The Caveman

Jorn Lier Horst

Jan Lier Horst was a serving detective, and, for me, it really shows in this excellent example of a 'police procedural', which is also an exciting read. This book is also very good on landscape and atmosphere and delivers a very powerful evocation of the cold of a Norwegian winter and the feeling of isolation which can only be increased by the snow.

Extract

'The hairs come from a female.'

An image of the dead man's hand clenched hand appeared on the screen, a few blond hairs protruding between the fingers. The next photo was taken during the post-mortem when the hand was opened, showing the strands of hair stuck with crusted blood.

'That's the victim's blood,' Mortensen said, 'but the hairs actually come from a woman.'

Parallels