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Mirror Image: The present mirrors the past in a chilling Varg Veum thriller

E-BookEPUBePub WasserzeichenE-Book
300 Seiten
Englisch
Orenda Bookserschienen am31.08.2023
As Bergen PI Varg Veum investigates two different cases, it becomes clear that they are uncannily similar to harrowing events that took place thirty-six years earlier... A gripping instalment of the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir. `As searing and gripping as they come´ New York Times `One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors´ Ian Rankin `The Norwegian Chandler´ Jo Nesbø ________________________ Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers. Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling - and increasingly uncanny - similarities to events that took place thirty-six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car off a cliff, in an apparent double suicide. As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail ... and at terrifying cost... A chilling, dark and twisting story of love and revenge, Mirror Image is Staalesen at his most thrilling, thought-provoking best. ________________________ `Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbø´ Independent `Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists´ Financial Times `There are only two other writers that I know of have achieved the depth of insight in detective writing that Staalesen has: Chandler, and Ross MacDonald ...´ Mystery Tribune `Employs Chandleresque similes with a Nordic Noir twist ... simply superb´ Wall Street Journal `Masterful pacing´ Publishers Weekly `The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it's in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies´ Herald Scotland For fans of Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, Jorn Lier Horst, Harlan Coben and Jussi Adler-Olsen

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, 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 twenty-three titles, which have been published in twenty-six countries and sold over five million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim, and a further series is currently being filmed. Staalesen, who has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour) and the Petrona Award, and been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger, lives in Bergen with his wife.mehr
Verfügbare Formate
TaschenbuchKartoniert, Paperback
EUR13,00
E-BookEPUBePub WasserzeichenE-Book
EUR9,59

Produkt

KlappentextAs Bergen PI Varg Veum investigates two different cases, it becomes clear that they are uncannily similar to harrowing events that took place thirty-six years earlier... A gripping instalment of the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir. `As searing and gripping as they come´ New York Times `One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors´ Ian Rankin `The Norwegian Chandler´ Jo Nesbø ________________________ Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers. Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling - and increasingly uncanny - similarities to events that took place thirty-six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car off a cliff, in an apparent double suicide. As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail ... and at terrifying cost... A chilling, dark and twisting story of love and revenge, Mirror Image is Staalesen at his most thrilling, thought-provoking best. ________________________ `Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbø´ Independent `Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists´ Financial Times `There are only two other writers that I know of have achieved the depth of insight in detective writing that Staalesen has: Chandler, and Ross MacDonald ...´ Mystery Tribune `Employs Chandleresque similes with a Nordic Noir twist ... simply superb´ Wall Street Journal `Masterful pacing´ Publishers Weekly `The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it's in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies´ Herald Scotland For fans of Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, Jorn Lier Horst, Harlan Coben and Jussi Adler-Olsen

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, 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 twenty-three titles, which have been published in twenty-six countries and sold over five million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim, and a further series is currently being filmed. Staalesen, who has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour) and the Petrona Award, and been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger, lives in Bergen with his wife.
Details
Weitere ISBN/GTIN9781914585951
ProduktartE-Book
EinbandartE-Book
FormatEPUB
Format HinweisePub Wasserzeichen
FormatE101
Erscheinungsjahr2023
Erscheinungsdatum31.08.2023
ReiheVarg Veum
Reihen-Nr.11
Seiten300 Seiten
SpracheEnglisch
Dateigrösse1255 Kbytes
Artikel-Nr.12318876
Rubriken
Genre9201

Inhalt/Kritik

Leseprobe



2


Taking a human life does something to you.

It would soon be two months since the late February evening when I despatched a man called Harry Hopland to whence he had come, yet still his final gaze was seared in my memory. He had cursed me as he plunged from the edge of the half-finished concrete building. His curse had echoed through every single hour of the sleepless nights I had endured since.

The woman in my life for the last eight years - my old friend in the national registry, Karin Bjørge - had tried to console me as far as she could:

It wasn t your fault, Varg. It was self-defence. It was him or you.

But I could ve saved him, I had reasoned. I could ve had him arrested.

And what then, eh? He would ve probably come out of prison with the same grisly intentions as this time.

She was right. I knew she was. Nevertheless, it had been a troublesome period. I slept badly. Harry Hopsland haunted my dreams, and when I appeared in the ante-chamber of Breheim, Lygre, Pedersen & Waagenes at one minute and thirty seconds to eight next morning I felt as if my head was full of steel wool and petrol, a grey, indefinable mass that could catch fire at any moment.

Two secretaries met me - a classic pair: one older, with an attractive network of wrinkles around her eyes, dark, elegantly coiffured hair, discreet yet tasteful clothes, light, airy glasses perched halfway down her slender nose; her colleague, twenty-something, blonde, with morning-weary eyes, far more youthfully attired: tight black trousers and a blouse so red it would have aroused even a stuffed bull. The signs on the desk apprised me of their names: Hermine Seterdal and Bente Borge.

I politely addressed the older of the two. I have an appointment with Berit Breheim. My name s Veum.

Her dark eyes gleamed. Ah, yes, you ve been here before, haven t you. You saw herr Waagenes.

