Review of Offline by Anne Holt has just been published at:

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/offline-anne-holt

A long time overdue to read this from the godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction - who certainly knows how to produce well written, atmospheric character driven crime fiction which tackles important questions along the way. ( )

This ninth book in the Norwegian Hanne Wilhemsen series, which takes place in 2011, certainly kept my interest, but it was tough going at times. Having previously read book 5, Dead Joker, a lot has happened in four installments. The problem also is that the books aren’t being translated in order, so readers can get totally confused.

Hanne Wilhelmsen is now confined to a wheelchair as a result of something occurring in a previous book. She had pretty much isolated herself after said occurrence but has finally emerged enough to return to the police force and take on cold cases, many of which she hopes can be solved from the isolation of her apartment. She’s assigned a young policeman, Henrik Holme who has a few ‘idiosyncracies’, to work with her.

The first case this new team tackles is the disappearance of a seventeen year old girl many years ago. In the meantime, the police force is dealing with the deadly bombing of a local Muslim community center and Hanne’s former best friend, Billy T., is afraid that his son might be mixed up in the bombing.

It should come as no surprise that Hanne solves both cases.

As I said in the beginning, the book was tough going at times. Holt skips around among Hanne’s search, the bombings and Billy T.’s efforts to find the truth about his son. The skipping around becomes disconcerting at times and makes it difficult to following which path we are reading about at any point in time.

Hanne and Henrik Holme make an interesting team and I wouldn’t be surprised if they return, however, I’ll have to think twice or reserve a lot of time if I’m going to read another Hanne Wilhelmsen novel because it was definitely a slow read. ( )

This crime novel is part of Holt’s Hanne Wilhelmsson's series, of which I have read some but not all of. I chased some of this series down after reading Holt’s Vik & Stubo series. I have also read her Agatha Christie homage, [1222].

Hanne, a brilliant detective but a bit of recluse in retirement, has been coaxed into reviewing cold cases. She has been sent help in the form of a bright, young detective Henrik Holme. While they work, with Henrik coming to Hanne’s home, the bulk of the force are dealing with the aftermath of a terrorist bombing. I admit I was more interested in the former rather than the latter but the author weaves the two together in unexpected ways. The result is an excellent police procedural, one of the best in the series. ( )

Odd Numbers is the ninth in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series and takes place more than eleven years after she has left the force. There was this uncanny discomfort reading this book while the news is filled with the news of bombing in Manchester because this is about a series of bombings in Norway, with self-proclaimed Muslim terrorists claiming credit. But that is not Hanne’s case. She’s left that behind with her former colleagues who are working the case around the clock.

Hanne is working on cold cases as a police consultant with a brilliant, though under-appreciated police officer Henrik Holme who is going to deserve a series of his own. A young girl went missing back in 1996 and the two of them both notice a glaring oversight in the investigation that leads them to investigating an assault that happened that same day. Both the assault and disappearance are unsolved.

Meanwhile her former police partner and friend Billy T is desperately investigating his own son Linus, afraid he might be somewhat involved in the bombing. There is also another bomb and more messages from the terrorists, all building tension as the 17th of May celebration approaches. Of course, every time May 17th is mentioned in the book, I think of that ditty from childhood, “Syttende mai, the day a thousand Swedes ran through the weeds chased by one Norwegian” according to the Sons of Norway and scoffed at by Swedes who like to remind them they lost in 1814.

Odd Numbers is scrupulously fair, giving readers all the connections that Hanne and Henrik use to solve those cold cases and provide critical information for the current terrorism investigation that roils Norway in the weeks leading up to syttende mai. The debates are similar to those we have in the United States, though in many ways more responsible. Norway suffered an unspeakable mass murder in 2011 when Anders Breivik, inspired in part by American rightwing extremists Daniel Pipes and Pamela Gellar, murdered seventy-seven people, mostly teens at a youth camp. The effects of that attack are felt throughout this book.

I usually avoid books about terrorism, particularly Islamist terrorism, as they are rife with ignorance, written by people exploiting islamophobia and xenophobic hatreds. This is the anti-hatred book. Holt is too intelligent and rational to fall into that trap. This is a humane, rational book and recognizes that dangers come from extremists on all sides, right, left, Muslim and Christian, foreign and nationalist.

The plot is complex and falls slowly into place. It is really very well done.

Odd Numbers will be released June 6th. I received an advance e-galley from the publisher through Edelweiss. I have previously reviewed Beyond the Truth and 1222 by Anne Holt.
★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/05/26/9781451634730/ ( )

The novel was sent to me by the publisher Simon & Schuster via NetGalley. Thank you. (Note: This novel is published with the title Offline in the UK)

Hanne Wilhelmsen is back working for law enforcement on her own terms. She has agreed to look at cold cases long buried in files from the security of her apartment with only the internet and a young, odd policeman as her assistant. The first case Hanne and Henrik Holme are handed is the disappearance of a 17 year old girl almost 20 years ago.

At the same time, Hanne’s ex-partner Billy T. appeals to her for help because his 22 year old son Linus is behaving very suspiciously and Billy is worried the young man may have converted to Islam and become radicalized. Meanwhile, Hanne’s former colleagues
Silje Sorensen and Hakon Sand, promoted to Chief of Police and Deputy Police Chief of Oslo, have their own serious situation. Bombs are being set off in the city and the evidence points to local Islamic terrorists. As the body count continues to rise, the racist far right is winning the information war and public opinion is shifting in their direction. As more threats are made, Silje and Hakon are very aware that the biggest celebration in years, the two hundredth anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution with hundreds of thousands of people flooding the capital, is only weeks away.

It is difficult, at first, to keep the three plots straight. As the novel progresses, the pieces begin to fall in place, and the strands start to weave together. Hanne in her wheelchair with her brilliant partner who becomes her legs are the first to notice the pattern. Beginning with an overlooked event in the original case, the severe beating of her boyfriend on the same day the girl vanished, they follow leads that link to Billy T.’s son, and eventually to the possible identities of the terrorists. The question is whether they can bring it all together before hundreds are killed on May 17, National Constitution Day.

This is a taut thriller. The publishers state that this is the penultimate book in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series. It is a fitting curtain-riser to the final act. Highly recommended. ( )