beim Doping erwischt, Zweifel sind ausgeschlossen. Doch ihr Vater Jan Morell, einer der reichsten und erfolgreichsten Männer Norwegens, und seine Tochter Hege beteuern ihre Unschuld. Er heuert Selma Falck an, eine erfolgreiche Anwältin, die dank ihm gerade den Tiefpunkt ihres Lebens erreicht hat, um zu beweisen, dass die Vorwürfe gegen Hege nicht der Wahrheit entsprechen. Wider Willen show more nimmt Selma den Auftrag in Form einer Wette an, denn es geht um ihr Überleben – aber nicht nur um ihres.

Was sich nach einer vergleichsweise geradlinigen, einfachen Geschichte anhört, entwickelt sich immer mehr in ein schwer zu durchschauendes Verwirrspiel, in dem es um Intrigen, Rache und Eigeninteressen geht und das nur zögerlich den Blick auf das Ganze freigibt. Neben des eigentlichen (eher unspektakulären) Falles und diversen Rückblicken auf das Leben verschiedener Personen, gibt es noch einen nackten Gefangenen sowie ein Drehbuch, dessen Sinn und Zweck sich erst gegen Ende offenbart – Handlungsstränge, die so überhaupt nicht zusammen zugehören scheinen. Dass es dennoch passt, ist der Autorin bei der Vielzahl von Verwicklungen hoch anzurechnen, auch wenn manche Erklärungen doch sehr ‚kunstvoll‘ und wenig überzeugend daherkamen.

Alles in allem ein solider aufgerundeter 3,5 Sterne-Krimi mit einer neuen interessanten Protagonistin, von der ich durchaus gerne mehr lesen würde. show less