Synopses & Reviews
Jussi Adler-Olsen, author of The Absent One, is Denmark's premier crime writer. His books routinely top the bestseller lists in northern Europe, and he's won just about every Nordic crime-writing award, including the prestigious Glass Key Award-also won by Henning Mankell, Stieg Larsson, and Jo Nesbo. Now, Dutton is thrilled to introduce him to America.
The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first installment of Adler- Olsen's Department Q series, features the deeply flawed chief detective Carl MØrck, who used to be a good homicide detective-one of Copenhagen's best. Then a bullet almost took his life. Two of his colleagues weren't so lucky, and Carl, who didn't draw his weapon, blames himself.
So a promotion is the last thing Carl expects.
But it all becomes clear when he sees his new office in the basement. Carl's been selected to run Department Q, a new special investigations division that turns out to be a department of one. With a stack of Copenhagen's coldest cases to keep him company, Carl's been put out to pasture. So he's as surprised as anyone when a case actually captures his interest. A missing politician vanished without a trace five years earlier. The world assumes she's dead. His colleagues snicker about the time he's wasting. But Carl may have the last laugh, and redeem himself in the process.
Because she isn't dead . . . yet.
Review
"Far from being just another morose Nordic crime writer, Adler-Olsen creates a detective whose curiosity is as active as his soul is tortured. The villain is a monster and the crime horrendous, but readers will root for the victim and for the belabored Department Q. This absorbing psychological thriller is recommended not only for fans of Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, and Stieg Larsson but for true crime aficionados who might like to try fiction."
-Library Journal, (starred review)
"The new 'it' boy of Nordic Noir."
-The Times (London)
"The Keeper of Lost Causes is dark, atmospheric, and compelling. Those who loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will devour this book."
-C.J. Box, New York Times bestselling author of Cold Wind
"Gripping storytelling."
-The Guardian
"Jussi Adler-Olsen tells his stories as wickedly as Dean Koontz and has his detectives work as hard as Stieg Larsson."
-Jydske Vestkysten (Denmark)
"This novel is for every Scandinavian crime fiction fan a must-read!"
-Hannoversche Allgemeine (Germany)
"As impressive as it is unnerving."
-The Independent
"An unusually fine and extremely fascinating thriller, which will keep you breathless till the very last page."
-politiken.dk
Review
"Far from being just another morose Nordic crime writer, Adler-Olsen creates a detective whose curiosity is as active as his soul is tortured. The villain is a monster and the crime horrendous, but readers will root for the victim and for the belabored Department Q. This absorbing psychological thriller is recommended not only for fans of Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, and Stieg Larsson but for true crime aficionados who might like to try fiction."
Review
"The new 'it' boy of Nordic Noir."
Review
"The Keeper of Lost Causes is dark, atmospheric, and compelling. Those who loved The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will devour this book."
Review
"Gripping storytelling." -The Guardian
Review
"Jussi Adler-Olsen tells his stories as wickedly as Dean Koontz and has his detectives work as hard as Stieg Larsson." -Jydske Vestkysten (Denmark)
Review
"This novel is for every Scandinavian crime fiction fan a must-read!" -Hannoversche Allgemeine (Germany)
Review
"As impressive as it is unnerving." -The Independent
Review
"An unusually fine and extremely fascinating thriller, which will keep you breathless till the very last page." -politiken.dk
Review
“Plan on putting everything else in your life on hold if you pick up this book.”
Review
“The pages fly by as the twisty puzzle unfolds. Stieg Larsson fans will be delighted.”
Review
“Far from being just another morose Nordic crime writer, Adler-Olsen creates a detective whose curiosity is as active as his soul is tortured.”
Review
“Adler-Olsen's prose is superior to Larsson's, his tortures are less discomfiting, and he has a sense of humor.”
Review
"Fossum’s superior seventh Insp. Konrad Sejer novel, the 10th book in the series to be released in the U.S. (after 2013’s
Eva’s Eye), puts a modern spin on Dostoyevsky’s
Crime and Punishment. Widower Charlo Olav Torp’s robbery and murder of elderly Harriet Krohn allows him to pay off his debts and reconnect with his estranged 16-year-old daughter, Julie. He even buys Julie the horse she has always wanted. But this fresh start comes with a price. His every moment is clouded by guilt over his actions and the fear that he’ll be caught, but he’s also proud that he’s committed the perfect murder. Months go by until Sejer, who has never had an unsolved case, targets Charlo by building on the one small piece of forgotten evidence at the crime scene. Series fans and newcomers alike will savor this insightful character study of a man on the edge with little regard to how his actions affect others.
