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143 titles in the catalogue

Mystery and CrimeClear all
The Blind God
Mystery and Crime2013 · 432 pp

The Blind God

Elisabeth Gulbrandsen / Chris Tvedt

In the previous Tvedt crime novel, Av jord er du kommet, we met his new hero, Edvard Matre, investigator with the crime squad. Matre is also the leading character in the new crime story, Den blinde guden. An exceptionally brutal robbery ends in murder. Edvard Matre and his team are investigating. The trail leads them to a group of violent right-wing extremists, but, to Edvard’s total frustration, he is told by the PST, the Norwegian security services, to keep off. Which is easier said than done. In the end, Edvard has to make up his mind about what matters most: ‘The safety of the realm’ or a woman’s life. At the same time, he also has to deal with the growing suspicion that one of his own people may have lives on his conscience. Chris Tvedt’s previous crime novels are sold to the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine. ‘There is little more to say except to congratulate on a smartly completed work ... Superbly exciting and intelligently plotted.’VG‘Den blinde guden is Chris Tvedt’s second book about DI Edvard Matre. The first one was good, the second one just as good.’Dagbladet ‘This is a story which accelerates immensely. The tensions built into several storylines are tightened at the same time throughout the 92 brisk chapters. Well plotted, elegantly invented and, definitely, no happy end. This will become a TV series, the only question is how soon.’Bergens Tidende‘Crime fiction with thriller features and multiple tense, slowly unravelling storylines.’Adresseavisen‘Chris Tvedt and Elisabeth Guldbrandsen occasionally write great passages that are fit to be filmed. The heart-breaking opening scene and the videoed account of the robbery hit the reader where it hurts.’Bergensavisen‘Den blinde guden is one of the more believable narratives that have so far emerged out of this autumn’s flow of crime fiction. Believability doesn’t make any less exciting than everybody else’s hunts for serial killers, but rather the opposite.’Dagsavisen

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Rights soldSold to Denmark and Germany
The Chameleon People
Mystery and Crime2013 · 392 pp

The Chameleon People

Hans Olav Lahlum

This is Lahlum’s fifth book about K2 and Patricia. We have reached 1972, Norway is conflicted about the EEC and Soviet spying is not unheard of. On Saturday 25th March, the weekend calm is shattered when a small boy, scared for his life and with a bloody knife in his pocket, frenziedly rings K2’s doorbell. The boy manages to say just two sentences: ‘Please let me in! They are after me and I must talk to you before they get to me!’ before his pursuers get hold of him. They turn out to be policemen and the bloody knife is the weapon that killed Per Johan Fredriksen, a Member of Parliament. The boy refuses to utter a single word more and K2 wonders if this murder case will be solved quickly, or if the boy tells the truth and, if he does, how he got hold of the bloody knife from the murder scene. The investigation closes in on Fredriksen and hidden events in his past which may also be relevant to why he was killed. In his youth he was one of six friends – three couples – who were present during a holiday weekend when one of them, the man all the girls wanted, died under mysterious circumstances. The five survivors kept in contact off and on, and Fredriksen married the dead man’s sister. When K2 investigates the MP’s day job, one issue turns out to be the political relationship between Norway and the Soviet Union. K2 needs help. And, who can he turn to, except Patricia? This will have unexpected consequences for his partner, Miriam. Hans Olav Lahlum has written a new, exciting crime story drawn from Norway’s recent history. EEC arguments and espionage mixed with personal passions and intrigues. A true Lahlum crime novel! ‘When it comes to the author’s stylish depiction of the setting and tonal style, these are exactly the literary ingredients which make these books liberatingly different from most other Norwegian and Nordic contemporary crime writing.’ TØNSBERG BLAD ‘Hans Olav Lahlum has many talents, and in The Chameleon People he makes full use of them in a refined and effective way.’ VG ‘This is a great book about our recent history, with the EEC debate and espionage for the Soviet Union interspersed with personal suffering and intrigue.’ TVEDESTRANDPOSTEN ‘Once again Hans Olav Lahlum delivers quality, first-class crime writing. ... Lahlum is a brilliant storyteller and a master of capturing the imagination of the reader. I would not hesitate to recommend this book.’ RINGERIKES BLAD ‘Lahlum writes knowledgably about the time he is portraying. The names he gives to famous people of that time are particularly amusing. The author writes a prose which is suitable for the time period the story is set in. He is secure in his writing style and very funny.’ GUDBRANDSDØLEN DAGNINGEN ‘In The Chameleon People, Lahlum takes a closer look at the outside drama than he has previously and tries something a bit different while still making use of his formula for success.’ OPPLAND ARBEIDERBLAD ‘Playing with the genre … There is still nothing to fault his plots for. He has once again written a book which confirms he is a true crime writer.’ DAGSAVISEN ‘… K2 has not become a famous detective for no reason. Despite his general confusion when it comes to love, he focuses on the investigation, and with help from the genius Borchmann, he effectively propels the reader through his well thought-out murder mystery. … New and entertaining retro crime from hard-working historian Hans Olav Lahlum.’ DAGBLADET

