#BlogTour ‘Death Deserved’ by Thomas Wenger and Jorn Lier Horst

About the book…

Police officer Alexander Blix and celebrity blogger Emma Ramm join forces to track down a serial killer with a thirst for attention and high-profile murders, in the first episode of a gripping new Nordic Noir series…

Oslo, 2018. Former long-distance runner Sonja Nordstrøm never shows at the launch of her controversial autobiography, Always Number One. When celebrity blogger Emma Ramm visits Nordstrøm’s home later that day, she finds the door unlocked and signs of a struggle inside. A bib with the number ‘one’ has been pinned to the TV.

Police officer Alexander Blix is appointed to head up the missing-persons investigation, but he still bears the emotional scars of a hostage situation nineteen years earlier, when he killed the father of a five-year-old girl. Traces of Nordstrøm soon show up at different locations, but the appearance of the clues appear to be carefully calculated … evidence of a bigger picture that he’s just not seeing…

Blix and Ramm soon join forces, determined to find and stop a merciless killer with a flare for the dramatic, and thirst for attention.
Trouble is, he’s just got his first taste of it…

Thanks to wonderful Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and the ever fabulous Orenda Books for the blogotur invite and my gifted review copy of ‘Death Deserved’ translated by Anne Bruce. ‘Death Deserved’ is available in paperback from February 20th wherever good books are sold! (Also available in ebook format, and hopefully and audiobook!)

What do you get if you cross 2 Nordic Noir authors at the top of their game, and in a masterful translator and a juggernaut of independent publishing?

You get the stone cold treat,’Death Deserved’, which is the series opener that Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst have created, and which has already sold tremendously in Norway. Now, with Anne Bruce’s translation ,and Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books promoting it, not only is there the chance for English readers to soak up this slice of Scandinavian thriller, it serves as a great introduction to their other works.

Jorn Lier Horst’s ‘Wisting’ series has been adapted for the BBC, and is currently available on the iplayer.

Thomas Enger’s Henning Juul novel’s are also available from Orenda books, and I can thoroughly recommend his last novel, ‘Inborn’ which is a standalone thriller.

Back to ‘Death Deserved’!

You could spend your time reading it and wondering which author wrote which part, who thought up what plot point, or you could just lose yourself in the precise melding of two formidable writers, who, between them, have created an engaging duo of protagonists. Alexander Blix is returning to his office and being paired with a brand new partner(pretty much against his will), whilst Emma Ramm is a journalist currently covering celebrity and entertainment , whilst harbouring ambitions to use her skills for something more worthy.

Both have issues, Blix has his last case going horribly wrong, and Ramm her ambition, so when Sonja Nordstrom goes missing on the day her autobiography publishes, one sees it as a potential career making story, the other as a chance to prove himself .

This story has at its center, a meditation on the nature of celebrity-it’s a case of which came first, the ‘need’ for celebrity gossip and feeling of entitlement into the lives of the famous by the public who ‘made’ them, or the ‘need’ for fame and to have their names on people’s lips.

It is enforced by the fact that Blix’ estranged daughter is currently appearing on a Big Brother-esque show, ‘Worthy Winner’, where the contestants have to face ethical dilemmas and situations in order to win a large cash prize-and fame.

Sonja’s autobiography had an incredible buzz about it for the revelations it was going to explode surrounding her abuse at the hands of trainers,her rival runner’s drug abuse that she witnessed, and at the beginning of the book, it was thought that her disappearance was tied into a PR stunt. As they swiftly become aware, this is no fake disappearance, this is a well timed, deliberate act by a serial killer who soon  has the entire city locked down in fear.

He , too , wants to be the name on everyone’s lips….

The responsibility of the police to keep everyone safe is contrasted with the need of the public to name thier boogeyman, who is deliciously kept off screen, and so is allowed to take a shape within the mind of the reader. And he is feeding the public greed for gossip and scandal by, in turn, immortalising the ones he kills.

Ironically, as we know, the names of the murderers are often remembered way after the victims have been lost to history-this increases exponetially with the kill rate. Our fascination with serial killers means that even the average man in the street is aware of how many murders creates such a beast, the television is awash with real and ficitonalised accounts of them, so the self reflecting question keeps coming up over and over-is death deserved in the creation of immportality? Who creates the monster that drives this frenzy, and how is it stopped?

Culpability, responses to crimes, and creating celebrity by causing mass panic, is only tackled by a team who want to reinforce the right of law and justice-Ramm’s motivations might be seen as self-serving to start with, but by the end of the book she and Blix are a team.

The beast has been put back in his cage by the force of law and justice, a temporary hold at best until the next one shows their face , however, Blix and Ramm will be waiting….

I found this such a tense and commanding novel, the short chapters and short, strong sentences kept me on the edge of my seat. The facts of the case are dealt out in bite sized chunks that you squirrel away to create the overall picture of what exactly is going on. We race down the streets of Oslo with Blix and Ramm, meeting their colleagues, family and friends, building a picture in our mind of who they are, and deciding that , yes, they are our new favourite double act.

It’s so exciting to start a new series, the anticipation of the next instalment is an exquisite sensation as you keenly await requaintaing yourself with a team who will hopefully continue to solve crimes for many years yet to come.

About the authors…

Jorn Lier Horst (born in Bamble, Telemark 1970) is a former Senior Investigating Officer at the Norwegian police force. He made his literary debut as a crime writer in 2004 and is considered one of the foremost Nordic crime writers.

His series of mystery novels starring chief inspector William Wisting provides a detailed and authentic insight into how criminal cases are investigated and how it affects those involved, whether private or professional. The books represent a simple and accurate picture of the modern Nordic societies and is characterized by political and social commentary subtext.

Links-http://www.jlhorst.com/pageview.asp?pid=15

https://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/wisting-tv-series/

Twitter @lierhorst

Thomas Enger is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication, and marked the first in the bestselling Henning Juul series. Rights to the series have been sold to 28 countries to date. In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult). Killer Instinct, upon which Inborn is based, and another Young Adult suspense novel, was published in Norway in 2017 and won the same prestigious prize. Most recently, Thomas has co-written a thriller with Jørn Lier Horst. Enger also composes music, and he lives in Oslo.

Links-http://www.thomasenger.net/

Twitter @EngerThomas