It is the crime detective Varg Veum, well-known amongst most Norwegians, who is the main figure in the two books by Gunnar Staalesen now translated into English.
In 'The Writing on the Wall', Varg Veum’s adventures lead him to a dark world of privileged young girls who have been drawn into drugs and prostitution. The situation worsens when the local judge is discovered in a luxury hotel, dead and clad only in women's lingerie, and Varg is led deep into the criminal underworld of the city of Bergen.
'The Consorts of Death' takes Veum back twenty-five years, to a case he was involved in while working as a child protection officer in 1970. A small boy was separated from his mother under tragic circumstances, but that had not been the end of it...
Gunnar Staalesen, born 1947 in Bergen, is a leading Norwegian author of crime stories. He made his debut at the early age of twenty-two with 'Seasons of Innocence'. His numerous books about the private detective Varg Veum have become immensely popular and have been translated into twelve languages. Gunnar Staalesen has twice won Norway’s top crime prize, the Golden Pistol.
“The Writing on the Wall”
Translated into English by Hal Sutcliffe
Published by Arcadia Books
“The Consorts of Death”
Translated into English by Don Bartlett
Published by Arcadia Books