Kjell Ola Dahl – The Sister (Translated by Don Bartlett)

If you enjoy contemporary Nordic noir, The Sister is a good one to choose. Frank Frolich, a police detective currently suspended, is working as a private detective in Oslo. He decides to help his new girlfriend Mathilde by taking a case of a missing girl, a sister of an illegal immigrant. He does so rather reluctantly, because he is certain he won’t get paid but soon feels like something doesn’t feel right.

He then receives a visit from an author who is writing a book about immigration and people smuggling, but his most acclaimed work was a novel investigating a terrible cruise ship disaster, in which a lot of people died. The author says he knows where the missing sister is and demands to know who is looking for her. Frank refuses and tries to hand the man’s money back, but he has disappeared. He discovers the man’s address and goes to see him, but all there seems to be are weird comings and goings and no author to be seen. The next day his old boss Gunnarstranda calls to see him and tells him the author has been found dead in his house. Then Frank finds a second body and starts to wonder if these deaths are linked to his missing girl or an older case from his past. The older case has Frank doggedly working through paperwork and leads from years gone by.

This is a excellently written crime thriller, that built up the tension nicely throughout the book. The motive for the killings was so well hidden in twists and misdirection that isn’t an obvious conclusion.

I have read other Nordic noir books before, but Sister has widened my view on reading more and I shall be looking for more books featuring Frank Frolich in the future. Thank you to Orendo Books and Anne Cater for allowing me to be a part of the Blog Tour.