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Where Roses Never Die
Where Roses Never Die

Where Roses Never Die

By Gunnar Staalesen, Translated by Don Bartlett

Varg Veum Series

FICTION

285 Pages, 5 x 8

Formats: Trade Paper, Mobipocket, EPUB

Trade Paper, $14.95 (US $14.95) (CA $17.95)

Publication Date: August 2016

ISBN 9781910633090

Rights: US & CA

Orenda Books (Aug 2016)

eBook

eBook Editions Available

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Overview

Newest in the Varg Veum series reaffirms Staalesen as one of the world's foremost crime thriller writers

The 25-year-old case of a missing girl sees Varg Veum dig deep into the past to find her kidnapper, as the secrets and lies of a tiny community threaten everything … Gunnar Staalesen’s award-winning, international bestselling Varg Veum series continues in this chilling Nordic Noir thriller.***WINNER of the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year***'Mature and captivating’ Herald Scotland‘One of the finest Nordic novelists – in the tradition of Henning Mankell’ Barry Forshaw, Independent‘Masterful pacing’ Publishers Weekly_________________September 1977. Mette Misvær, a three-year-old girl disappears without trace from the sandpit outside her home. Her tiny, close middle-class community in the tranquil suburb of Nordas is devastated, but their enquiries and the police produce nothing. Curtains twitch, suspicions are raised, but Mette is never found.Almost 25 years later, as the expiry date for the statute of limitations draws near, Mette’s mother approaches PI Varg Veum, in a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. As Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets, lies and shocking events that have been methodically concealed. When another brutal incident takes place, a pattern begins to emerge…Shocking, unsettling and full of extraordinary twists and turns, Where Roses Never Die reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost thriller writers. _________________Praise for Gunnar Staalesen'There is a world-weary existential sadness that hangs over his central detective. The prose is stripped back and simple … deep emotion bubbling under the surface – the real turmoil of the characters’ lives just under the surface for the reader to intuit, rather than have it spelled out for them’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ 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'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent‘With an expositional style that is all but invisible, Staalesen masterfully compels us from the first pages … If you’re a fan of Varg Veum, this is not to be missed, and if you’re new to the series, this is one of the best ones. You’re encouraged to jump right in, even if the Norwegian names can be a bit confusing to follow’ Crime Fiction Lover‘With short, smart, darkly punchy chapters ... a provocative and gripping read’ LoveReading‘Haunting, dark and totally noir, a great read’ New Books Magazine‘An upmarket Philip Marlowe’ Maxim Jakubowski, The Bookseller‘Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest’ Quentin Bates

Reviews

"A Norwegian Chandler."  —Jo Nesbo, author, The Bat

"Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means 'wolf' in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth."  —Ian Rankin, author, Resurrection Men

"Gunnar Staalesen was writing suspenseful and socially conscious Nordic Noir long before any of today's Swedish crime writers had managed to put together a single book page. . . one of Norway's most skillful storytellers." —Johan Theorin, author, The Darkest Room

"With its exploration of family dynamics and the complex web of human behaviour, Staalesen's novel echoes the great California author Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer mysteries. . . mature and captivating." —Herald Scotland

"Norwegian master Staalesen is an author who eschews police procedural narratives for noirish private eye pieces. . . with some abrasive social commentary." —Financial Times

"Stunning."—Publishers Weekly 

"A thoughtful book that probes what it is to be an adult in a close community." —Kingdom Books Blog 

"Chilling, shocking and full of extraordinary twists and turns by a master of the crime thriller genre." —Midwest Book Review 

Author Biography

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.