Bitter Flowers: The breathtaking Nordic Noir thriller

By Gunnar Staalesen

0-3

Varg Veum Series

FICTION

300 Pages, 5 x 7.75

Formats: Trade Paper

Trade Paper, $15.95 (US $15.95) (CA $20.95)

Publication Date: May 2022

ISBN 9781913193089

Rights: US & CA

Orenda Books (May 2022)

Price:	$15.95

Overview

Fresh from rehab, Norwegian PI Varg Veum faces his most complex investigation yet, when a man is found drowned, a young woman disappears, and the case of a missing child is revived. The classic Nordic Noir series continues…

‘As searing and gripping as they come’ —New York Times

‘One of my very favourite Scandinavian authors’ —Ian Rankin

‘The Norwegian Chandler’ —Jo Nesbø

***Now a major TV series starring Trond Espen Seim***

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PI Varg Veum has returned to duty following a stint in rehab, but his new composure and resolution are soon threatened when a challenging assignment arrives on his desk.

A man is found dead in an elite swimming pool and a young woman has gone missing. Most chillingly, Varg Veum is asked to investigate the ‘Camilla Case’: an eight-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of a little girl, who was never found.

As the threads of these apparently unrelated crimes come together, against the backdrop of a series of shocking environmental crimes, Varg Veum faces the most challenging, traumatic investigation of his career.

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'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

‘Unsettling, moving, sad, hopeful and hopeless … it’s rich and it’s sharp and it’s cynical and sentimental all at once’ —NB Magazine

‘A complex, layered plot in which human tragedy and mystery combine to play out beautifully in a classic Nordic noir with a touch of Christie’ —Live & Deadly

Reviews

"This is a series with very sharp teeth." —Ian Rankin

"A Norwegian Chandler." —Jo Nesbø

"Raymond Chandler fans won't want to miss this one." — Publishers Weekly starred review of Wolves at the Door

"Terrific. . . .Like Raymond Chandler, Staalesen creates intense emotion through dialogue and description, but his altogether Norwegian focus forces home a substantial social message: ignoring the past is inevitably tragic." —Publishers Weekly starred review of Big Sister

"Chilling and perilous results—all told in a pleasingly dry style." —Sunday Times

"Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists." —Financial Times

"Not many books hook you in the first chapter—this one did, and never let go!" —Mari Hannah, author, The Insider

"Almost forty years into the Varg Veum odyssey, Staalesen is at the height of his storytelling powers." —Crime Fiction Lover

Author Biography

One of the fathers of Nordic Noir, 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 titles, which have been published in twenty-four countries and sold over four million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim.

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