Faithless by Kjell Ola Dahl ~ Oslo Detectives ~ Nordic Noir Book Review

TITLE - Faithless

AUTHOR - Kjell Ola Dahl

GENRE - Nordic Noir

PUBLISHER - Orenda Books

PAGES - 276

BUY LINK - Click here

SYNOPSIS -
Oslo detectives Gunnarstranda and Frølich are back … and this time, it’s personal… When the body of a woman turns up in a dumpster, scalded and wrapped in plastic, Inspector Frank Frølich is shocked to discover that he knows her … and their recent meetings may hold the clue to her murder. As he ponders the tragic events surrounding her death, Frølich’s colleague Gunnarstranda investigates a disturbingly similar cold case involving the murder of a young girl in northern Norway and Frølich is forced to look into his own past to find the answers – and the killer – before he strikes again. Dark, brooding and utterly chilling, Faithless is a breath-taking and atmospheric page-turner that marks the return of an internationally renowned and award-winning series, from one of the fathers of Nordic Noir.

‘If you want your worst fears about what goes on inside a cop's mind confirmed, meet K.O. Dahl's Oslo sleuths, Gunnarstranda and Frølich … impossible to put down’ Guardian
‘A formidable talent’ Booklist
‘An absorbing study of sexual enthrallment, dogged police work and a harrowing twist or two: Fans of procedurals…will snap this one up’ Kirkus

For FANS of Stieg Larsson, Wallander, Thomas Enger, Ragnar Jonasson, Karin Fossum and Gunnar Staalesen

There's been a lot of books by Scandinavian authors in recent years. This is the first I've actually read though; set in the beautiful country that is Norway. It translated well into English, although I did get confused some with the long names, not knowing sometimes which were place names and which were persons.

Frank Frolich had cause to arrest a female called Veronika, who happened to be at the home of a male who was of interest to Police. He later finds out that his old school friend has links to Veronika. Can she be leading two separate lives?

Frolich along with Gunnastranda, his colleague, then have the difficult task of dealing with a murder, and there is also the disappearance of an African student to deal with too. Are they linked?

The book is very well written and descriptive. It appears to have been excellently researched in the area of forensics, which is an interest of mine. It has a very well constructed plot. It reads well as a standalone novel . I liked Frolich. He comes across as a hardworking and dedicated officer, who loves his job. I would have liked to have known a bit more about him.

There was a part of the book that I didn't really think fitted in with what was going on and that was the illicit relationship between two of Frolich's colleagues. I didn't think that part leant anything to the story.

The novel was gripping and page turning, however I felt a bit let down by the ending, as it wasn't as gripping as the rest of the book had been and left me feeling a bit deflated. I would however like to read some more books by this author that include Frolich, and am pleased that I had the opportunity to read and review this one.
Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Through my Letterbox, and Orenda Books for allowing me to review this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kjell Ola Dahl is a Norwegian author of fiction, crime fiction, non-fiction and screenplays. He published his first novel in 1993. The book's title is Dødens Investeringer – English title is Lethal Investments.
Dahl's series of crime fiction – about the cult character Chief Inspector Gunnarstranda is translated into a number of languages. The series is published all over Europe, USA and Russia.

Dahl has written screenplays for two feature films in cooperation with film director Hisham Zaman, the titles of these are Winterland (2007) and Before Snowfall (2013)


FOLLOW THE TOUR