The Writing on the Wall (Euro Crime) [Paperback]

Gunnar Staalesen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Euro Crime | Publication Date: November 1, 2003

A case for Varg Veum . . . Bergen, Norway. Young teenage girls are being drawn into prostitution, partly for kicks, but also to earn money for drugs and clothes. Matters take a turn for the worse when the local magistrate is discovered in a luxury hotel, clad only in women_s lingerie_and most assuredly dead. Private detective Varg Veum is called by anxious parents soon after to look for their missing daughter.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway in 1947. He made his début at the early stage of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence. In 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series, an upmarket Scandinavian Philip Marlowe in true whodunit tradit

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Arcadia Books (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1900850583
• ISBN-13: 978-1900850582
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,229,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trafficking in Norway, April 10, 2010

By 

Patto (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Writing on the Wall (Paperback)

The story starts out with a bang. A seventy-year-old judge is found dead of a heart attack in a hotel room, wearing women's underwear. After that, the focus switches, and things move more slowly into a lot of frustrating investigation and interviewing.

Private investigator Varg Veum has been hired to look for a sixteen-year-old girl gone missing. Torild Skagestøl is from a good family, but as Veum looks into her habits and associates, he gradually uncovers her connection with a procurement service for clients who like very young teenage girls.

At first I felt I didn't know Varg Veum well enough to get caught up in his concerns. But his background does become clear after a while. He worked for many years in Child Welfare, and he has a particular aversion to seeing adults neglect and mistreat children.

A fifty-year-old sociologist type, Veum has a nice way of relating to his age-appropriate girlfriend. On the other hand, he's no pushover. He fights dirty when he has to.

Although Gunnar Staalesen's books are immensely popular internationally, they're just trickling through to the U.S as far as I can tell. I do feel that if I'd read the earlier books, I would be more tuned into the main character.

That said, the plot does pick up momentum if you stick with it, and Staalesen delivers a strong ending. So all in all, I'd recommend the book. It offers an interesting look at contemporary Norway, too.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Writing on the Wall, February 9, 2011

By 

Brian Oldham "coach O" (Sacramento, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Writing on the Wall (Paperback)

This is a remarkable crime fiction novel. Very dense descriptions of locale, culture in Norway, personalities, problems of culture at large. This work is aimed at the way society takes advantage of women, and especially young women. This is a artful condemnation of the "old boy" culture and the ridiculous things men are allowed to do at the expense of 50 percent of our citizens. I loved this book. The start was strange and it took me a while to get fully involved but after 80 pages I was not going to leave these people and this story till I had the whole picture. I agree with the premise of the book and thank the author for sending it out to all of us.

Brian Oldham

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Really dull., December 11, 2011

By 

misterarthur - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Writing on the Wall (Kindle Edition)

Sorry, but I don't agree with the reviews posted here. This is just a dull, old-fashioned genre piece. The lead character is forgettable, the pace relentlessly slow, and, worst of all, I really didn't care to find out who done it. (BTW, am a big fan of a lot of new Scandinavian crime fiction).