Rights soldSold to Greece and United Kingdom
Certain Signs of Your Death
Mystery and Crime2013 · 416 pp

Certain Signs of Your Death

Torkil Damhaug

In Akershus University Hospital, a patient disappears. In the evening, his body is found in a basement box-room with its throat cut. When retired forensic pathologist Jennifer Plåterud is called in to examine the dead man, she has no idea of how closely she is involved in the murder herself. In the merciless light of summer, she is gradually forced to grasp the connections she would have preferred to ignore. This is a psychologically tense, closed-room crime story set in a hospital, but with links to the Balkan wars in the 1990s, the Rosengård gangs in the Swedish city of Malmö and Torkil Damhaug’s own world of characters from the Romerike district near Oslo. With Sikre tegn på din død Damhaug has completed his planned quartet of psychological thrillers, each book set in a different season. He won the Riverton Prize for the third book in the quartet; Ildmannen. ‘Sophisticated and well-integrated ?gourmet crime’ from Damhaug with a plot which spans nations, all sewn together with surgical precision.’VG ‘Convoluted murder mosaic reaching out through time and space.’STAVANGER AFTENBLAD ‘Great crime writing from Riverton prize winner Damhaug... Sikre tegn på din død is a brilliant new psychological crime novel from someone who knows their craft and has taken their research seriously.’FÆDRELANDSVENNEN ‘A thoughtful thriller … Damhaug fires an adrenaline-inducing starting gun, and then all you can do is sit back and follow it around the bends of intelligent intrigue and through a number of destinies which in addition to many other things embody the complexity of a new, multicultural Norway. ... overall a superior thriller, boosted by Marius Renberg’s exceptionally indulgent and imaginative cover design.’AFTENPOSTEN ‘More than a thriller … Torkil Damhaug is an ambitious author, he wants to do more than just tell a readable story.’AKTUELL

Rights soldSold to 4 territories
Scavenger
Literature and Fiction / Mystery and Crime2013 · 448 pp

Scavenger

Eystein Hanssen

In an old earth cellar in Vika, a homeless drifter finds the remains of a child. Or is it? Elli investigates the site and discovers more remains. Slowly, the site is further excavated and claustrophobic tunnels and forgotten bunkers are uncovered. It is a world apart, where animals are mistreated and people killed. Only the murderer knows all the exits. But Elli must get in there. She has several lives to protect. Do we really know what exists under the ground in Oslo? This is the fourth book about Elli Rathke, the half Norwegian/half Thai investigator with a black belt in karate. ‘This time, Eystein Hanssen takes us down into very unpleasant tunnels and bunkers underneath the roads and pavements of the city. An interesting journey, as many of them actually exist. In the plot itself, the author also shows us something real, a special environment unknown to many which I have not seen discussed in a novel so far. And the reader does not only get a trip down into the dark spaces under Oslo, but also a trip into the darkest corners of the human mind. … exciting throughout.’ VG ‘Eystein Hanssen is socially engaged and looks at contemporary issues. This time he touches upon various issues such as fauna crime, illegal adoption and the abuse of au pairs. These themes are handled in an interesting way. ...I expected excitement in book number four about Elli and was not disappointed. I think Eystein Hanssen has done it again. He has a unique ability to create thrillers from contemporary issues. This makes for both frightening and exciting reading. There is no shortage of action, and the end in particular is breathtaking. All the loose threads are tied up and solutions are found.’ OPPLAND ARBEIDERBLAD ‘Frightening and brilliant … He keeps the excitement going for 448 pages. You just want to keep reading, and it is almost sad when it’s over.’ STAVANGER AFTENBLAD

Rights soldSold to Germany and Sweden
The Five Matches
Mystery and Crime2012 · 272 pp

The Five Matches

Hans Olav Lahlum

A sober school master is violently upset when, during the week after Christmas, he receives an envelope containing five matches. The next morning, he is found in the snow, killed by a gunshot. This is one of three murder mysteries set in 1971, and the fourth book in the successful series about K2 and Patricia.

