The Writing on the Wall

"A Norwegian Chandler" JO NESBO

"In the best tradition of sleuthery" The Times

"One of the finest Nordic novelists in the tradition of Henning Mankell" BARRY FORSHAW, Independent

Bergen, Norway. Teenaged girls, many from privileged backgrounds, are being drawn into drugs and prostitution at an astonishing rate. When the local magistrate is discovered dead in a luxury hotel, clad only in women's lingerie, the mystery deepens.

Called in by anxious parents to search for a missing girl, private investigator Varg Veum uncovers clues that lead him deep into Bergen's criminal underworld.

As Veum begins to lift the thin veneer of normality that hides a society on the brink of collapse, it becomes clear that this time he may not escape with his life.

Translated from the Norwegian by Hal Sutcliffe

“"'An intriguing reworking of an old idea' Time Out"”

GUNNAR STAALESEN was born in Bergen, Norway in 1947. He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over 20 titles, which have been published in 24 countries and sold over two million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim. Staalesen, who has twice won Norway's top crime prize, the Golden Pistol, lives in Bergen with his wife.

Bergen, Norway. Teenaged girls, many from privileged backgrounds, are being drawn into drugs and prostitution at an astonishing rate. When the local magistrate is discovered dead in a luxury hotel, clad only in women's lingerie, the mystery deepens. Called in by anxious parents to search for a missing girl, private investigator Varg Veum uncovers clues that lead him deep into Bergen's criminal underworld. As Veum begins to lift the thin veneer of normality that hides a society on the brink of collapse, it becomes clear that this time he may not escape with his life.

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