For an instant I regarded her with surprise. Was this someone I had left an impression on or did she just have a good memory?

Fru Breheim s expecting you. It s the second door on the right. You ll see her through the glass panel.

Thank you very much.

I followed her instructions, tapped on the door, met Berit Breheim s eyes inside and stepped in. Good morning.

She smiled. Good morning.

The office furniture was simple and arranged strategically. The desk by the window, facing the door; a small nest of tables and two chairs in one corner, a bookshelf weighed down by law books in the other.

She rose and walked around her desk. Cup of coffee?

Please.

She went to the door. Bente, bring us some coffee, would you?

The younger secretary said, Of course , and Berit Breheim returned.

She was dressed soberly: cream-coloured silk blouse, black skirt and silvery stockings; she was shapely and athletic, but more discus thrower than high jumper, if you had to guess which discipline. I m due in court at ten.

You ll win.

She opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment Bente Borge came in with two stylish, slim, white coffee cups, a small bowl of sugar and a jug of cream, and an Italian-designed flask of coffee, all on a Merlot-red tray that matched to perfection the black wood of the table between the two red leather chairs.

Berit Breheim poured the coffee and behaved as I had expected: she got straight to the point. As I was saying when we met yesterday, this is a private and personal assignment.

I nodded, waiting.

I have a sister called Bodil. She s a couple of years younger than me. Thirty-eight to be precise. She s in - how shall I put it? - a difficult marriage.

I hope you ve remembered that I don t-

Yeah, yeah, Veum. But this isn t that kind of case.

Fine. I splayed my hands as a sign that she should carry on.

Fernando, her husband, is Spanish. Fernando Garrido, a marine engineer by profession and employed as an inspector in a local shipping company, TWO - short for Trans World Ocean. It used to be known as Helle Shipping.

I leaned forward. Has it got anything to do with Hagbart Helle?

You re well informed, Veum. I like that. Yes, it has. But Hagbart Helle s dead. Think he died in 1989, and the company was sold. The owners live in London, but the company s registered in - surprise, surprise - Jersey. The branch in Bergen is run by a certain herr Halvorsen. Bernt Halvorsen, unless I m much mistaken. Not that I have anything to do with them, but since you asked.

That s my style. I ask questions.

The problem is that they ve gone missing. Both Bodil and Fernando.

I see. And you think there s something suspicious about that?

Suspicious? ⦠Erm, well not really. If it had been, I would ve gone to the police. But there are some circumstances that make me uneasy.

And what would they be?

Ten days ago, on Palm Sunday, I was summoned to Bergen Central Police Station to assist Fernando. He d spent the night in a cell for disturbing the peace and needed legal assistance. I immediately rang Bodil to hear what she had to say.

And�

Well, it was nothing very dramatic. At first, they d been celebrating a wedding anniversary. They d been married for ten years, I think.

Then they should ve been over the seven-year itch.

Well, anyway, they started arguing. One thing led to another and, in the end, they were making such a din that the man in the house opposite rang the police.

Nosy neighbour, if you don t mind me saying so.

Too bloody nosy, if you ask me. What business is it of his? Cases like this are usually solved amicably. If there s someone with a bit of common sense to talk them round.

But the police thought there were grounds for arrest?

He d become quite aggressive, they said. You know, Mediterranean temperament and all that. But I can assure you, he was pretty desperate when I saw him there, in the drunk tank.

But you got him out?

Yes, yes, no problem. I drove him home myself. But I didn t go in with him.

No?

I thought it best for them to talk things through, on their own. The two of them. I ve been married. I know what such situations are like.

An experience shared by many.

You too?

I nodded. Then I said: Tell me ⦠You and your sister, how close are you?

She shook her head. As close as you can expect when you live your own lives and you re preoccupied with your own things.

Have they got children?

Bodil and Fernando? No. She grinned. We re not the most fertile, neither her nor me, it seems.

That s fine, the world being as it is. What does she do?

She s in insurance.

Not marine insurance by any chance?

She raised her eyebrows ironically. How did you guess? But to my knowledge, she s stopped.

I see.

She wanted to go it alone, as a freelance consultant.

And how s that panning out?

Well, it s probably too early to say.

OK. So, you drove him home, on the morning of Palm Sunday? But the story doesn t end there?

No. I gave them a few days. And when I rang on the following Wednesday, no one answered the phone. But it was Easter week after all, so nothing strange about that.

The family had two holiday cabins, one in Hjellestad and one in Ustaoset. To be on the safe side, she had rung there as well, to no avail. She had spent Easter in Bergen, herself.

Actually, I had to prepare for the case I m busy with now, but the weather was so fantastic, wasn t it, so I spent most of the days outside. I walked the plateau several times and on Good Friday I went to Gulfjellet to do some skiing.

Sounds sensible.

On the Tuesday she started to become seriously concerned. By then she had rung them several times with no response.

Where do they live?

In Morvik in Åsane. We d always had a little cabin there....

mehr

Autor

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, 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 twenty-three titles, which have been published in twenty-six countries and sold over five million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim, and a further series is currently being filmed. Staalesen, who has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour) and the Petrona Award, and been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger, lives in Bergen with his wife.