Karlsson Into Thin Air

The atmospheric, chilling new Nordic Noir series
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-916788-51-0
Verlag: Orenda Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1, 276 Seiten

Reihe: The Arctic Mysteries

Chief Investigator of Nordland Police, Jakob Weber is drawn into a complex case when a teenaged girl goes missing in Northern Norway, and a second woman disappears from a remote island in similar circumstances ... FIRST in a compelling, dark new Nordic Noir series. `Provides a boilerplate for anyone wishing to write a Scandi crime novel ... Weber, 'a dagger in a velvet sheath', is an engaging character; discerning readers will wish to meet him again´ Mark Sanderson, The Times `Atmospheric´ Crime Monthly `Jakob Weber is a great protagonist, and the sense of place is phenomenal. The perfect start to a series destined for greatness´ Thomas Enger `This is first-class Nordic Noir from the real North, where danger lurks around every corner´ Gunnar Staalesen _______ In Norway's frozen north, it's not just secrets that are buried... When nineteen-year-old Iselin Hanssen disappears during a run in a popular hiking area in Bodø, Northern Norway, suspicion quickly falls on her boyfriend. For investigator Jakob Weber, the case seems clear-cut, almost unexceptional, even though there is some suggestion that Iselin lived parts of her life beneath the radar of both family and friends. But events take a dramatic turn when another woman disappears in similar circumstances - this time on the island of Røst, miles off the Norwegian coast, in the wild ocean. Rumours that a killer is on the loose begin to spread, terrifying the local population and leading to wild conspiracies. But then Jakob discovers that this isn't the first time that young women have vanished without a trace in the region, and it becomes clear that someone is hiding something ... and another murderous spree may have just begun... For fans of Joe Pickett, Ragnar Jonasson and Jorn Lier Horst ______ `Dark and totally gripping ... adds a new dimension to the police procedural which goes beyond the standard elements of the genre´ Ewa Sherman, European Literature Network What readers are saying... `Multiple theories and suspects keep us on edge until the very end' `Impossible to put down´ `The spectacular setting is a character in its own right´ `Quirky, believable characters and some of the most breathtaking descriptions of Northern Norway that I've ever read´ `Simply superb ... both creepy and thrilling´ `An incredible, addictive start to a new series´

Autoren/Hrsg.

Karlsson, Ørjan

Weitere Mitwirkende

Giles, Ian

Leseproben

CHAPTER 1

JAKOB WEBER

Jakob Weber took Garm off his lead and let the dog through the gate into Bodø cemetery. The Jack Russell Terrier looked up at him quizzically, his body trembling with pent-up energy.

‘Go to Mum.’

Garm raced off. He set a course between the trees and the tombstones, occasionally stopping to make sure that Jakob was following.

There was no one else in the cemetery at this early hour. The flat, almost featureless, burial site was crammed in between Olav V gate and Bodø Airport. She had joked that there would be no shortage of transport options when she left this world. Jakob turned up the collar of his jacket. The westerly wind – chilly for this time of year – rustled through the leaves on the trees lining this narrow avenue.

He preferred to visit the cemetery at this time of day. It felt as if he had Lise to himself. Her grave was in one of the new rows right by the airport boundary fence.

He crouched in front of the simple, grey granite headstone. It was inscribed with copper-gilded letters that spelled out Lise Alvdal Weber, followed by her dates of birth and death. An absurd calculation where the difference was always too small: forty-one years.

He removed the remains of the old flowers from the vase, before inserting a new bouquet of fresh red roses. He took a cloth from his jacket pocket and ran it across the top of the stone. Then he took a step back and looked up. On the horizon, he found the peak of Børvasstindan – that grey mountain with its flecks of white just in front of its compatriots, Breitind and Rundtind. Thirteen peaks. One disciple too many. One left over. Like him after Lise. It had been six months and it was still just as incomprehensible.

Garm brushed his muzzle against Jakob’s trouser leg. He bent down and scratched the dog behind the ears. His shirt sleeve slid up, revealing his wristwatch. No wonder the dog was impatient. He’d been standing at the grave for twenty minutes, lost in thoughts that were already forgotten.

On his way back to the car, he caught sight of a passenger jet above the waters of Saltfjorden. Based on its course, he could tell the captain was planning to fly past the town before turning and landing from the east. The plane would make landfall just a few hundred metres from Lise’s grave. He still had plenty of time. In fact, just enough to buy a cup of coffee before the passengers emerged in the arrivals hall.

He opened the boot of the Mitsubishi Outlander. Garm hopped in without waiting for the command and lay down on the blanket inside the cage, his gaze fixed on his master. He wanted some reassurance that he’d be getting out again soon. Jakob gave the dog a treat. Every week, he would buy a one-kilo bag of small meatballs. He let Garm have two or three after a walk or a longer stint in the car. He would hear Lise whispering to him, a smile in her voice:

‘You’ve gone soft.’

