Novel set in 1960s USA and LONDON
Crime mystery set in Stavern, Norway (Norway’s best Summer City called “the dimple”), plus Jørn talks to us about locale
27th March 2016
Ordeal by Jørn Lier Horst, set in Stavern, Norway. Translated by Anne Bruce.
Another good read to add the Nordic Noir stable.
Ordeal is the 10th title (the 5th translated into English) in the Chief Inspector William Wisting series. He is now 55 and father to twins Thomas and Line, having lost his wife and their mother on a NORAD project in a previous book. He does not have some of the quirks of other detectives and for that seems a relatively gentle soul who takes his time to think through the processes of crime detection.
Daughter Line lives within spitting distance of her father and has a good eye for detail, as she has worked as a reporter but is now on maternity leave. She and her father are spending time doing up her house in preparation for the imminent birth of her first child. Her relatively new friend Sofie Lund is the granddaughter of eminent criminal Frank Mandt, whose house she has inherited.
Wisting’s ex partner Suzanne runs “The Golden Peace” where he spends some of his time
In the basement of Sofie’s house is a safe, bolted to the floor, with no apparent key. And when she and Line attend the opening of the safe, what they discover has a crucial influence on two outstanding murders, that of taxi driver Jens Hummel (driver of taxi Z-1086) – a man with a generous heart – and the seemingly random killing of a young woman. Wisting negotiates his way through the evidence, witness statements and the politics of policing in this small town.
This book can be read as a stand-alone.
Jørn’s literary awards include the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize, the Riverton Prize (Golden Revolver), the Scandinavian Glass Key and the prestigious Martin Beck Award.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
Over to Jørn who talks to TripFiction about the setting of his books:
My hometown, Stavern – where the plot in my books plays out of is Norway’s smallest town, affectionately known as “The Dimple of Norway”. Stavern is a part of the municipality of Larvik in Vestfold county on the south-west coast of Norway, an area popular with holidaymakers, where rolling landscapes and attractive beaches make an unlikely setting for crime. The geographical position results in a staggering average of 200 sunny days per year and it is surprisingly hot during the summer. Unusually long spring and summer months offer a natural attraction for a country more used to long winter months, especially when blue skies meet the sea in an uninterrupted horizon. Stavern has developed into a centre for the arts and galleries and exhibitions are to be found at every corner as the town’s inhabitants swell three-fold in summer.
© Jørn Lier Horst
For several years Stavern has been voted Norway’s best summer city. It is an idyllic, old and traditional small coastal town with picturesque buildings. It is this idyll I like to poke down in my books, and show off dark sides. Some of the attraction for my books lies in the contrast between this peaceful small-town community in its attractive settings and the brutal violent action taking place there. It indicates something about how short the distance may be between joy and sorrow, between happiness and disaster, between life and death.
You can read more about Larvik here.
In Ordeal part of the action takes place in Kristiansand (in Agder county), Norway’s fifth largest city – often referred to as capital of the southern part of Norway.
Thank you to Jørn, and now at TripFiction we all want to visit this idyllic place!
You can follow Jørn via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and connect via his website
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