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Gunnar Staalesen is a master of the PI genre, beautifully painting pictures with first person narrative and simile, and with Fallen Angels he is at the top of his game. Digging deep into Varg Veum’s past we connect with the detective like never before to form an unbreakable bond.

It feels good to be back in Bergen. Varg Veum, the Lone Wolf, guides us into his past after a childhood friendship is rekindled at a funeral. This is a reflective story for Veum, as he considers what was and what might have been, we are able to get to know him at a personal level.

Fallen Angels was first published in Norwegian in 1989 and according to his website remains the author’s favourite Veum novel. “The first I wrote as a full-time author, and in this book I go deeper into the portrayals of people than earlier in the series. A book about rock and religion, growing up and the abuse children and young people can be exposed to by people in their immediate environment.”

The author hints here at the strong vein of noir that runs through the novel. Veum not only delves into his past but also the darkest corners of the human capacity for horror. It is handled perfectly though, as is the 1980s world that may be unfamiliar to younger readers but is flawlessly captured (as you would expect given that the novel is coming to us in English 30 years after it was written).

The story builds slowly as we are pulled into Veum’s world, initially via a prolonged pub crawl, and the beauty of the book is in that up close and personal nature of the narrative. Rather than watching a detective cat and mouse chase from afar, the reader is drawn into the scene, sharing the sense of a lifting fog from the past that allows a faint tentacle of sunlight to illuminate the present.

The characters are not universally likeable but they do feel real and authentic, warts and all. The actions of the past have left their mark on everyone. Some are stained with a darkness that they can never shed, whilst others have been cracked and have no hope of reclaiming innocence or peace.

In a way, Veum himself is a relic, striding out of a time that has gone, but I still find him compelling. There is a mournful, melancholic aura to him. A heavy human heart that sparks a whisper of recognition somewhere deep inside. He is on a mission to uncover other peoples’ truths but too often his own escapes him, even when he has chased it to the bottom of the bottle.

Skål Veum, until next time.

Synopsis

Exploring his own dark memories may be the only way to find a killer…

When Bergen PI Varg Veum finds himself at the funeral of a former classmate on a sleet-grey December afternoon, he’s unexpectedly reunited with his old friend Jakob – guitarist of the once-famous 1960s rock band The Harpers – and his estranged wife, Rebecca, Veum’s first love.

Their rekindled friendship is thrown into jeopardy by the discovery of a horrific murder, and Veum is forced to dig deep into his own adolescence and his darkest memories, to find a motive … and a killer.

Tense, vivid and deeply unsettling, Fallen Angels is the spellbinding, award-winning thriller that secured Gunnar Staalesen’s reputation as one of the world’s foremost crime writers.