The Caveman
‘Urban rather than natural settings are the stamping grounds of Jorn Lier Horst, whose Dregs (his first book to be published in English) is immensely impressive. The writer’s career as a police chief has supplied a key ingredient for the crime fiction form: credibility.’
Barry Forshaw, author of
Nordic Noir
‘Jorn Lier Horst is a phenomenal new voice in Nordic Noir. His handling of landscape and location matches that of Henning Mankell. The narrative concern with digital technology is on a par with Stieg Larsson. What makes Lier Horst distinctive is his haunting ability to find the feasible in the psychopathic.’
Steven Peacock, author of
Swedish Crime Fiction: Novel, Film, Television
Praise for
The Caveman
‘Superbly constructed,
The Caveman
is a novel that should see Jorn Lier Horst placed firmly in the finest class of Scandinavian Noir. Horst’s beautifully paced and compelling narrative ensnares the reader as it unveils the darkest side of human nature. Wisting and Line are both believable and complex characters. That combined with the superb backdrop of winter in Norway makes this dark tale a ‘must read’.’
series
‘
The Caveman
is not just an intriguing, fast-paced thriller, but a thoughtful meditation on loneliness, and a moving testament to the value of each and every human life.’
Nicola Upson, author of the
Josephine Tey
series
‘A thrilling mixture of journalism and police work.’
VG
‘The Caveman is a high intensity thriller from page one. It will stand as one of this year’s best crime novels.’
Tvedestransposten
‘He is the new Nesbo . . . smart. Jorn Lier Horst demonstrates that he is one of our best crime fiction writers.’
Dagbladet
Praise for
The Hunting Dogs
‘Yet again the novelist convinces with a satisfying, credible police procedural. This time, William Wisting faces a major life crisis: he is himself investigated, and forced to examine his police career in a new light. His journalist daughter Line plays an important role in the book, turning the novel into both a depiction of the father-daughter relationship and a portrayal of the relationship between the police and the media.’
The judges of the Riverton Prize Golden Revolver,
won by Jorn Lier Horst for
The Hunting Dogs
‘An immaculately plotted, beautifully structured novel, complex and full of tension, both in terms of the action and the personal complications.’
Bob Cornwell in
Crimetime
‘There’s a gritty atmosphere and a good sense of pace, while Wisting and his daughter make for excellent and companionable protagonists.’
Russell MacLean in
The Herald
Praise for
Closed for Winter
‘Painstaking and swift, Closed for Winter is a piece of quality craftsmanship, with Horst meticulously bringing together an unexpectedly windy plot, highly intelligent characterizations and a delectably subtle ‘noir’ mood to create a very engrossing crime novel.’
Edinburgh Book Review
‘On the evidence of Closed for Winter, which is the seventh book in the series but only the second to be translated into English, it would appear that we are about to be treated to another classic series.’
Bay Magazine
‘Top class crime writing.’
Sindre Hovdenakk,
Verdens Gang
‘Jorn Lier Horst has pulled it off again.’
Svein Einar Hansen,
Østlands-Posten
‘This is a thoroughly good crime novel.’
Finn Stenstad,
Tønsberg Blad
‘Classic police procedural from an author who knows what he is doing . . . I recommend that every fan of crime novels should dedicate some time to Jorn Lier Horst’s writing. Make a pleasurable start with
Closed for Winter
.’
Torbjørn Ekelund,
Dagbladet
Praise for
Dregs
‘Jorn Lier Horst has, right from his debut in 2004, set a sensationally good pace in his crime novels, and has today gained entry into the circle of our very best writers in that genre.’
Terje Stemland,
AftenPosten
, Norway
‘Just as good are the descriptions of the characters in Jorn Lier Horst’s book. They are nuanced and interesting, absolutely human. Many have known it for a long time, but now it ought to be acknowledged as a truth for all readers of crime fiction: William Wisting is one of the great investigators in Norwegian crime novels.’
Norwegian Book Club
(Book of the Month, Crime and Thrillers)
Jorn Lier Horst
was born in 1970, in Bamble, Telemark, Norway. Between 1995 and 2013, when he turned to full time writing, he worked as a policeman in Larvik, eventually becoming head of investigations there. His William Wisting series of crime novels has sold more than 500,000 copies in Scandinavia, UK, Germany, Netherlands and Thailand.
Dregs
, sixth in the series, was published in English by Sandstone Press in 2011, and
Closed for Winter
, winner of Norway’s Booksellers’ Prize, in 2012.
Closed for Winter
was also shortlisted for the prestigious Riverton Prize or
The Golden Revolver
, for best Norwegian crime novel of the year, as well as the prestigious
Petrona Prize
in Great Britain in 2014.
The Hunting Dogs
, successor to
Closed for Winter,
won both the
Golden Revolver
and
The Glass Key
, which widened the scope to best crime fiction in all the Nordic countries, in 2013.
