“..and perhaps that’s how it was: the most attractive flowers were the ones with the bitterest scent…” p321

One of the things I love about so many of the Scandi Noir writers is the depth they often go to describe the topography, geography and atmosphere of their settings. Gunnar Staalesen’s Varg Veum series is a standout as far as this goes, with incredible detail regarding Bergen, Norway and surrounds, where the series is set. I feel a sense of familiarity with this city that sits on my to be visited list and my appetite is whetted even more.

Bitter Flowers is book 8 in the series, first published in Norwegian in 1991 and translated to English in 2022. I’ve been finding it a bit difficult to get my hands on a couple of earlier books that have been translated. The order of English translations definitely doesn’t follow the series order from the original, and while that is mildly irritating for me, doesn’t seem to affect the overall read.

Staalesen is a Nordic Noir master, and Bitter Flowers is a classic exemplar of the genre. Three deaths/disappearances, unrelated or so it seems and somehow through a range of interwoven threads they come together in the most remarkable of ways. At the centre of the story is the Schrøder-Olsen family, Bergensian stalwarts, business owners yet with dark secrets especially when it comes to environmental sabotage and lust for money. Veum finds himself at the centre of it all and in usual VV style is able to weave it all together, this time in an almost Hercule Poirot conclusion.

4 solid VV stars for this one.