Death of the Demon (Hanne Wilhelmsen Series #3)

by Anne Holt

Overview

In a foster home outside Oslo, a twelve-year-old boy is causing havoc. The institution’s steely director, Agnes Vestavik, sees something chilling in Olav’s eyes: sheer hatred. When Vestavik is found murdered at her desk, stabbed in the back with an Ikea kitchen knife—with Olav nowhere to be found—the case goes to maverick investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to chief inspector in the Oslo Police.

Could the child be a murderer? As police canvass the city for Olav, Hanne, working alongside the foulmouthed detective Billy T., orders an investigation of the home’s employees. But despite her supreme deductive skills, she is hopeless at delegating, hopeless at pooling information, hopeless at sharing responsibilities. Can Hanne learn to trust others before her bullheaded instincts lead her astray—in the workplace and on the home front?

Meanwhile, Olav makes his way through the city, looking for the mother who was forced to consign him to the state’s care. A dark and captivating new chapter in this brilliant, rollicking series, Death of the Demon examines that murky intersection between crime and justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451634921
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	06/18/2013
Series:	Hanne Wilhelmsen Series , #3
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	321,431
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Anne Holt has worked as a journalist and news anchor and spent two years working for the Oslo Police Department before founding her own law firm and serving as Norway’s Minister for Justice in 1996-97. Her first book was published in 1993 and her works have been translated into over twenty-five languages. Her novel 1222 was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. She lives in Oslo with her family.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Anne Holt is the godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction.”—Jo Nesbø

Editorial Reviews

Edgar-finalist Holt’s stellar third Hanne Wilhelmsen novel (after 2012’s Blessed Are Those Who Thirst) finds the Oslo police detective uncomfortable with her six-month-old promotion to chief inspector, a dully managerial position that’s put her willy-nilly in the thick of the professional intrigue she deplores. Now faced with the murder of the formidable administrator of a foster children’s group home, the detective must also confront her own troubling demons. Hanne’s close friendship with her flamboyant assistant detective, Billy T., is making her question her values, while Cecilie, the partner with whom Hanne has shared her love and life since adolescence, wants the couple to have a child—a desire Hanne has denied for nearly 17 years. Holt also relentlessly explores the agonies of a mother unable to manage a monstrously brain-damaged 12-year-old boy—and the tragic ironies implicit in a society priding itself on cradle-to-grave welfare that condemns its most powerless and needy to inevitable disaster. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Always adept at balancing emotional narrative and strong suspense, Holt has crafted another must-read with this fascinating peek into a modern Sherlock’s investigative mind."

Booklist

Expertly translated forAmerican readers by the highly capable Anne Bruce… A wonderful combination ofold-school police procedure and amateur detective work…. Holt is a master ofbalancing criminal procedure with suspense…. This is a series that demands tobe read, and the more quickly the better.

Bookreporter

Anne Holt is the godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction.”—Jo Nesbø

From the Publisher

"A perfect entry point into Scandinavian crime.... A sure pleasure for police-procedural fans who read everything from Slaughter to Nesbo.

Booklist (starred review)