The Assistant

- Blurb -

A seemingly straightforward investigation into marital infidelity leads a PI and his ex-con assistant on a murderous trail, in a sophisticated, riveting, cunningly plotted historical thriller set in interwar and prohibition-era Norway. ' An expertly crafted unravelling of mixed loyalties, love, lust, lies and trust, set against the background of a world increasingly on the edge of all-out war' John Harvey' Dark, gritty and compulsive . . . feels like a classic of the genre' William Ryan' A stylish standalone thriller . . . Dahl ratchets up the tension from the first pages and never lets go' Sunday Times------------------------Oslo, 1938. War is in the air and Europe is in turmoil. Hitler' s Germany has occupied Austria and is threatening Czechoslovakia; there' s a civil war in Spain and Mussolini reigns in Italy. When a woman turns up at the office of police-turned-private investigator Ludvig Paaske, he and his assistant - his one-time nemesis and former drug-smuggler Jack Rivers - begin a seemingly straightforward investigation into marital infidelity. But all is not what it seems, and when Jack is accused of murder, the trail leads back to the 1920s, to prohibition-era Norway, to the smugglers, sex workers and hoodlums of his criminal past . . . and an extraordinary secret. Both a fascinating portrait of Oslo' s interwar years, with Nazis operating secretly on Norwegian soil and militant socialists readying workers for war, The Assistant is also a stunningly sophisticated, tension-packed thriller - the darkest of hard-boiled Nordic Noir - from one of Norway' s most acclaimed crime writers. For fans of Sebastian Faulks, Lars Mytting, Mick Herron and Robert Harris. ------------------------' Kjell Ola Dahl doesn' t write novels; he creates experiences by executing a strong sense of place of a spellbinding period that leaves its readers craving more' Books Technica' Political, or intelligence thrillers are ten a penny. Dahl does something altogether different . . . lush, detailed and personal' Cafe ThinkingPraise for Kjell Ola Dahl' s The Courier' Absorbing, heart-rending and perfectly plotted . . . ' Denzil Meyrick' Cleverly braiding together past and present, the who and why of murder and betrayal are unpicked. The detail is impressive' Daily Mail' A dark but richly described backdrop and a relentless, underlying tension drive this sad story. Fans of Nordic Noir will be satisfied' Publishers Weekly' Skilfully juggles three Oslo timelines . . . simply superb plotting and essential reading' The Times' A truly eloquent and rewarding tale' LoveReading' This stunning and compelling wartime thriller is reminiscent of the writing of John Le Carre and William Boyd' NB Magazine' Masterful, detailed plotting. . . Dahl has given a complex, human face to such an inhuman tragedy' Crime Fiction Lover