(Nov.)"--Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
"In the seventh Konrad Sejer story, Fossum’s pitch-perfect dialogue (internal and otherwise) sets the tense, desperate tone of this introverted, psychological cat-and-mouse tale. Gambling addict Charlo Torp is proudly shoving his past behind him. He’s paid off the enormous gambling debt he owed a dangerous friend, found a part-time job, and even bought a horse to win back his equestrian daughter’s affection. There is just the small matter of Harriet Krohn, whom Charlo murdered during the robbery that netted the cash for his new life. Within days of the attack, media coverage of the brutal crime is unavoidable, and Charlo learns that formidable Inspector Konrad Sejer is hunting him. Convinced that he can burrow into his new life and escape notice, Charlo denies the fallout of his crime even as fear and paranoia begin to creep in behind his facade. Fossum’s modern take on “The Tell-Tale Heart” will please the large, ever-expanding base of Sejer fans, who will be enthralled with following the investigation from the prey’s angle."--Booklist"
"Charlo Torp doesn’t mean to kill anyone. A widower desperate to pay off gambling debts, he intends to enter Harriet Krohn’s house under the pretense of a flower delivery and steal the elderly woman’s valuables. But Harriet resists, Charlo panics, and she ends up bludgeoned to death in her kitchen. With the whodunit thus settled two dozen pages in, Fossum trains her focus on the “why” of the crime, examining Charlo’s guilt and how he justifies his actions to himself, especially after the stolen money helps him repair his relationship with an estranged daughter. Still, he constantly looks over his shoulder, and with good reason—the policeman investigating Harriet’s death, Insp. Konrad Sejer, has never failed to solve a murder. VERDICT Writing from the killer’s perspective, Fossum sketches a credible if unsuspenseful portrait of how normal people commit violent acts. This is the seventh book in the “Sejer” series (The Water’s Edge; Bad Intentions; The Caller) but one of the last to be translated into English, quite possibly because the detective doesn’t appear until well past the halfway mark. That’s too bad, because his scenes crackle with energy that’s lacking in the rest of the book. For readers who enjoy psychological suspense and who don’t mind crime novels minus the mystery."--Library Journal
Review
“The great Norwegian crime novelist Karin Fossum has a special gift for voices. She’s come up with a humdinger in the first-person narrator of
I Can See in the Dark…It’s wrenching.” —
Washington Post "One of the standouts of the Nordic thriller boom." —Vulture
“The queen of Norwegian crime fiction, the prolific and brilliant Fossum has riddled the quaint countryside north of Oslo with imagined crimes…In Fossum’s literary thrillers, the crime is almost incidental to a deeper moral crisis: Her killers aren’t madmen but ordinary people driven to monstrous acts.” —Men’s Journal
"Fossum descends deep into the alienated mind of Riktor to create an exquisitely Poe-ish novel of psychological suspense." —More Magazine
"Fossum vividly unpacks the mind of a troubled individual in this haunting psychological thriller...In this slim stand-alone, Fossum takes a chilling departure from her popular series featuring Norwegian police inspector Konrad Sejer. The results are a compelling—if unsettling—character study for fans of disturbing psychological suspense". —Library Journal
"[A] first-rate novel of suspense...[A] bleak but clever and compelling standalone." —Publishers Weekly, STARRED"In the tradition of Patricia Highsmith and Iain Banks, Fossum creates a creepily realistic sociopath, rolling his story out in a spare Scandinavian style that lends the book a classic horror feel...It’s not light reading to climb inside of a sociopath’s brain, but readers who can handle the darkest tales will be rewarded by Fossum’s streamlined, thoughtfully constructed story." —Booklist"Haunting, twisted, and oddly redemptive." —Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Review
"When a young boy is found drowned in a pond near his home, it is explained away as an accident. Insp. Konrad Sejer suspects there is more to the story, however. As the mother, Carmen, changes her story to fit new evidence and the father spirals down into depression, Sejer pursues the evidence, even as it looks like the truth may never be known. The story is unraveled slowly, intermingling Sejer’s dogged investigation with diary entries written by the young mother. The real strength of the book lies in the characters Fossum has crafted. Sejer is not the typical unhappy, unhealthy Scandinavian detective; instead, he’s a widower who is kind to his suspects and colleagues alike. Verdict Fossom’s 12th Sejer installment doesn’t disappoint. Her writing style keeps the reader guessing to the final page. This title will appeal to mystery readers of all stripes."--Library Journal
