never shows at the launch of her controversial autobiography,
Always Number One. When celebrity blogger Emma Ramm visits
Nordstrøm’s home later that day, she finds the door unlocked and
signs of a struggle inside. A bib with the number ‘one’ has been
pinned to the TV.
Police officer Alexander Blix is appointed to head up the missingpersons
investigation, but he still bears the emotional scars of
a hostage situation nineteen years earlier, when he killed the
father of a five-year-old girl. Traces of Nordstrøm soon show up at
different locations, but the appearance of the clues appear to be
carefully calculated … evidence of a bigger picture that he’s just
not seeing…
Blix and Ramm soon join forces, determined to find and stop
a merciless killer with a flair for the dramatic, and thirst for
attention.
Trouble is, he’s just got his first taste of it…
PUBLICATION DATE: 6 FEBRUARY 2020 | PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £8.99 | ORENDA BOOKS
My Review
Thanks to Anne, Karen and the authors for my copy of this novel and for organising the blog tour.
Alexander Blix shot a man in 1999, and it’s haunted him ever since. In 2018 he meets the child he saved by killing her father. The child is now a woman, Emma Ramm, a journalist who writes about celebrities. They bump into each other at a crime scene. She’s the first to alert the police that famous runner Sonja Nordstrom is missing. The pair develop a working relationship as the case of the missing runner, and then other murdered celebrities, progresses.
With an incredibly explosive ending and and a totally unexpected killer, this book introduces English-language readers to an exciting new pair of criminal investigators. It took me a bit to get going but once I got into it, this novel had me gripped, I think I read the second half in four hours. The slow burn of the first half, where we’re introduced to the characters, their backgrounds and the case, mirrors the pace of the investigation. The pace picks up as the countdown begins and the team develop their hypothesis, understanding that time is running out.
I did not realise who the killer was, at all, until Blix did. I should have picked up the clues, they were there. But the red herring potential murderers distracted me.
I really liked the protagonists Ramm and Blix, and I think the development of their friendship, as well as the changing relationship between Blix and his daughter, Isalin, and between Blix and Kovic, his newbie side-kick on the force, will be interesting lines to follow in this series. I definitely want to read the next one and find out what happens next.
A brilliant new Nordic Noir series for fans of the genre to get stuck in to.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
First in the international bestselling, award-winning Blix & Ramm series with over 100,000 copies sold in Norway alone, two of the biggest names in Nordic Noir have teamed up to create a dark, hard-boiled and emotive serial-killer thriller with echoes of Criminal Minds … and two unforgettable protagonists.
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively.
Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with
his No. 1 internationally bestselling William Wisting series. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense.
Thomas Enger is the journalist-turned-author behind the internationally acclaimed and bestselling Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark has become a darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and
tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer.
Death Deserved is Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 
Thanks for the blog tour support Rosie xx