The Writing on the Wall

In this crime drama, set in Bergen, Norway, detective Varg Veum's adventures take him into a dark world of privileged citizens who have been drawn into cross-dressing, drugs, and prostitution. When the local judge is discovered dead and clad only in women's lingerie in a luxury hotel, Varg is called in to explain the judge's death. Soon, when a teenage girl suddenly goes missing and her parents ask that he find her,Varg finds that all of the clues lead him deeper into Bergen's criminal underworld.

Gunnar Staalesen is a leading author of crime stories. His books have been translated into more than 12 languages and have twice won Norway's top crime-writing prize, the Golden Pistol. Hal Sutcliffe is a prize-winning translator affiliated with the European Union.