"You really should at least be reading, if not collecting, the works of Karin Fossum. Not only is she the queen of Scandinavian detective fiction (or Nordic noir) she is one of the prime novelists working today in the mystery genre."--Bookgasm
"The drowning of 16-month-old Tommy Brandt sets the mournful tone for Fossum’s powerful and disturbing 11th Insp. Konrad Sejer mystery (after The Caller). Tommy’s hysterical mother, Carmen Zita, insists that the toddler wandered away from her on a hot day after she suffered an epileptic seizure; she later found his body in a pond near the house that she shares with the child’s reticent father, Nicolai. Sejer assumes at first that the drowning is just a tragic accident, but the mother’s odd demeanor—she’s so eager to move on—makes him suspect foul play. The subsequent autopsy proves that Tommy, who had Down syndrome but was otherwise healthy and happy, was indeed murdered. Fossum explores the aftershocks of the boy’s death for Carmen and Nicolai in a riveting tale that’s more psychological study than police procedural."--Publishers Weekly, STARRED
"Norway's Inspector Konrad Sejer, back from his hiatus (I Can See in the Dark, 2014, etc.) and feeling his mortality more acutely than ever, leads the inquiry into the death of a toddler with Down syndrome. It might not even seem like a suspicious death. Carmen Cesilie Zita, whose father owns the fast-food place where her husband, Nicolai Brandt, works, has gone and left their 16-month-old son, Tommy, alone in the room (Nicolai's in the basement repairing a bicycle) just long enough for him to stagger outside and tumble into a pond 50 meters away. But Sejer's friend and colleague Jacob Skarre thinks there's something off about Carmen, who weeps copiously but seems curiously detached and eager to get on with her life, getting rid of all Tommy's clothing and furniture with undue haste and asking Nicolai if they can get a dog now. The grieving father tells Sejer, "that's just how she is all the time….She's just pretending." There's little enough the police can do with a witness so artlessly determined to shrug them off, and readers who've followed Sejer's cases will know better than to expect a triumph of sweetness and light. Instead, they'll be asked to agonize along with Tommy's parents about whether it would have been better if Carmen had had an abortion and asked to hope along with Sejer that he isn't quite as decrepit as his mysterious spells of dizziness would suggest. Minimalist but compelling work from the author who seems to have inherited the late Ruth Rendell's gift of spinning the darkest complications out of what might seem like nothing at all."--Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
The first book in
New York Times bestsellerJussi Adler-Olsen's electrifying Department Q series.
The #1 international bestseller from Jussi Adler-Olsen, author of The Absent Oneperfect for fans of Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Carl Mørck used to be one of Copenhagens best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carlwho didnt draw his weaponblames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carls got only a stack of Copenhagens coldest cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isnt dead
yet.
Darkly humorous, propulsive, and atmospheric, The Keeper of Lost Causes introduces American readers to the mega-bestselling series fast becoming an international sensation.
Synopsis
The #1 international bestseller
Carl Mørck used to be one of Copenhagen’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl—who didn’t draw his weapon—blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of Copenhagen’s coldest cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead … yet.
Darkly humorous, propulsive, and atmospheric, The Keeper of Lost Causes introduces American readers to the mega-bestselling series fast becoming an international sensation.
Synopsis
“The new ‘it’ boy of Nordic Noir” (The Times, London) delivers an electrifying follow up to his New York Times bestselling debut
In The Keeper of Lost Causes, American audiences were finally introduced to Copenhagen’s Detective Carl Mørck and his creator, #1 international bestselling author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Now, Mørck is back. He’s settled into Department Q and is ready to take on another cold case. This time, it’s the brutal double-murder of a brother and sister two decades earlier. One of the suspects confessed and is serving time, but it’s clear to Mørck that all is not what it seems. Kimmie, a homeless woman with secrets involving certain powerful individuals, could hold the key—if Mørck can track her down before they do.