Anne Bruce
, who lives on the Isle of Arran in Scotland, formerly worked in education and has a longstanding love of Scandinavia and Norway in particular. Having studied Norwegian and English at Glasgow University, she is the translator of Jorn Lier Horst’s
Dregs
,
Closed for Winter
and
The Hunting Dogs
, and also Anne Holt’s
Blessed are Those who Thirst
(2012),
Death of the Demon
(2013) and
The Lion’s Mouth
(2014), in addition to Merethe Lindstrøm’s Nordic Prize winning
Days in the History of Silence
(2013).
JORN LIER HORST
First published in Great Britain
and the United States of America
Sandstone Press Ltd
Dochcarty Road
Dingwall
Ross-shire
IV15 9UG
Scotland
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS 2013
[All rights reserved.]
Translation © Anne Bruce 2015
Published in English in 2015 by Sandstone Press Ltd
English language editor: Robert Davidson
The moral right of Jorn Lier Horst to be recognised as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patent Act, 1988.
This translation has been published with the financial support of NORLA.
The publisher acknowledges subsidy from Creative Scotland towards publication of this volume.
ISBN: 978-1-910124-04-8
ISBNe: 978-1-910124-05-5
Cover design by Freight Design, Glasgow
Ebook by Iolaire Typesetting, Newtonmore
WILLIAM WISTING
William Wisting is a career policeman who has risen through the ranks to become Chief Inspector in the Criminal Investigation Department of Larvik Police, just like his creator, author Jorn Lier Horst.
The Caveman
is the eighth title in the series, the fourth to be published in English, and finds him aged fifty-three, the widowed father of grown up twins, Thomas and Line. Wisting’s wife, Ingrid, went to Africa to work on a NORAD project but was killed there at the end of
The Only One
, the fifth title in the series.
Thomas serves in the military and is a helicopter pilot with 330 Squadron at the time of
The Caveman
. Daughter Line is an investigative journalist based in Oslo, whose career frequently intersects with that of her father. Wisting, initially apprehensive, has come to value how she is able to operate in ways that he cannot, often turning up unexpected clues and insights.
After Ingrid’s death, Wisting became involved with another woman, Suzanne Bjerke, but their relationship foundered in the course of
The Hunting Dogs
and at the beginning of
The Caveman
, Wisting is again unattached and living alone.
Wisting’s father, Roald Wisting, a retired doctor, is still living and features in both
The Hunting Dogs
and
The Caveman
. His medical background and knowledge of the history of the Larvik and Stavern area occasionally proves useful.
Crucial to the series are Wisting’s colleagues in the police. Audun Vetti, the arrogant Assistant Chief of Police, came to the fore in
Dregs
, when the question of how much information to divulge to the press was bitterly contested between the two. In
Closed for Winter
, he had been promoted to the post of Deputy Chief Constable and was no longer in daily contact with Wisting. In
The Hunting Dogs
, when Vetti was working as Acting Chief Constable, the part he played in an earlier investigation is uncovered and he is removed from office, to Wisting’s satisfaction and relief.
Wisting has more positive relationships with certain trusted colleagues: old school Nils Hammer, whose background in the Drugs Squad has made him cynical, the younger Torunn Borg whom Wisting has come to rely on thanks to her wholly professional approach and outlook, and Espen Mortensen, the crime scene examiner who is usually first on the scene. Christine Thiis, who took over from Audun Vetti as Assistant Chief of Police and police prosecutor in
Closed for Winter
, has established herself and consolidated her position as a trusted colleague. Benjamin Fjeld, introduced to CID as a young probationer in
Closed for Winter
, returns as a valued member of the team in
The Caveman
.
The setting is Vestfold county on the south-west coast of Norway, an area popular with holidaymakers, where rolling landscapes and attractive beaches make an unlikely setting for crime. The principal town, Larvik, where Wisting is based, is located 105 km (65 miles) southwest of Oslo. The wider Larvik district has 41,000 inhabitants, 23,000 of whom live in the town itself, and covers 530 square km. Larvik is noted for its natural springs, but its modern economy relies heavily on agriculture, commerce and services, light industry and transportation, as well as tourism. There is a ferry service from Larvik to Hirsthals in Denmark.
At the beginning of
The Caveman
, Wisting has returned to work following his suspension from duty that featured in
The Hunting Dogs
, and is readjusting to life on his own after parting from Suzanne. As the winter weather closes in, he is faced with his most challenging case to date, in which he has to collaborate with transatlantic colleagues as well as the national crime team and Emergency Squad from Oslo. Jorn Lier Horst’s own deep experience of police procedures and processes brings a strong sense of the novels in the William Wisting series being firmly grounded in reality.
Jorn Lier Horst worked as a policeman in Larvik between 1995 and 2013 when he turned to full time writing.
Further information on Jorn Lier Horst and the earlier books is available in English at
http://eng.gyldendal.no/Gyldendal/Authors/Horst-Joern-Lier