Bergen Private Investigator Varg Veum is perplexed when two wildly different cases cross his desk at the same time. A lawyer, anxious to protect her privacy, asks Varg to find her sister, who has disappeared with her husband, seemingly without trace, while a ship carrying unknown cargo is heading towards the Norwegian coast, and the authorities need answers.
Varg immerses himself in the investigations, and it becomes clear that the two cases are linked, and have unsettling – and increasingly uncanny – similarities to events that took place thirty-six years earlier, when a woman and her saxophonist lover drove their car off a cliff, in an apparent double suicide.
As Varg is drawn into a complex case involving star-crossed lovers, toxic waste and illegal immigrants, history seems determined to repeat itself in perfect detail … and at terrifying cost…
A chilling, dark and twisting story of love and revenge, Mirror Image is Staalesen at his most thrilling, thought-provoking best.
It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen today. Many thanks to Orenda Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for sending me an advance copy of the novel.
Like Fallen Angels and Bitter Flowers, Mirror Image was originally published in Norway several years ago and again gives English-speaking readers the opportunity to see a slightly younger Varg Veum at work. As with all the books in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone and will be as enjoyable for those new to the novels as it is to readers who have met the older Veum.
Most of the storyline is set in the then current day of 1993 but throughout the book there are flashbacks to earlier events which gradually reveal what really took place in the convoluted histories of the various characters. Veum's services have been engaged by Berit, a lawyer who is concerned she hasn't heard from her sister, Bodil and her husband, Fernando for a few weeks. With little to suggest anything is awry, she is reluctant to go to the police at this stage. Fernando's quick temper and a recent altercation at their house which resulted in the police being called may be cause for concern or it could just be that the pair have chosen to take themselves away on a holiday. However, the family has a tragic past which resulted in the shocking death of the sisters' mother and Veum becomes increasingly aware of the curious links between past and present.
This is a novel of apparent coincidences and a further twist of fate occurs when Torunn Tafjord, a freelance journalist calls Veum from Casablanca and asks for his assistance looking into the movements of The Seagull, a ship belonging to Trans World Ocean, a company based in Bergen. The connection to his own case makes him uneasy and the less than enthusiastic welcome he receives at the TWO offices certainly suggests secrets are being kept which may have caused Fernando to flee the country. There are several characters in Mirror Image who seem to be hiding something and although this isn't a fast-paced novel, there is always an underlying sense of foreboding and melancholic tension.
After some early progress, his investigation stalls and Gunnar Staalesen deftly captures Veum's increasing frustration as the leads he follows seem to result in the situation becoming even more complex. The sense of place is as immersive as I've come to expect, with the geography of the coastline and the relatively small size of Bergen particularly important here and as much a character as the fascinatingly unfathomable characters with their various dark secrets and long-held memories. Varg Veum himself is the real heart of the novel, though and he is such a wonderful character. The first-person narrative works superbly in Mirror Image, giving a real insight into the mind of this resolute, pugnacious man. He seems to delight in aggravating the people he talks to but his dry, often self-effacing wit is frequently in evidence too. On a superficial level, he could be the epitome of the almost romanticised, hard-bitten private investigator; his drinking isn't at its worst here but there are hints as to his battle with the bottle and he certainly has an eye for the women. However, he is written with a heavy dose of Nordic realism and while he is in a relationship of sorts, he lives alone in a small flat and is barely making enough money to live.
The mystery as to the whereabouts of Björg and Fernando is baffling and is the focus for most of the book but the subplot gives Gunnar Staalesen his customary opportunity to explore contemporary issues. The Seagull, he learns, may have links to organised crime and while he acknowledges that at this time in Norway, it's on a relatively small scale, he wonders what the future holds. Meanwhile, the actual crimes which are perpetrated are actually on a global level and especially resonant given the current discussions around asylum seekers and the culpability of richer countries when it comes to environmental damage in poorer areas of the world.
As always, Don Bartlett's translation should be commended, the atmospheric, observant narrative flows seamlessly throughout. Mirror Image is beautifully written, intricately plotted crime fiction at its most engaging and as Veum attempts to figure his way through the tissue of lies and subterfuge, the truth is both shocking and tragic, I highly recommend it.
Mirror Image will be published by Orenda Books on 31st August and can be pre-ordered from the publisher's website. Further purchasing links can be found here or order from your favourite independent bookseller.
Follow the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
One of the fathers of Nordic Noir, Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1947. He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over twenty titles, which have been published in twenty-four countries and sold over four million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Espen Seim. Staalesen has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour). Where Roses Never Die won the 2017 Petrona Award for Nordic Crime Fiction, and Big Sister was shortlisted for the award in 2019. He lives with his wife in Bergen.
About the Translator
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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