Cold Hearts

'The Norwegian Chandler' Jo Nesbø'One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors' Ian RankinMORE THAN FIVE MILLION BOOKS SOLD WORLDWIDEA dramatic, poetic and page-turning thriller from Norway's most dazzling crime writer.On a frosty January day in Bergen, Private Detective Varg Veum is visited by a prostitute. Her friend Margrethe has disappeared and hasn't been seen for days. Before her disappearance, something had unsettled her: she'd turned away a customer and returned to the neighbourhood in terror. Shortly after taking the case, Veum is confronted with a brutal, uneasy reality. He soon finds the first body - and it won't be the last either. His investigation leads him into a dark subculture where corrupted idealism has had deadly consequences.Dark secrets lurk everywhere, as the murky pattern of wounded people, worm-eaten lives, and hearts long grown cold proves deadly . . . for someone.Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett

The Varg Veum series stands alongside Connelly, Camilleri and others, who are among the very best modern exponents of the poetic yet tough detective story with strong, classic plots; a social conscience; and perfect pitch in terms of a sense of place', Undoubtedly, one of the finest Nordic novelists in the tradition of such masters as Henning Mankell, An upmarket Philip Marlowe, Among the most popular Norwegian crime writers, In the best tradition of sleuthery

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.