THE GREY AREA (GRÅSONEN)
Jan-Erik Fjell
A past murder.
A buried lie.
A new revelation.
Harald Uteng is a retired Criminal Investigator and a legend at the Norwegian police. To keep himself occupied he studies old cases. A journalist for a popular crime podcast has repeatedly tried to convince Uteng to participate, but never succeeded. Until the day Uteng himself suggests they should make a 3-epsiode podcast about one of his old cases, the murder of 17-year-old Malin Rekve in Aremark, 1991. Right before the first episode is about to be released, Uteng is found drowned.
Anton Brekke was a police trainee in the small village when Malin was killed, and a part of the investigation team together with Uteng. Brekke mourns the death of his old mentor, but doesn’t suspect anything but a tragic accident, until he is contacted by the journalist who lets him listen to the unpublished recordings.
Is Uteng’s death connected to the old murder and did they convict the right person back in 1991? Brekke and Torp start an unofficial investigation and travel to Aremark to learn more. In the village, the young Emily is working at the grocery store. She gets a daunting feeling that someone is watching her, and that she might be in danger …
351 pages
Rights
Czech Republic: Omega/Knihy Dobrovský
Denmark: People’s
Germany: Goldmann
Norway: Bonnier Norsk
REVIEWS
“Fjell confirms his position as one of the best Norwegian crime writers”
Nettavisen / NO
“Fjell masters the crime genre to the backbone […] As thrill and entertainment goes, this is brilliant.”
Fredriksstad Blad / NO
“Fjell just gets better and better. The Grey Area is a fitted novel with suspense, drive, good and varied language. […] The Grey Area is true craftmanship from Jan-Erik Fjell’s side, and with this novel he is rising to the top of Norwegian crime fiction.”
Tvedestrandsposten / NO