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What can you say about Kjell Ola Dahl’s novels other than that he is a master of his art? The Assistant, indeed Dahl’s writing as a whole, is reminiscent for me of William Boyd, who I have long admired. Notionally a thriller there is, like Boyd’s work, far more depth to the characters and their relationships than a straight adrenalin fuelled fantasy. There is a tangible weight of authenticity to this tale, of human lives being lived.

Likewise, the setting, both in terms of place and time, is so much more than a backdrop. Dahl transports us to Norway between the wars and the atmosphere envelops us as we read. In the 1920s, Jack Rivers is a driver for smugglers whilst Ludvig Paaske is a policeman hot on his tail. By the late 30s, with the rise of the Nazis looming over the continent, the two have come together as Private Investigators, Paaske having taken on his former foe as an assistant.

The shared history of these two men and their relationships with the other main protagonists remain as a shadow over them, so even as they work together on a curious new case that throws both back into their past, there is a tension between them that will have serious consequences. Indeed, relationships and the way that feelings for another person drive our motivations and actions are at the heart of this novel.

In 1938, Norway can see the shadow rising in Germany and its own shores are breeched as the Gestapo come looking for a German citizens who are resisting the Nazis by disrupting their activities abroad. Paaske and Rivers are drawn into these affairs by a mysterious woman who wants them to investigate her husband’s activities suspecting him of having an affair, but everything is not as it seems and when Rivers remembers her as a figure from his past old emotions flair and a fate shaped in the 1920s is sealed.

If you like your thrillers to have a strong basis in character and enjoy a beautifully drawn historical context then you will surely enjoy The Assistant. The writing is immaculate and that is a constant across all of Dahl’s books, so if you do enjoy this you can confidently reach for the others too.

The Assistant is published in paperback by Orenda Books on 13 May 2021. I received an advance review copy for the purposes of this review.

Synopsis

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 Nordic Noir thriller set in interwar and prohibition-era Norway.

‘A stylish standalone thriller … Dahl ratchets up the tension from the first pages and never lets go’ Sunday Times

‘Cleverly braiding together past and present, the who and why of murder and betrayal are unpicked. The detail is impressive’ Daily Mail

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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.