Cold Hearts

Varg Veum

By: Gunnar Staalesen

Narrated by: Colin Mace

Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

On a frosty January day in Bergen, private detective Varg Veum is visited by a prostitute. Her friend Margrethe has disappeared and hasn't been seen for days. Before her disappearance, something had unsettled her: she'd turned away a customer and returned to the neighbourhood in terror.

Shortly after taking the case, Veum is confronted with a brutal, uneasy reality. He soon finds the first body - and it won't be the last either. His investigation leads him into a dark subculture where corrupted idealism has had deadly consequences.

©2013 Gunnar Staalesen (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Cold Hearts is top-tier Scandinavian crime fiction; straightforward dialogue drives the plot, and tough but sympathetic Veum is equally comfortable in a fistfight, proving for secrets behind Bergen's closed doors, or examining crime's sociological roots." (Booklist)

New

I have a weak spot for Scandinavian mysteries and Staalesen is a pretty good ‘B’ level member of this group. I look forward to reading a few more of his works. This particular book was pretty good - kept my interest and solid characters

gunnar Staalsten knows how to write a good thriller

love the narration and the story
he keeps you guessing and wondering if Varg Veum will survive
Varg is often an anti hero, too direct and challenging, often rude and abrupt
but he gets to the heart of the matter and pursues until he’s in peril and then pulls his survival out of the pits and gets to the truth often with tragic results
not having the outcome sweet and gratifying it dark and troubling-love it

Good Scandi Noir

I like Gunnar Staalesens stories which tend to take their inspiration from real-life situations that most people don't see. This book was possibly a bit further away than usual from the lives of mere mortals with some very unpleasant characters but nevertheless it moved along. Colin Mace's narration is pretty good but as usual with these books, it is sometimes a bit hard to follow the unfamiliar names and places.

Gripping!

Staalesen's writing is, as always, evocative, atmospheric and enthralling. In 'Cold Hearts' a young prostitute, Maggi, goes missing from the red light district, despite having a pair of vicious 'protectors'. Her friend and fellow prostitute, Hege, seeks out Varg, commissioning him to find her. Maggi, it seems, had recently turned down a 'trick' and the girl who'd taken her place had received a brutal beating. Varg takes on the case, opening it to find a can of the darkest worms inside. What follows is a sad and harrowing tale of the consequences of twisted idealism, misplaced trust, and the vulnerability of the most vulnerable. Colin Mace's narration is excellent.

deep

Always a good story ,sharp observation and a distressingly believable portrait of people Addictive hard to turn off