Cold Hearts

by Gunnar Staalesen, Don Bartlett (Translator)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789573304722
Publisher:	Quercus Publishing
Publication date:	07/01/2013
Series:	Varg Veum Series
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	25,660
File size:	398 KB

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. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim. Staalesen, who has twice won Norway's top crime prize, the Golden Pistol, lives in Bergen with his wife.

Editorial Reviews

09/09/2013
Like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, this entry in Staalesen’s long-running Norwegian crime series featuring Bergen detective Varg Veum (Consorts of Death, etc.) examines issues of class prejudice, misplaced trust, and self-righteous exploitation. Prostitute Hege Jensen, a former schoolmate of Veum’s son, hires the aging PI to find her friend and fellow prostitute, Maggi Monsen, who disappeared one night after turning down a customer. Veum discovers that Maggie was plagued by predatory pimps and potentially murderous johns, but Maggie’s sad tale proves as nothing compared to the harm done by well-intentioned busybodies whose interventions transform terrible situations into ones unimaginably worse. Under pressure, 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. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

The Varg Veum series stands alongside Connelly, Camilleri and others, who are among the very best modern exponents of the poetic yet tough detective story with strong, classic plots; a social conscience; and perfect pitch in terms of a sense of place'—Euro Crime

The Varg Veum series stands alongside Connelly, Camilleri and others, who are among the very best modern exponents of the poetic yet tough detective story with strong, classic plots; a social conscience; and perfect pitch in terms of a sense of place'—Euro Crime

The Varg Veum series stands alongside Connelly, Camilleri and others, who are among the very best modern exponents of the poetic yet tough detective story with strong, classic plots; a social conscience; and perfect pitch in terms of a sense of place'—Euro Crime

Undoubtedly, one of the finest Nordic novelists in the tradition of such masters as Henning Mankell—Barry Forshaw, Independent

Undoubtedly, one of the finest Nordic novelists in the tradition of such masters as Henning Mankell—Independent

Undoubtedly, one of the finest Nordic novelists in the tradition of such masters as Henning Mankell—Independent

An upmarket Philip Marlowe—Maxim Jakubowski

Among the most popular Norwegian crime writers—Observer

An upmarket Philip Marlowe

In the best tradition of sleuthery—The Times

An upmarket Philip Marlowe

Among the most popular Norwegian crime writers—Observer

Among the most popular Norwegian crime writers—Observer

In the best tradition of sleuthery—The Times

In the best tradition of sleuthery—The Times

From the Publisher