Wednesday, February 09, 2022

Dregs by Jørn Lier Horst

 
First Line: The report was phoned in to the police switchboard  in Tønsberg on Tuesday 22nd June at 09.32 hours.
 
Midsummer is fast approaching on Norway's southern coast when four human feet wash ashore. Inspector William Wisting has many years of experience in investigating murders, but this case is different. The four feet are from four different people. What on earth is going on? And are any more feet going to show up?
 
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Jørn Lier Horst is a former Chief Inspector in the Criminal Investigation Department of Larvik, Norway, just like his main character William Wisting, and this insider information shows in his first mystery, Dregs

Wisting is the widowed father of grown-up twins. Thomas is in the military, serving in Afghanistan while his daughter, Line, is an investigative journalist based in Oslo. Line is busy with a new project: interviewing six convicted killers who have served more than one hundred years behind bars between them. She intends to prove that a gentler approach would work better in rehabilitating prisoners like these.

The mystery is well-plotted and intricate. It takes a lot of work from Wisting and his team to even begin to figure out what's going on, and it was interesting to see how Line's project intersected with her father's investigation. Something tells me this is going to be an ongoing occurrence in this series, and it's something that's going to take Wisting, in his role as father, to become used to.

Dregs is a solid mystery that I enjoyed listening to. I can see myself reaching for the next book in the series.

Translated from the Norwegian by Anne Bruce.
Narrated by Saul Reichlin.
ASIN: B00LUXH4TQ
W.F. Howes, Ltd. © 2014
Audiobook. 9 hours 55 minutes.

Police Procedural, #1 William Wisting mystery
Rating: B
Source: Purchased from Chirp Books.

21 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed this one, Cathy. I thought it was a fine, solid mystery, too, and I do like the relationship between Wisting and his daughter. It raises some important issues, too, without bashing the reader over the head with them.

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  2. I watched a bit of the Norwegian television series based on these books and was struck by the characters. Happy to see that the books are good...probably better even than the shows I enjoyed so much...and you know what that means. :-)

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  3. I had not heard of this author or his series. It does sound like it might be worth getting to know.

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    1. I have to admit that I do enjoy a good Scandinavian mystery.

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  4. Four feet from four different people washing ashore? That's so crazy. But it makes for a fascinating mystery. I will definitely be giving this one a try. :)

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  5. Oh, gosh, if I count the number of books I've read with feet evidence of murders, it would probably add up to one foot-worth.
    At one point I read three in a row featuring feet in the beginning of the books, one by Fred Vargas, one by a Scandinavian author and I can't remember the third.

    The Wisting series is good. I've read two books. Line is involved in the books I read.

    This is one Nordic series where the protagonist is not an alcoholic or troubled, but has a good relationship with his daughter, her child and his work team.

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    1. Kinda sad when a protagonist is unusual simply because he's not maladjusted.

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    2. Yes, true. But with Nordic noir, what with having little sunlight, it may factor into depression and then alcoholism.

      I notice male detectives without families often are substance abusers, probably depression and stress.

      But I've only read one book in a series with a woman drug user who is listed as a user entitled to a program in England where she gets a substitute for heroin. I couldn't read more than one book, didn't want to read about her crash before she got the drug and her terrible symptoms.

      Commissario Guido Brunetti in Donna Leon's books is a very mentally healthy family man, happily married with two teenagers. He gets along well with everyone and has no bad habits. My only problem with this series is that he gets to eat a fabulous meal every day cooked by Paola Falier, his spouse, when he gets home from work. This series and Montalbano's make me crave Italian food.

      Commissaire Adamsberg in Fred Vargas' series is not a substance abuser, but he is a schlep with how he relates to women. He can't figure it out and can't have relationships. He is brilliant though.

      I don't think Harry Bosch is dysfunctional.

      I hope Denis improves soon. That sounds like a horrible, painful problem.

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    3. It is. So far, today hasn't been a very good day for him.

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  6. That does sound good - you know I enjoy police procedurals, or at least having that aspect involved - and perhaps not as noir as other Scandinavian mysteries. And since I've been to Norway, I'm curious to see how this book will convey the setting.

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    1. You're like me when it comes to reading books set in areas we have some familiarity with.

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  7. I've read so little with a Scandinavian background. This sounds intriguing.

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    1. I hadn't read any Scandinavian crime fiction until Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and then the market was inundated with mysteries set in that area. There are some excellent writers-- Karin Fossum, Helene Tursten, and Henning Mankell are three.

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  8. I like the daughter's name. It's Line.

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    1. One of the things I liked about listening to the audiobook was that I got to hear all the names pronounced properly.

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  9. I'm really curious about this one! Especially since it seems to be one of those "team" novels that I enjoy. :)

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    1. That's why I read it-- I was curious, too. :-)

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