Gunnar Staalesen – Bitter Flowers [Translated by Don Bartlett]

Bitter Flowers sees the return of Norwegian P.I Varg Veum. I have read Fallen Angels, the previous book in the series, and that book alone made me a big fan of Gunnar Staalesen.

PI Varg Veum has returned to duty following a stint in rehab, but his new composure and resolution are soon threatened when a challenging assignment arrives on his desk.

A man is found dead in an elite swimming pool and a young woman has gone missing. Most chillingly, Varg Veum is asked to investigate the ‘Camilla Case’: an eight-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of a little girl, who was never found.

As the threads of these apparently unrelated crimes come together, against the backdrop of a series of shocking environmental crimes, Varg Veum faces the most challenging, traumatic investigation of his career.

Bitter Flowers begins where Fallen Angels ended. Varg is just out of rehab, and we are in the 1980s. Things seem to be looking up for him; his friend has got a simple job for him, housesitting for a wealthy couple while they are travelling. It really doesn’t take long for things to start unravelling and Varg is back, doing what he does best.

The multiple threads in the story begin to interlink as Varg investigates, and I was trying to piece everything together alongside Varg. I love a good mystery, and this was an excellent one again.

I have found that Gunnar Staalesen writes with a strong sense of place. For me, that really makes me feel like I am there with Varg Veum, and the story is written, so we really do feel like we are discovering everything  alongside Varg. This really helps to immerse myself in Vargs’ world, which does bring this book to vivid life.

The translation of this book is again second to none. Don Bartlett misses nothing; he has been translator for a number of the Varg Veum novels and must have a definite ‘feel’ for the character as it shows.

Bitter flowers is paced perfectly to give us chance to really get under Vargs’ skin and know him, as we see how he won’t stop until he finds out the information he needs. Varg is the proverbial dog with a bone; nothing is stopping him, not even pressure from the police.

A rewarding story in that we see Varg doing what he set out too, right the wrongs, and not in a showy way, either. There is a reason Gunnar Staalesen is in my list of favourite Scandinavian crime fiction writers. Bitter Flowers showcases Gunnars writing so well that he can’t be knocked off my list of favourites easily.

Thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for having me on this fabulous tour and gifting the copy of the book.