Alexander Blix is a broken man. Convicted for avenging his daughter’s death, he is now being held in one of Norway’s high-security prisons. Inside, the other prisoners take every opportunity to challenge and humiliate the former police investigator.
On the outside, Blix’s former colleagues have begun the hunt for a terrifying killer. Walter Kroos has escaped from prison in Germany and is making his way north. The only lead established by the police is that Kroos has a friend in Blix’s prison ward. And now they need Blix’s help.
Journalist Emma Ramm is one of Blix’s few visitors, and she becomes his ally as he struggles to connect the link between past and present, between the world inside and outside the prison walls.
And as he begins to piece things together, he identifies a woodland community in Norway where deeply scarred inhabitants foster deadly secrets… secrets that maybe the unravelling of everyone involved…
Two of Nordic Noir’s finest writers return with the emotive, breath-holdingly intense and searingly tense fourth book in the number-one bestselling Blix & Ramm series.
It is an honour to be hosting the blog tour for Stigma today. Many thanks to Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger, Orenda Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for sending me an advance copy of the novel.
Stigma is the fourth book in the reliably excellent Blix and Ramm series, co-authored by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger. It can be read as a standalone, however, I would strongly recommend reading at least the previous novel, Unhinged and ideally the whole series, if you can. The powerfully moving ongoing story arc can be easily understood but the emotional resonance will obviously be felt more deeply by those who are familiar with these characters.
I loved Unhinged, it was one of my favourite reads last year and I've been eagerly awaiting this next instalment in the series. I wasn't disappointed; the alchemy between these two writers is as strong as ever and Stigma is everything I hope for whenever I open a new book. The beautifully structured narrative mostly follows Alexander Blix as he negotiates life as an incarcerated police officer and Emma Ramm, whose journalistic instincts are tempered by her previous experiences, but readers also bear witness to the perspective of other characters – in the past and well as the present. The result is an increasingly tense, complex thriller which teems with confrontations and revelations.
Blix is, understandably, a diminished man here; he is serving a prison sentence which finds him locked up with criminals who relish making life uncomfortable for him. This is most notably true of Jarl Inge Rees who is at the top of the prison's hierarchy and whose constant intimidation and humiliation of Blix threatens to escalate into actual violence. These taut scenes highlight just how far Blix has fallen but this grieving, guilt-ridden man is forced to react on occasion and consequently, the request that he should attempt to form some kind of bond with Rees is intriguing.
The opening of Stigma features a brutal murder and it later transpires it is even more tragic than it first appears. The perpetrator, Walter Kroos is a fascinating character whose devastating history lies at the heart of this compelling mystery. After his escape from prison in Germany, it quickly becomes clear that he is headed for Norway and that he is somehow linked to Rees. Blix is restricted in what he can do to investigate Rees and while his years of experience lead to one particularly nerve-racking scene, for the most part it's Emma Ramm who becomes his conduit on the outside. Although Blix has obviously undergone a deeply traumatic, life-changing ordeal, Emma also suffers from the weight of what occurred before and there's an interesting juxtaposition between her natural inquisitiveness and her growing need to reassess her life.
When she travels to Osen and begins to piece together the terrible events of the past, it becomes evident that Stigma is a poignantly perceptive exploration of the decisions and mistakes which end up having a cataclysmic effect on people's lives. Whether it's Blix, Ramm or the small group of people who know at least part of what took place on a campsite in Osen years ago, this is a story filled with terrible regret and a desire to rectify those wrongs. However, this need proves to burn dangerously in some and Stigma is a compulsively opaque thriller. There are shocking revelations throughout the novel and the twists and turns of the plot are riveting – the small town setting and closely linked community lends itself perfectly to a mystery brimming with dark secrets. Some difficult topics are examined here but although the subject matter is upsetting and challenging, it is reflected upon with sensitivity and understanding and the title is particularly apt.
Stigma is everything I'm looking for in crime fiction; the sense of place is excellent, the characterisation nuanced and believable and the pacy, dynamic storyline is superbly suspenseful. However, what really elevates this novel – and indeed series – from great to exceptional is the potently empathetic, perceptive writing. The collaboration between Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger is exemplary; it's impossible to figure out who wrote which parts. High praise must also be given to Megan Turney's seamless translation which captures all the atmosphere, tension and emotions of this outstanding thriller. Stigma is a darkly compulsive, exciting and thought-provoking triumph – I cannot recommend it highly enough!
Stigma will be published by Orenda Books on 12th October 2023. It can be purchased directly from the publisher's website. Further buying links can be found here.
Follow the blog tour, details are below.
About the Authors
Jørn Lier Horst
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Thomas Enger
About the Translator
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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