The Writing on the Wall

by Gunnar Staalesen (Author), Gunnar Staalesen (Author), Hal Sutcliffe (Translator)

• New

  Paperback
  2013

  $13.04

  This is one of Scandinavia's top crime writers in the tradition of Henning Mankell. It was one of those days in February of which there are far too many, despite its being the shortest month of the year. February is the year's parenthesis. The tax forms have already been sent in and the tourist season has not yet started: there is nothing on the schedule. Greyish-brown slush lay in the gutters and the hills around the city were barely visible through the fog. Like the golden buttons on the waistcoat of a forgotten snowman, you could just make out the lights of the funicular up the hillside and the street lamps were lit even in the middle of the day...In this crime drama detective Varg Veum's adventures lead him into a dark world of privileged teenage girls who have been drawn into drugs and prostitution. The situation worsens when the local judge is discovered in a luxury hotel, dead and clad only in women's lingerie. Called in by anxious parents to look for a missing daughter and explain the judge's death, Varg finds clues that lead him only deeper into Bergen's criminal underworld.

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $8.27

  A case for Varg Veum...Bergen, Norway. Young teenage girls, some from very cosseted backgrounds, are being drawn into prostitution, partly for kicks, but also to earn money for drugs and trendy clothes. Matters take a turn for the worse when the local magistrate is discovered in a luxury hotel, clad only in women's lingerie - and most assuredly dead. Private detective Varg ('Wolf') Veum is called in by anxious parents soon after to look for their missing daughter, whose body is found dumped beside the road in an isolated spot. Clues point to the Bergen underworld...will Veum escape with his life this time?