Rights soldSold to United Kingdom
I can see in the dark
Literature and Fiction / Mystery and Crime2012 · 224 pp

I can see in the dark

Karin Fossum

Riktor doesn´t ask the policeman why he has stormed into his house without knocking - he´s certain that someone has finally realised what happened that day. As the policeman questions him, however, Riktor realises that he´s being accused of something completely unexpected - something he has nothing to do with. But can Riktor convince the policeman that he´s innocent of one wrongdoing without revealing that he´s guilty of another, far more terrible, crime? The storytelling is outstanding...Dark, brilliant and guaranteed to leave you feeling queasy.CRIMEFICTIONLOVER Fossum´s elucidation of the criminally degenerate mind is first-rate.DAILY MAIL A superb writer of psychological suspense.NEW YORK TIMES Fossum writes humane thrillers, which perturb and chill.OBSERVER

Rights soldSold to 10 territories
The Catalyst Murder
Mystery and Crime2012 · 352 pp

The Catalyst Murder

Hans Olav Lahlum

This is the third volume in the crime fiction series featuring K2 and Patricia: it takes place in Oslo and in the mountainous region of Valdres during August 1970. In Oslo, K2 witnesses a young woman desperately trying to catch a tram, but the doors slam shut in front of her face – the next time he sees her, she is dead. Killed by a shot, she is found between the tram tracks. A new test case for K2’s mental powers. The affair started two years earlier, when a group of politically active young people set out on a bothy walking tour in Valdres. One of them, the charismatic leader Falko Reinhardt, disappears during the night before 3 August. Now, K2’s murder victim turns out to have been Reinhardt’s girlfriend. It doesn’t take K2 long to realise that to solve the present-day murder he must go back in time, maybe further than just 1968. Once more, only Patricia can help him, but he fails to notice that she has her own problems to fight... ‘Lahlum in top form.’ VG ‘The historian Hans Olav Lahlum’s third crime novel is so thrilling it is impossible to put down.’ Fædrelandsvennen ‘Katalysatormordet is so entertaining and cleverly plotted that I will be happy to read 15 more books in this series.’ Dagbladet ‘All of the books in the series are very well-written and excellent. Katalysatormordet is perhaps the best one of them all.’ Telemarksavisa'Another highly political book, written as a traditional whodunnit, is The Catalyst Killing by Hans Olav Lahlum. This time we’re in Oslo in 1970, where a young woman is murdered at a train station. She turns out to be the fiancee and comrade of the charismatic leader of a breakaway communist group. He disappeared two years earlier, in a puzzle that has never been solved. Inspector Kristiansen, secretly mentored as ever by a housebound young genius, finds it unimaginable that the two cases aren’t linked. But why has Marie been killed now? Lahlum gives us a sympathetic look at the world of political sects and a satisfying mystery set in a time when the authorities all over western Europe lived in daily dread of red revolution.'MORNING STAR

Rights soldSold to 5 territories
Operation Helena
Literature and Fiction / Mystery and Crime2012 · 304 pp

Operation Helena

Johnny Brenna / Sigbjørn Mostue

The killing of a police informer by torpedoes brings about the collapse of a prestigious heroin operation being run by Oslo police’s Special Operations Section (SO). The newly-appointed detective Axel Th.Munthe and his partner Tobben are left stranded. Shortly afterwards, fifteen-year-old Caroline Fredrikke Walters, daughter of a wealthy investor, is brutally kidnapped and raped. Instead of picking up the threads of the heroin case, the department’s resources are channelled into finding the girl before it is too late. The case brings Axel into contact with the darkest sides of Norwegian society, where international crime syndicates are are already spreading their tentacles. It makes for a tough introduction to the world of human depravity, but there is light in the form of Noor, a woman Axel feels may be the right one for him. ‘Sigbjørn Mostue and Jonny Brenna have joined forces and written a disturbing thriller set in the criminal world in the capital.’ Oppland Arbeiderblad ‘Sigbjørn Mostue and Johnny Brenna impress with a well-constructed plot and a wealth of detail in their first work of crime fiction. (...) Dense, realistic tale of investigating crime in Oslo’s underworld.’ Dagbladet ‘Operasjon Helena is fantastic. So well written and so exciting I almost stopped breathing!’ Liv Gade, Bokinspirator‘Narcotics, organised crime, mutilation, honey traps; all feature in an ice-cold overview of the everyday reality of police work in Oslo that is the starting point for an action-driven and quite cynical narrative.’ VG ‘A successful debut!’ Kulturspeilet ‘The plot in Operasjon Helena and the account of the on-going police work are the most realistic seen in Norwegian crime fiction for a long time. And it feels good to be able to welcome a protagonist who doesn’t struggle with alcohol problems and who likes being a team player together with his police colleagues.’ Trønder-Avisa

