Lethal Investments: A Thriller

by K. O. Dahl

Overview

A string of murders sucks the Oslo Detectives into a maelstrom of dark secrets in the latest from the master of Norwegian crime writing.

Award-winning author K.O. Dahl has achieved international acclaim with his Oslo Detectives series featuring inspectors Frølich and Gunnarstranda. Now he presents the riveting fourth book in the series, combining rare psychological insight and elegant prose.

Lethal Investments opens seven years prior to the case that started it all: The Fourth Man. It's the early nineties, and Oslo is driven by the rapid success of the IT boom. When Reiden Rosendal, a beautiful young woman, is found brutally murdered in her apartment, Inspectors Gunnarstranda and Frølich's top suspect is her lover—until he's discovered dead, too. A trail of clues points the team towards the software company where Reidun worked—a labyrinth of secrets where employees' business and the private lives intertwine in a thick web of hurried sexual dalliances, hushed affairs, and downright lies. When yet another body connected to Reidun surfaces, Gunnarstranda and Frølich must race against time to lay bare the murderer's dark secrets and stop the senseless killing.

Once again, Dahl's dark, lyrical writing and haunting, atmospheric setting bring new life to the modern noir mystery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250017932
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/27/2012
Series:	Oslo Detectives , #4
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	415,799
File size:	388 KB

About the Author

Critics around the world have labeled K.O. DAHL as Norway's answer to Henning Mankell. He has been awarded with the Riverton Prize for Best Norwegian Crime Novel of the Year, and has been nominated for Glasnyckeln (The Glass Key), Brage Literary Prize and the Martin Beck Award.

The highly acclaimed and award winning crime writer K.O. Dahl's popular crime series has rapidly become an international success and critics around the world have labeled him as Norway's answer to Henning Mankell. Dahl has been awarded with the Riverton Prize and nominated for Glasnyckeln (The Glass Key), Brage Literary Prize and the Martin Beck Award. His books include The Fourth Man, The Man in the Window, The Last Fix, and Lethal Investments.

Editorial Reviews

Dahl’s debut mystery, which in 1993 introduced odd couple Oslo policemen Inspector Gunnarstranda and Frank Frolich, marks his fourth published in English after 2009’s The Last Fix. Fifty-seven-year-old widower Gunnarstranda has a sharp wit, and sharper tongue, belying his slight, unprepossessing appearance. The much younger and larger Frolich looks up to his boss, but has his own valuable part to play in their investigation into the brutal knife slaying of beautiful Reidun Rosendal. The pair quickly locates an eyewitness, albeit a questionable one, elderly Arvid Johansen, and the victim’s final lover, Sigurd Klavestad, but to no conclusive avail. Even more suspects, as well as confusion, turn up in Reidun’s former workplace, A/S Software Partners, a company seething with feuds and secrets. That the firm is missing its marketing director suggests that there’s more to the killing than an isolated crime. Series fans will relish the opportunity to see these two unorthodox sleuths work their magic together. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

“Series fans will relish the opportunity to see these two unorthodox sleuths work their magic together.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

The fourth dour appearance for Norwegian cops Gunnarstranda and Frølich. When the Oslo police are called to the crime scene, pretty Reidun Rosendal doesn't look so pretty any more. Blood seeps out of numerous stab wounds. Nor does her apartment look its best. It's obviously been tossed, the door ajar but the front gate lock smashed. What happened to the lively saleswoman for Software Partners? The neighbor across the way has a few ideas generated by a stash of porn magazines, a chair angled to peer directly into Reidun's flat and a pair of heavy-duty binoculars to put her love life into focus. He insists that the ponytailed man who spent the night must have done her in. But did he? Inspector Gunnarstranda and his second-in-command, Frølich (The Fourth Man, 2008, etc.), aren't so sure. They take their time exploring every possibility, including Reidun's occasional recreational sessions with her company's managing director, her cool relationship with his wife and the criminal proclivities of the chief owner, who's now working a fraud involving partnership deals that will enrich him at the expense of the firm. There's a second break-in at Reidun's place and another at Software Partners. Even more disconcertingly, the ponytailed lover winds up beheaded, and the porn-addicted neighbor who suspected him succumbs after a slide into the river. More stolid police work separates the financial from the supercharged emotional shenanigans, culminating in a spate of overkill. Proficient but slow-going, leaving readers worrying that the rain will never let up, until ennui runneth over.

Kirkus Reviews