Blog Tour: Victim – Jørn Horst & Thomas Enger, translated by Megan E Turney

Two years ago, Alexander Blix was the lead investigator in a missing person’s case where a young mother, Elisabeth Eie, was kidnapped. The case was never solved. Blix’s career in law enforcement is now over, but her kidnapper is back, leaving evidence of Elisabeth’s murder in Blix’s mailbox, as well as hints that there are other victims.

At the same time, Emma Ramm has been contacted by a teenage girl, whose stepfather has been arrested on suspicion of killing a childhood friend. But there is no body. Nor are there any other suspects…

Blix and Ramm can rely only on each other, and when Blix’s fingerprints are found on a child’s drawing at a crime scene, the present comes uncomfortably close to the past. A past where a victim has found their own, shocking form of therapy. And someone is watching…

Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are both internationally bestselling Norwegian authors. Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with his no. 1 bestselling William Wisting series. A former Detective Chief Investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense.

Thomas Enger is the journalist-turned-author behind the acclaimed Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark is his dark, gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer.

Death Deserved, the first book in the Blix & Ramm series, was Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller, and all five books in the series series have hit no. 1 on bestseller lists worldwide.

My thoughts: Alexander Blix is out of prison and struggling to put his life back together without his job as a police detective, and his daughter. While his friend Emma Ramm has quit her job as a journalist, and is also searching for her next role.

A stranger phones Blix, claiming to be the killer of Elisabeth Eie, a case still unsolved. Although now on the outside, Blix seems to have the killer’s focus, as he leaves messages and calls the former detective, his ex-colleagues are not keen to involve him, but it appears they don’t have a choice.

Emma has been asked by a teenage girl to prove her stepfather, the man who raised her from the age of two, is innocent of the disappearance of his employee and the arson of his business. There’s definitely something off about the case and so she starts to look into it.

Both cases have echoes in Blix and Emma’s pasts, neither of them had particularly happy childhoods to look back on. And while neither of them are officially on the case, they have the skills and knowledge to find the answers. Could this be the answer to their search for new roles?

Another clever and knotty investigation, and an interesting insight into Blix as his personal life develops with a dog (called Terry) and a new relationship.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.