The first thing Jakob noticed when he parked outside the terminal was the blue-and-white liveried van with the logo of the local news broadcaster, NRK Nordland, on the side. A camera crew were standing outside the revolving door into the arrivals hall. There were three of them: the camera man, the sound man and a reporter. And not just any old reporter – it was Sigrid Malmsten. She was the journalist who had won the SKUP Award the year before for a revelation about the overly cosy ties between the mayor of Bodø council and key certain businesses in town.

The aftermath of the story had seen the council down a mayor, while the police had eventually filed corruption charges against two of Bodø’s top-ten richest names. Jakob assumed things were mostly back to normal by now. People with money made their own rules. They claimed – albeit never openly – that they were entitled to special treatment. After all, they created jobs for the ‘common people’. Jakob had met enough of them to realise that they really did believe what they said.

‘What’s the story here then?’ he asked as he walked up to Sigrid.

‘Strictly speaking I think I’m supposed to ask that,’ the journalist replied sharply. Only the expression in those green eyes told Jakob that the response was meant as a joke. One of the officers at the station had described Sigrid as ‘a woman with facial expressions like a brick wall’. Although, upon reflection, he didn’t think the officer had said ‘woman’.

Sigrid brushed a blonde lock of hair off her face. She was a smidge shorter than his own decidedly average 179 centimetres, and she was fit. The shadow of a scar ran from her left ear diagonally down to her chin – the result of a climbing accident. She had told him about the incident a couple of weeks earlier when they had bumped into each other at the City Nord out-of-town shopping centre. Sigrid had asked whether he fancied a coffee. Jakob had accepted, even though he thought he’d be putting himself on the receiving end of journalistic questions. He had been pleasantly surprised. They had mostly chatted about normal stuff: the new airport; military exercises further north; the travails of local football club Bodø/Glimt. When the conversation had taken a more personal turn, Sigrid had told him about the accident and Jakob had opened up about Lise. It had been nice.

‘I’m here to pick up a colleague,’ Jakob said. ‘What about you?’

‘Celebrity alert,’ Sigrid replied. ‘Marte Moi, better known as “Nature Lady”, has decided to showcase Lofoten to her followers. First stop is Bodø before she heads on to Røst and Værøy and then the full tour of the archipelago. You know, the Svolværgeita pinnacle, whale watching, the village at Henningsvær, trip on a fishing smack. The whole tourist caboodle.’

‘And that merits a full camera crew from the local news?’

Sigrid looked askance at Jakob. ‘You don’t know who Nature Lady is?’

‘Should I?’

‘Well, that depends. Do you use Instagram or TikTok?’

‘I barely even use Facebook.’

Sigrid took out her mobile phone. ‘Let me show you.’ She pulled up Nature Lady’s Instagram profile. She dragged her finger down the screen, and dozens of photos and videos scrolled by so quickly he didn’t have time to take them in, his impression being that most of the posts depicted colourful natural landscapes with the protagonist posing in the centre of shot.

‘This is the last one she posted.’

Sigrid tapped on a photo showing a girl on a plane. She was around twenty-five to thirty years old, with prominent red lips, brown eyes and black hair that was fastened up with a copper-coloured slide. A braid hung over one shoulder. A line written at an angle read:

‘Crossing the Arctic Circle! Stay tuned for my northern adventure!’

‘She’s no Lars Monsen,’ Jakob commented dryly.

‘No, you’re not wrong. Monsen has about 140,000 Instagram followers. Nature Lady has…’ Sigrid raised her phone to him.

‘One point three million?!’ Jakob exclaimed.

‘Spot on. She’s one of the best-known influencers in Scandinavia. She combines nature with food, music, fashion, wellness and anything else that happens to keep the attention of her followers. She’s got a good nose for this stuff – no doubt about it.’

‘Well, a nose plus a good manager,’ the cameraman interjected.

‘And now she just happens to be coming to Bodø and Lofoten?’ Jakob asked.

‘Nothing that Nature Lady does is ever by chance. Her trip’s sponsored by Visit Norway.’

Sigrid’s mobile emitted a soft chime. She checked the message.

‘Got to run. She’s on her way to the luggage belt. See you!’

She vanished through the revolving doors together with the crew, only to reappear a moment later with a thin paperback in her hand. She offered it to Jakob. ‘I finished this one yesterday,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you take it? Please, you’ll be doing me a favour. It’ll look like I’m fangirling if I wave it in Nature Lady’s face. It’s not bad, actually. Especially the first chapter.’

Jakob took the book. The cover showed Marte Moi – Nature Lady – standing on the front steps of a log cabin. Behind her, the mountains were piercing holes in the sky. The title of the book was My Journey and in parentheses underneath there was a subheading reading Join in!

‘Enjoy.’ Sigrid winked at him and hurried back into the arrivals hall.

Jakob slipped the book onto the back seat of the car. He liked reading, but he’d had problems concentrating for the last few months. If he plumped for a novel, his eyes would slide across the pages, unable to hook onto a single word or sentence. His colleague...