From Norway's bestselling female crime writer, this installment in the
Edgar-nominated mystery series featuring the whip-smart detective Hanne
Wilhelmsen is "an ideal read-alike for fans of Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole and
Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer" (Booklist).Chief Public Prosecutor
Sigurd Halvorsrud's wife is found brutally decapitated in front of the
fireplace in the family living room. Her husband, who claims he
witnessed the grisly murder and is himself covered in blood, immediately
falls under suspicion, though he insists his wife's killer was Ståle
Salvesen, a businessman he'd prosecuted years before for insider
dealing. Detective Inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is called in to lead the
investigation with her old colleague, Billy T. Despite the
circumstantial evidence, Hanne is unconvinced of Sigurd Halvorsrud's
guilt--that is, until a witness says he saw Ståle Salvesen commit
suicide by jumping off a bridge days before the murder took place. Then
a journalist at one of Oslo's largest newspapers is found beheaded. What
links these two horrific crimes? The demands of the investigation soon
clash with a terrible crisis in Hanne's personal life: Cecilie, the
woman she has lived with for almost twenty years, has fallen seriously
ill and doesn't have much time to live. With a savage killer on the
loose, Hanne must ask herself: Is the truth worth chasing at all costs?
The New York Times Book Review declares, "Wherever Hanne shows up
next...follow that wheelchair." Anne Holt's Hanne Wilhelmsen novels are
"fast-paced and involving" (The Wall Street Journal), and Dead Joker is
"an immersive tale that packs an emotional punch and offers incisive
commentary on the failings of the criminal justice system" (Publishers
Weekly).
