Wolves at the Door by Gunnar Staalesen (translated by Don Bartlett)

I'm delighted to be taking part in the blog tour for this, the latest book in the Varg Veum series. Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for providing my review copy.

The Blurb:

The wolves are no longer in the dark … they are at his door. And they want vengeance… The next instalment in the international, bestselling Varg Veum series by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir…

One dark January night a car drives at high speed towards PI Varg Veum, and comes very close to killing him. Veum is certain this is no accident, following so soon after the deaths of two jailed men who were convicted for their participation in a case of child pornography and sexual assault … crimes that Veum himself once stood wrongly accused of committing.

While the guilty men were apparently killed accidentally, Varg suspects that there is something more sinister at play … and that he’s on the death list of someone still at large.

Fearing for his life, Veum begins to investigate the old case, interviewing the victims of abuse and delving deeper into the brutal crimes, with shocking results. The wolves are no longer in the dark … they are at his door. And they want vengeance.

Wolves at the Door as published by Orenda Books. You can purchase it from Waterstones or Amazon.


My Review:

Gunnar Staalesen is a new name to me, although he has written plenty of books prior to this one. To my shame, until recently, I hadn't read many, if any, translated books. Orenda changed all of that. The quality of work coming out of the Orenda stable is always high, and as about half of their books are in translation it seemed the right place to start. It was such a good decision! It's given me a whole new selection of reading material, thanks to brilliant, talented translators, in this case Don Bartlett.

Wolves at the Door is part of the Varg Veum series, and I believe it is a follow up to Wolves in the Dark. Despite not having read any of the others, I didn't feel disadvantaged - this worked just perfectly as a standalone. All the back story I needed was there.

After a car narrowly misses private investigator Veum in what appears to be a targeted attack, he is concerned that it is linked to the recent deaths of two men. The men in question were, along with a third man, his co-accused in a previous child pornography case. Although Veum was completely exonerated, he is concerned that someone might be out for revenge, and vows to find out more.

Although this isn't a story about child pornography, it is  mentioned in broad terms throughout, never in detail, but this might make uncomfortable reading for some.

I really liked Varg. He clearly has a strong sense of right and wrong, and is determined to get to the bottom of the situation. He has a sense of world weariness about him, and I enjoyed his love hate relationship with the police.

The story moves quite slowly as we follow Veum's investigation, but it is full of detail which more than makes up for it. There is a rich cast of supporting characters, all richly described, although not many are very likeable! One that really stood out was Laila, who is very damaged and lashes out at everyone, even those who try to help her. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Norway is a country I knew nothing about, but I feel I know a little bit more now, thanks to Staalesen's descriptions, which is fantastic. I struggled a little with some of the place and character names, but that was just my unfamiliarity with the Norwegian. I had a grip on them by the end.

Whilst the story moved quite slowly, there was plenty going on. Characters were built up, layer on layer and I found the writing rich and a pleasure to read. The denouement was perfect, and even better, I hadn't worked it out! I'm definitely looking forward to reading some of the other books in the Varg Veum series.

The Author:

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, 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 twenty-three titles, which have been published in twenty-six countries and sold over five million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim, and a further series is currently being filmed. Staalesen, who has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour) and the Petrona Award, and been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger, lives in Bergen with his wife.


Be sure to check out the other blogs taking part in the tour!