OK, I’ve respected the Norwegian ancient tradition of reading mysteries all Easter long, but this is the last one (even if there’s one more day to go).
But I’m ending this Easter on a really strong book. It’s 400 pages long, and there’s not a single boring paragraph in here.
Holt was a minister of justice, and Reiss-Andersen also worked in the department (and also at the supreme court), so when this book is about the murder of the prime minister, it’s tempting to try to read this as a roman a clef, but I guess it’s not? It’s brimming with what seems like insider knowledge, anyway, but the main thing is that it’s just really well composed. The main mystery is a really solid mystery, and we’re also presented with some auxiliary mysteries. Just about every other page, we get some interesting tit bit, and it all rolls along in a very satisfactory way.
I think this is probably the best book Holt ever wrote? It’s certainly miles better than her more recent books. But then again, perhaps it’s all due to Reiss-Andersen, even though the only two books she’s ever written are this one and another one co-written by Holt.
Løvens gap (1997) by Anne Holt and Berit Reiss-Andersen (3.48 on Goodreads)