Triangle
Mystery and Crime2012 · 448 pp

Triangle

Eystein Hanssen

DI Elli Rathke is on vacation and, at last, has time and opportunity to investigate the murder of her sister, which took place 15 years earlier. The murderer was never caught. At the same time, the Oslo police and especially Elli's partner Jan Nereng have to deal with several drug-related killings. As Elli digs deeper into the case of her sister's murder, ever more insidious similarities to Nereng's findings turn up. Fast-moving crime fiction at its best, with the toughest lady in Oslo in the lead!This is the third book in the Elli-series. ‘Eystein Hanssen is getting better at writing crime fiction all the time. Judging by his work so far, his greatest strength is his skill in devising complex plot lines, rich in detail. He provides clues step by step, in a way that makes the narrative seem both realistic and exciting.’ DAGBLADET‘Hanssen does not just create a very competent plot, but is also a dab hand at writing action sequences that are physically affecting and carry an emotional charge.’AFTENPOSTEN ‘Eystein Hanssen has quickly established himself as one of Norway’s leading writers of crime fiction. His careful research lends credence and realism to the fast-moving action. The constant tension makes the reader keep turning the pages. Apparently straightforward circumstances can be critically important clues. “Everything is connected,” as Nereng is fond of saying. Hanssen is very good at describing rough action and his episodic storytelling makes his books ask to be filmed.’ OPPLAND ARBEIDERBLAD ‘Strong and thrilling drama … Hanssen has a praiseworthy talent for creating and developing intricate, wide-ranging storylines. They are both credible and exciting – which is also true of Triangle.’HAUGESUNDS AVIS ‘Steely control … a believable scenario spiced up with real writerly skill. No let-up in the excitement.’TRØNDER-AVISA ‘Eystein Hanssen succeeds in creating an intricate pattern of storylines as the narrative leaps between Oslo and Thailand and between past and present, while, despite this, he manages to piece together all the plot elements in such a convincing way that the overall result is a well-structured work of Norwegian crime fiction.’BOKSTAVER.NO

Rights soldSold to Sweden
Fireraiser
Mystery and Crime2011 · 496 pp

Fireraiser

Torkil Damhaug

A fireraiser is active in Lillestrøm during Easter in 2003. He is obsessed by the cleansing effect of fire and wants to use it to wipe out everything that reminds him of his youth. Around this time, 18 year old Karsten falls in love with his classmate Jasmeen, but their romance brings the tempers of her tradition-bound Muslim family to boiling point. To protect himself from Jasmeen’s threatening family, Karsten joins a secret brotherhood of elder peers, only to discover that the group might be much more dangerous than he could ever imagine. During the Easter days, Karsten disappears. He never returns. Seven years later, Karsten’s sister Synne decides to find out everything she can about what happened when Karsten went missing. But her private investigation will have awful consequences, arousing slumbering but dangerous memories. And the fireraiser, quiescent during the intervening seven years, is now watching Synne’s search for the truth with intense interest... ‘Ildmannen is a hot candidate for top ranking among this year’s works of crime fiction. Damhaug demonstrates his formidable skill as a writer ... a wholly convincing novel, his best to date.’Dagbladet‘And it must be established, once and for all, that Damhaug delivers with a tremendous flourish. This is probably the best, most exciting Norwegian thriller/ crime novel that anyone will read this year.’Moss Avis ‘Does Ildmannen meet our expectations? Yes. Is this book even better than his earlier ones? Yes, I swear by Freud, Jung and Lacan, I do believe it is, and no mistake. ... It will be an uncommonly strong end to the autumn book season if Ildmannen doesn’t end up as the best work of crime fiction this year.’ Dagens Næringsliv ‘I would unhesitatingly insist that by now Torkil Damhaug is recognised as one of Norway’s outstanding thriller writers.’Romerikes Blad ‘Torkil Damhaug exploits his psychological tool-kit actively; suppressed memories and other handy notions are used deliberately to wind up the tension in his narrative. And it is exciting, with an effective and surprising twist right at the end.’ VG ‘Once again, Torkil Damhaug delivers a strong autumn book. Some of the passages in his thriller about an arsonist are so intense one’s hair stands on end.’ Bergensavisen

Rights soldSold to 8 territories
I Can See in the Dark
Literature and Fiction / Mystery and Crime2011 · 224 pp

