Where Roses Never Die

A warm welcome to volume 16 in the Varg Veum series by Gunnar Staalesen who has sold 1,5 million copies in Norway. Excellent reviews.

Almost 25 years have passed since a three year old girl, Mette Misvær, disappeared without a trace from a sand pit outside her home in the tranquil residential area Nordås just outside of Bergen. The statute of limitations is about to run out, and Mette’s mother makes a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. The case lands in the lap of private eye Varg Veum. Young Mette lived in an environment ruled by ideals of openness, community and sharing. However, when Varg Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets and lies. But it takes a brutal incident before a pattern begins to emerge …

Foreign sales: Denmark, Gyldendal France, Éditions Gaïa Nehterlands, Uitgjiveri Marmer United Kingdom, Orenda Books Greece, Dioptra Publishing

Praise

« ... stunning 16th entry in his series starring Varg Veum»Starred Review in Publishers Weekly

«The strengths of the Veum yarns are all in evidence ... The author also does a superior job of building suspense ...»Kirkus Reviews

«… a classical crime novel which keeps the reader in suspense from first to last chapter.»Bergens Tidende

«... A well-written and exciting and very classic Varg Veum novel.»Dagsavisen

"Staalesen shares a similar style and concerns with Fossum, and there is a world-weary existential sadness that hangs over his central detective. The prose is stripped back and simple, and both writers like to leave the deep emotion bubbling under the surface – the real turmoil of their characters’ lives just under the surface for the reader to intuit, rather than have it spelled out for them." The Big Issue

"With its exploration of family dynamics and the complex web of human behaviour, Staalesen’s novel echoes the great California author Ross MacDonald’s Lew Archer mysteries … mature and captivating."Herald Scotland

"Norwegian master Staalesen is an author who eschews police procedural narratives for noirish private eye pieces … with some abrasive social commentary." Finacial Times