Cold Hearts (Varg Veum Series)

This is my 4th book in the Varg Veum private detective series. I enjoyed 2 of them, Writing on the Wall and We Shall Inherit the Wind but this one and Yours Until Death were too slow paced for me and too much boring detail about social services and dysfunctional, poor families. As with other books in the series, Cold Hearts suffers from too much trivial detail. For example, the private detective, Varg Veum, has to take a person to Emergency. As he sits there waiting, we get a description of all the rough/sick characters coming into Emergency - totally uninteresting detail but, more importantly, stuff likes this helps to kill what little pace and suspense there is in the book, which is pretty non-existent until the last 25% - which I did show more enjoy. But the first 3/4 was hard to stick with - too many boring interviews with uninteresting people. The other thing I find with this author is that his writing style is very casual & informal, which complements the protagonist who is also easy going and likeable. The problem with this style though is that it undermines tension, suspense and the fear that often accompanies good murder mysteries. There is a bit of violence and danger in the book but the easy going style makes it hard to take any danger seriously. As a result, we have more of a cozy mystery than a very scary one. show less

"Cold Hearts", featuring the Norwegian private detective Varg Veum, is one of a long series of novels about the character (16, according to Wikipedia). These are very popular in Norway, providing the basis for a series of films featuring Varg (a sexier Varg than the one in the novel). Only about five are available in English. This is the first I have read, and I look forward to reading the others.

This is a good solid crime novel, with a twisting plot, a number of reasonably memorable characters, and a story line that keeps you turning the pages. Varg is a philosophic type for a PI, sensitive to social issues: in fact, he used to be a social worker (how does one move from being a social worker to being a PI? ). But when he does run into show more violence he can dish it out, and there is plenty of nastiness abroad in his world. A good, solid read, if not quite as interesting as some of the other Scandinavian series. show less

As he recovers from a near-fatal injury, Varg Veum is approached by a prostitute with a family connection who wants him to look for a friend of hers who has gone missing.

Things get complicated when Varg learns that the missing girl's brother escaped from prison and went missing the same night. He visits their mother to talk to her, and a dead body is discovered in the house while he is there. On top of that, a couple of thugs are anxious to do Varg some serious harm.

The plot was hard to predict and far from obvious in its many twists.

A little depressing. I mean, for a murder mystery.

En prostituert kvinne oppsøker Veum når venninnen hennes fra strøket i Bergen forsvinner. Før hun forsvant hadde hun vært skrekkslagen etter å ha avvist en kunde. Veum tar saken, og det er ikke lenge før både lik og mørke hemmeligheter begynner å dukke opp © DnBB AS