The Man in the Window, by K O Dahl

The Man in The Window is the third book (in the original Norwegian sequence) in KO Dahl’s series about Frolich and Gunnarstranda.

Seventy-nine-year-old Reidar Folke Jespersen, who sells antiques in Oslo, is one day sitting in a restaurant, looking at his wife entering an apartment on the other side of the street, where her lover lives. He leaves the restaurant to meet his brothers. Next morning he is found murdered, sitting naked in a chair in the window of his antique shop.

The case is assigned to detective Gunnarstranda and his assistant, Frank Frolich. The clues are few and difficult to interpret. A red string is tied around his neck, and three crosses and a number – 195 – has been written across his chest. Some items from WWII are missing. Also, clearly, several people are quite pleased that Jespersen is dead.

The Man In The Window is an intricate and thrilling detective story about love, loyalty, guilt, desire for revenge and shadows from the past. These questions consume the investigation, just as they fill the private lives of the investigators. What they uncover is a country where victims, perpetrators and even police officers are haunted by the past, and are still trying to cope with the dark memories of the Nazi occupation of the country.

K O Dahl has a sharp eye for dialogues, he elaborates detailed portraits, he creates surprising relationships and he is excellent at creating tension and atmosphere. The Man in the Window is one of his best, and highly recommended.

Praise for The Man in the Window:

“I have read many clever and thrilling crime novels through my life, but often they have nothing to do with real life. If I don’t believe in them, they don’t impress me. But when K.O. Dahl tells his stories, I believe every single word.”

– Karin Fossum, author of The Indian Bride

”A psychologically truthful detective story from the Scandinavian school, with interesting characters and a large portion of laconism.

– Welt am Sonntag (Germany)

”With The Man In The Window, Kjell Ola Dahl proves that not only Swedes master the genre with bravur but also Norwegians.”

– Frankfurter Rundshau (Germany)

Links to book by K. O. Dahl at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN

Tagged as: Book review, crime fiction book, K O Dahl, Kjelle Ola Dahl