The Night Man (A Wisting Book) by Jorn Lier Horst

 

The Night Man by Jorn Lier Horst.

Translated by Anne Bruce.

Published 2nd February 2023 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

A BODY IN THE LAKE. A HEAD ON A STAKE . . .

Gruesome happenings in the quiet town of Larvik. Only one man is capable of solving them: Chief Inspector William Wisting.

Before long, more bodies are found. Media frenzy sweeps the locals into panic. And when Wisting's investigation leads him to a deadly underground crime ring, he fears the whole town may be in danger.

But at the heart of it is the gang's elusive leader: The Night Man.

Who Wisting must find if he wants to stop the murders. 
That is, if The Night Man doesn't get to him first . . .

**********

The small town of Larvik is shocked to the core when the head of a young refugee girl is found stuck on a spike in the town square. It is a sight that Chief Inspector William Wisting will never forget, but if anyone can solve this crime then it is Wisting. 

Wisting's journalist daughter Line also happens to be back in Larvik, and she is ideally placed to grab the best headlines about the crime - but the competition between media outlets is fierce and she is going to have to come up with something special to make an impression.

Both set out to unearth the clues that will point to the sadistic murderer, beginning with the theory that this might be an honour killing. However, as the leads open up it appears that there is a lot more at play than disturbed family values. The trail points to a mysterious figure called the Night Man, whose crimes do not end with the shocking murder of one young girl...

Yet again, Lier Horst pulls out all the stops to create a compelling mystery for Wisting to investigate, and Line has an equal share in tracking down the shadowy figure called Night Man too. Wisting and Line have their own preoccupations here - Wisting to solve more than one horrific crime, and Line to be at the leading edge of the media circus in Larvik. Both put their logical minds to good use in uncovering clues in this story, and there is lovely interplay between father and daughter to highlight how alike they really are. Wisting is surrounded by his trusty team, with Torunn and Nils on the case too. 

There are multiple twisty threads, with blind alleys to discount, before Wisting gets on the right track, and Line is characteristically reckless in pursuit of a story to put her ahead of the competition. Both end up in considerable danger, intriguingly in very different locations. As is Lier Horst's forte, their parallel investigations start slowly and then ramp up with delicious pace and tension, until the threads of the story collide. There is even some romance for father and daughter along the way. Wisting is particularly reflective this time around, musing on how the media coverage of crime has twisted over the years, and he shows off his knowledge of history to wonderful effect.

Lier Horst delves into some gritty themes in this investigation that bring a real edge to the classiest of crime stories. The focus is on the fate of unaccompanied refugee children being taken advantage of by the unscrupulous. He holds nothing back about the difficult circumstances asylum seekers face in their home countries, and the places where they seek sanctuary. He also explores discrimination, misinformation, and the extreme fringes of activism at both ends of the spectrum.  

Jorn Lier Horst is one of my favourite authors of Nordic noir crime, and Wisting is one of my favourite book characters. Everything about this latest story cements the Wisting books as the very best of everything I love about the genre, and I gulped it down whole in one tasty, page-turning bite. I cannot wait for the next one.

The Night Man is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me a paperback copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

JØRN LIER HORST worked as a police officer and head of investigations before becoming a full-time writer and has established himself as one of the most successful authors to come out of Scandinavia. His books have sold over two million copies in his native Norway alone and he's published in twenty-six languages.

The Wisting series, produced by the team behind Wallander and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was a hit BBC series in 2019 with a second series available now..

About the translator:

Anne Bruce studied Norwegian and English at the University of Glasgow and now lives on the Isle of Arran, Scotland. She has translated a number of crime novels by Anne Holt and Jorn Lier Horst, including the Petrona-Prize-winning The Caveman and When It Grows Dark, which was longlisted for the CWA International Dagger in 2017.