Synopsis
Unabridged, 13 CDs, 15 1/2 hours
Read by Erik Davies
The Keeper of Lost Causes, the first installment of the Department Q series, features the deeply flawed chief detective Carl Mørck, who used to be a good homicide detective-one of Copenhagen's best. Then a bullet almost took his life. Two of his colleagues weren't so lucky, and Carl, who didn't draw his weapon, blames himself. But he still might find redemption...
Synopsis
Available for the first time in English, the seventh entry in the beloved Inspector Sejer series from Norways Queen of Crime, Karin Fossum
Synopsis
Available for the first time in English, the seventh entry in the beloved Inspector Sejer series from Norways Queen of Crime, Karin Fossum On a wet, gray night in early November, Charlo Torp, a former gambler whos only recently kicked the habit, makes his way through the slush to Harriet Krohns apartment, flowers in hand. Certain that paying off his debt is the only path to starting a new life and winning his daughters forgiveness, Charlo plans to rob the wealthy old womans antique silver collection. What he doesnt expect is for her to put up a fight.
The following morning Harriet is found dead, her antique silver missing, and the only clue Inspector Sejer and his team find in the apartment is an abandoned bouquet. Charlo should feel relieved, but hes heard of Sejers amazing record — the detective has solved every case hes ever been assigned to.
Told through the eyes of a killer, The Murder of Harriet Krohn poses the question: how far would you go to turn your life around, and could you live with yourself afterward?
Synopsis
What if you were arrested for a crime you didnt commit—but had to prove your innocence without revealing anything about the crime that you did? A thrilling new stand-alone novel from Norways Queen of Crime, “a truly great writer.” (Jo Nesbo)
Synopsis
Riktor doesnt like the way the policeman storms into his home without even knocking. He doesnt like the arrogant way he walks around the house, taking note of its contents. The policeman doesnt bother to explain why hes there, and Riktor is too afraid to ask. He knows hes guilty of a terrible crime and hes sure the policeman has found him out.
But when the policeman finally does confront him, Riktor freezes. The man is arresting him for something totally unexpected. Riktor doesnt have a clear conscience, but the crime hes being accused of is one he certainly didnt commit. Can he clear his name without further incriminating himself?
This is a gripping, mind-bending stand-alone novel from “a truly great writer” (Jo Nesbø).
Synopsis
A bestseller in the UK, this gripping thriller of a family that vanishes into thin air is Tim Weavers American debut
Emily Kane arrives at her sister Carries house to find the front door unlocked, dinner on the table, and the family nowhere to be foundCarrie, her husband, and two daughters have disappeared. When the police turn up no leads, Emily turns to her former boyfriend David Raker, a missing persons investigator, to track the family down. As Raker pursues the case, he discovers evidence of a sinister cover-up, decades in the making and with a long trail of bodies behind it.
Tim Weavers thrillers have been hugely popular in the UK, and now Never Coming Back will introduce his beloved character David Raker to American audiences. Set in Las Vegas and a small fishing village in England, the novel is a smart, fast-paced thriller sure to keep readers guessing until the very end.
Synopsis
A brand new addition to the captivating Inspector Sejer series from Norways finest crime writer.
Synopsis
A new addition to the captivating Inspector Sejer series, the first since The Caller, from Norway’s finest crime writer Carmen and Nicolai failed to resuscitate their son, Tommy, after finding him floating in their backyard pond. When Inspector Skarre arrives on the scene, Carmen reports that Tommy, a healthy toddler with Down syndrome, wandered into the garden while Nicolai was working in the basement and she was cleaning the house. Skarre senses something is off with Carmen’s story and consults his trusted colleague, the famed Inspector Sejer. An autopsy reveals Tommy’s lungs to be full of soap.
When Sejer and Skarre revisit the couple, Carmen, an epileptic, changes her story, confessing that she’d been knocked unconscious by a seizure while bathing Tommy. When she came to, she found him drowned in the tub and, horrified and frightened, threw him into the pond.
But Skarre and Sejer’s doubt is not appeased and the case is reopened. What more could Carmen be hiding? And what lengths will she take to cover her guilt? As Carmen’s own family starts to doubt her, Skarre and Sejer work to find the truth.
About the Author
Jussi Adler-Olsen is Denmark's #1 crime writer and a New York Times bestseller. His books routinely top the bestseller lists in Europe and have sold more than fifteen million copies around the world. His many prestigious Nordic crime-writing awards include the Glass Key Award, also won by Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, Stieg Larsson, and Peter Høeg.