A novel to place you in Oslo at New Year This is a novel, a series to really get your Nordic Noir teeth into. It’s the brainchild of two writers at the top of their game. It’s an explosive introduction to Oslo. Literarily. We are there at New Years and witnessing the fireworks when an explosion rocks the harbour. People are killed or injured. Emma Ramm is at the fireworks and sees events unfold. The city is put on high alert and Blix and Ramm come together to get to the bottom of what really happened. Turns out one of the victims is the mother of a missing child. A case Blix has personal experience of. The characters of Blix and Ramm is one of the most interesting and refreshingly different in crime fiction. Blix is a police officer and Ramm a journalist and blogger yet the two have mutual respect for each other and Blix is almost a father figure to her. The banter and relationship between the two is based on mutual respect. Blix is troubled by the case of the missing child as this left a hole in his life when he was the officer on the case. This high profile case which was never solved has taken its toll on him. As a result, his new determination to solve it, takes on a new urgency. At the same time, Ramm realises this case is getting under her skin. She too takes on the investigation and both her and Blix find that their paths cross in ways they could never have expected. A fine complex web of characters with spindly secrets we have here. Megan Turney, I salute you. The translation is seamless and engaging. I might cheat and read the next in the series in the original but then I would be missing out on some fine translation.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Death Deserved, the first in the Alexander Blix/Emma Ramm series, the crime writing powerhouse of Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst return, with another twisty and intriguing thriller… Once again drawing on their own careers, Horst as an ex-police officer and Enger’s as a journalist, this book again demonstrates the wealth of experience they have garnered in these fields. Consequently, when you break the story down into the component parts featuring police officer Alexander Blix and Emma Ramm, this feeling of complete authenticity permeates the whole book. Not only is it so effective how these two streams are perfectly balanced and insightful, but how the two writers so seamlessly blend together their particular fields of expertise into a contiguous whole. As the paths of Blix and Ramm merge and separate throughout the book as their individual investigations into the books events develop, there is an equal balance in the story between the two protagonists’ experience, cleverly giving the reader a panoramic vision of how their contrasting worlds of work are aligned, and the clear osmosis between the two. Once again the book is fuelled by a quick paced energy, not least because of the literally explosive opening scenes and the consequences of this for the two main characters. As a connection is made to a cold case, we see the sure and steady investigative credentials of Alexander Ramm kick in, once again revealing him as a determined, professional and thorough investigator. He works with a skilful combination of balanced reasoning and whip-smart intuition, and is a solid presence throughout. There are some nice little interludes involving the renewed presence of his daughter in his life which lighten the emotional intensity of the book, and of course his complicated and established platonic relationship with the young journalist Emma Ramm, adds another layer of texture to the plot. Undoubtedly, this investigation impacts greatly on Ramm, both personally and professionally, and despite understandable emotional distress as she experiences a close bereavement, her propensity to pull herself up by the bootstraps and get stuck in to this extremely testing, and at times dangerous, investigation is admirable. Her intelligence and intuition again work in parity with Blix, with their contrasting approaches, and as they close in on some unpalatable aspects of the case, neither is averse to putting themselves into the line of fire. As is expected with two established award winning crime authors, the plotting is sublime throughout, with many a clever and nifty twist to this investigation, exhibiting the fluidity and balance of them writing together. As someone who reads a large amount of Scandinavian crime, there is always a little touch of the unexpected and the surprising to both this series and in the books they author alone, making them firm favourites of mine. The contrasts and similarities between the chosen professions of Blix and Ramm work together wonderfully well, and as always the setting and atmosphere of Oslo is rendered in vivid detail as a backdrop to this intriguing tale. A pitch perfect translation by Megan Turney, completely adds to the overall enjoyment of the book too. If you have not picked up Death Deserved yet, please do, and hastily follow it up with Smoke Screen. You will not be disappointed…

If you love Scandi crime I guarantee you will love this series. Its 2nd in the Blix and Ramm series and certainly does not disappoint. Its fast moving, grim and has loads of twists and turns with a whammy of an ending. I look forward to reading more from this talented duo

A bomb goes off during the celebrations of New Years Eve and one of the injured is Ruth-Kristine, a woman who is already known to the police, especially to detective Alexander Blix. A few years earlier, Patricia, her toddler daughter, was kidnapped and was never found. While the police thinks that the bomb is a terrorist attack, detective Blix thinks it is somehow connected to Ruth-Kristine and to Patricia’s unsolved case. Journalist Emma Ramm was also on the scene of the attack and she also starts to investigate the Patricia case, becoming personally involved. I don’t read many Nordic thrillers – I really should read more of them -, but when I do, I find myself completely engrossed in the story and Smoke Screen is the latest Nordic thriller to capture my attention. I was completely addicted to the story and the characters, especially in the second half of the novel as the pieces of the puzzle slowly come together and the tension keeps rising and rising. And the writing is incredible. It is seamless, it is clear, it captures you. I loved the close relationship between detective Blix and Emma. It is an unlikely and complex relationship as he is a detective and she is a journalist, but they are connected by a past case that bonded them in a kind of father-daughter relationship. Smoke Screen is full of twists and suspense, with engaging and intriguing characters and an intricate and gripping plot, the perfect work of two fantastic authors coming together. I can’t wait to read more!!!