Cold Hearts - Softcover

Gunnar Staalesen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1908129433 ISBN 13: 9781908129437

Publisher: Arcadia Books, 2013

Synopsis

'If you have yet to discover Bergen's most bloody-minded private eye, Varg Veum, Cold Hearts is the perfect place to start' - Crime Time

'Staalesen has been compared to Henning Mankell but his books are sharper, wittier and far less lugubrious' - The Spectator

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.

A dramatic, poetic and page-turning thriller from Norway s most dazzling crime writer.

About this title

Review:

'Veum can skillfully dole out violence, but the essentially humane detective prefers methods that involve dialogue and deduction, investigation and intellect- a welcome contrast to many in his line of work.' --Publishers Weekly

'Cold Hearts is top-tier Scandinavian crime fiction; straightforward dialogue drives the plot, and tough but sympathetic Veum is equally comfortable in a fistfight, proving for secrets behind Bergen's closed doors, or examining crime's sociological roots.' --Booklist

'Staalesen has been credited with introducing social realism into crime fiction through his critical commentary on our times' --The Independent

About the Author:

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. Twelves film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim.

Staalesen, who has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour), lives in Bergen with his wife. Cold Hearts, Yours Until Death, The Consorts of Death, and The Writing on the Wall are all published in English by Arcadia Books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcadia Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1908129433
• ISBN 13: 9781908129437
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 278