I Can See in the Dark

Karin Fossum

Riktor is the protagonist in Karin Fossum's new crime novel. He has worked for many years in the Løkka nursing home and seems to be normal, quiet and polite. He is often left on his own to manage patients with many and complex care needs. He torments them at every opportunity – pinches the skin at the back of their necks, pulls their hair. Medication that might have soothed their pain is poured down the loo and syringe contents injected into the mattress. Riktor is, simply, the «Nurse from Hell». He is a loner, but when he encounters Arnfinn, a man with a severe alcohol problem, a kind of friendship grows between them. Then, one day, Riktor comes across Arnfinn extracting money from his wallet. That's the end of Arnfinn: Riktor kills him unhesitatingly. A few days later, DI Randers turns up and charges Riktor with the murder of one of the elderly patients in the nursing home and locks him up for a crime he didn't commit. The tension and suspense of the narrative are as much related to the insight into Riktor's dark mind, as to the case against him. Will he be found innocent of the old lady's murder? Will he be charged with killing Arnfinn? ‘Karin Fossum deserves great praise for her stringent language and impressive psychological insight in her new, dark novel.’NRK ‘The language in itself makes her new book worth reading. … Fossum's sentences are vivid and crystal clear, free of redundancies, and in this novel they come with a rhythm which seems to be perfectly in tune with the content.’DAGBLADET ‘A story in which the reader is driven forth by intensity and the unmatched mastery of language.’DAGSAVISEN ‘By making the “I” of the story its narrator, the author has created a difficulty for herself which demands a firm grip and all-round control. Fossum has what is needed, together with chiselled, brisk and very persuasive language with many facets and nuances.’ VG ‘She challenges, entertains and frightens you. Karin Fossum’s writing is exceptionally good. The protagonists have an intense presence and she somehow “paints” people’s stranger sides.’ TRØNDERAVISA ‘Karin Fossum’s shows her mastery at two levels. Her language is outstandingly precise and varied. It never tends toward grand, metaphorical. Also, there is her insight into the unknown, sometimes murky depths of the human mind, as for instance Ricktor’s - a leading character.' TØNSBERGS BLAD ‘The book is written in a poetic, vivid language. It is exciting despite not being crime fiction in the usual sense of the word. The story is tense and from time to time unsettling for the reader but it is impossible to put it down (…) I predict that Karin Fossum will be awarded several prizes soon.’ OPPLAND ARBEIDERBLAD ‘Karin Fossum has delivered the goods again and written a brilliant crime novel.’ TELEMARKAVISA

Rights soldSold to 10 territories
Satellite People
Literature and Fiction / Mystery and Crime2011 · 320 pp

Satellite People

Hans Olav Lahlum

The date is 10th May 1969, a Saturday. DSI Kolbjørn “K2” Kristiansen is in his Oslo office when he receives a phone call from Ferdinand Schjelderup, the legendary multi-millionaire and resistance fighter. Schjelderup wants to see DSI Kristiansen about a family matter: one of his nearest and dearest is planning to kill him. Before the meeting takes place, Schjelderup collapses and dies during a Sunday dinner, at which ten members of his circle are present. The powerful, much disliked patriarch has been poisoned and the murderer sat at his dining table. Exactly on which seat is the question that drives this thrilling crime story. The plot thickens, as one mysterious letter after another warns of further deaths among the guests at Ferdinand Schjelderup's last meal. DSI Kristiansen needs help and he seeks it from his secret consultant, professor Borchmann's part-paralysed, witty daughter Patricia Louise I. E. Borchmann. Hans Olav Lahlum's Satellittmenneskene is in the classical mould of crime fiction – as close as possible for a book published in 2011. Satellittmenneskene is a thought-provoking, engaging novel about characters whose lives were part of an important period of modern Norwegian history. ‘Refreshingly old-fashioned and genial … Satellittmenneskene is impossible to put down. It contains a forceful drive and demands the reader’s full attention, because here there is a lot to keep straight. Bulls eye once again.’Six out of sixOppland Arbeiderblad‘Thorough retro crime fiction … If you like the classical crime novel as it was created by Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, you should immediately go and buy Hans Olav Lahlum’s Satellittmenneskene.’Dagbladet‘Here is style. Lahlum puts his own finger print on this work, as he did with his previous novel. We are talking “Lahlumian” here. There is no one like him. Dealing with such a particular pen is so liberating. And with a mysterious plot, carefully constructed, and delightfully free of unneccessarily detailed voilence.’VG Rights sold to: PORTUGAL (ASA II Edições - Grupo Leya), GREECE (Fantastikos Kosmos Publications), KOREA (Kugil Publishing, Co., Ltd), GREAT BRITAIN (Mantle /Pan MacMillan).

Rights soldSold to 7 territories