Random Things Tours: Unhinged by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger transl. by Megan Turney

 

Police investigator Sofia Kovic has been executed in a spectacular killing, the investigative duo Alexander Blix and Emma Ramm are decided to trace the criminal. Before is too late. Before Blix´s daughter, Iselin, who was dangerously close to the encounter that lead to Kovic´s killing. 

Unhinged by the Norwegian crime writing duo Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger is the third in the series featuring Blix and Ramm. Translated from Norwegian by Megan Turney it was published recently by my favorite crime publishing, Orenda Books whose choices can never be wrong. Although it is the third installment of the series, Unhinged can be read as a stand-alone, although it may be hard not to get to the other previous two books. 

Unhinged is synonymous with highly disturbed, distraught, unstable. What is really enticing to this book, is its extremely dark circumstances of the story. Kovic was executed as she was investigating some net of crimes taking place in Oslo. The sword of another crime and another crime, and another victim to be killes is hanging in the air. We don´t know if something bad is about to happen again, while Blix and Ramm do talk about how to catch the criminal and analyse the various possibilities. They don´t seem to hurry, but the ambiance around there is dark; it is like they sit in the middle of a storm who is destroying everything around them. Still, they take their time and struggle to find the solution(s).

What I really loved more than the crime thread and the amplified suspense, was the structure of the sentences: short, reducing the message to essential. The brevity of the dialogues we may understand the high level of emergency surrounding the circumstances of the story. 

Blix and Ramm may be an odd human mix, but their personalities are complementary and do promise an interesting investigation. Ramm was by far my favorite, with her sharp mind and investigative skills.

Any serious crime lover will be delighterd by Unhinged. It is an intelligent dark book, written on point and perfectly translated. A Nordic Noir at its best.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own