I would like to thank Orenda Books and Anne from Random Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Orenda

Published – Out 17/2

Price - £8.99 paperback £4.27

When police investigator Sofia Kovic uncovers a startling connection between several Oslo murder cases, she attempts to contact her closest superior, Alexander Blix before involving anyone else in the department. But before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim.

Four days later, Blix and online crime journalist Emma Ramm are locked inside an interrogation room, facing the National Criminal Investigation Service. Blix has shot and killed a man, and Ramm saw it all happen.

As Iselin’s life hangs in the balance, under-fire Blix no longer knows who he can trust … and he’s not even certain that he’s killed the right man…

Critics of genres love to claim the problem is that they are formulaic; all adhering to some set of hidden rules that a literary novel would never dream of using; even though such tales to me always seem to include a family breakdown, midlife crisis or middle-aged man getting angry at the world. With crime stories it is often claimed that the novel supports the restoration of order with a crime being committed and the detective acting for the people bringing justice and a sense of normality. But good genre writers know the rules are made to be stretched, bent and broken because then the novel can really surprise the reader who know what you should be doing and is puzzled yet intrigued that the author is taking you on a different path. In the tense and alarming novel Unhinged written by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger we return to a Norwegian crime series where the reader feels the rug taken from their feet and has no idea where they are going to fall.

Alexander Blix’s young police investigator Sofia Kovic has been viewed with affection from the whole department as a bright and capable detective. But while Blix is giving a lecture to those who suffer the effects of violence, he is alarmed to find Kovic was shot dead in her home and lodger his daughter Iselin was also attacked and just escaped with her life ending up in hospital. We then find that Blix is under police interrogation for killing a man and his best friend the young journalist Emma Ramm is also being investigated for what she claims to have happened. The duo soon face their darkest and deadliest case yet with fatal consequences.

This third novel in the series plays with the format. Blix is usually the lad investigator but now we find him a relative of a victim and a suspect. With the death of Kovic we feel the world that has been built up in two novels is now getting violently overturned. With the trick of the four-day time jump we know things are getting dangerous for Blix and Ramm and we see Blix a man usually quite laid back now acting on pure emption and anger. It’s a brilliantly delivered left hook of a move that gets the reader on their toes. This is very much not how many crime procedurals work – the old detective hanging in their badge usually happens midway to give tension while here we see the aftermath of something horrible. This novel is the darkest of the tales I’ve read and there is a feeling of menace all the way through the tale of the led characters getting in over their heads. This feels a novel where things get worse not better and simple errors of judgement have horrific consequences.

While the characters are having a terrible time for the reader we get to see them pushed to heir limits. What can make Blix crack under pressure and the usually by the book Ramm cut corners. Blix’s relationship with his daughter gets under the spotlight and you feel the weight of the world gathering on his shoulders. It’s got many hard-hitting scenes that take you by surprise and make you consider that the authors are now prepared to take the series into darker and harsher storylines.  The mystery aspect is really well delivered. Initially very random events but we sense that Kovic’s own work is key and slowly we see the web of crimes that the story pulls neatly together.  

This is a hard mystery to reveal because the turns in the narrative make this the rewarding read it can be. Rather than a tale of reassurance this feels more a slice of a Nordic noir nightmare where the world and characters are broken and cannot possibly be put back together in the same way. It’s a quick read as you race to find the outcome but by the end you really want to find out what happened next. Thriller fans should be prepared for not going to sleep until finished. Highly recommended!