We Shall Inherit the Wind

1998. Varg Veum sits by the hospital bedside of his long-term girlfriend Karin, whose life-threatening injuries provide a deeply painful reminder of the mistakes he’s made. Investigating the seemingly innocent disappearance of a wind-farm inspector, Varg Veum is thrust into one of the most challenging cases of his career, riddled with conflicts, environmental terrorism, religious fanaticism, unsolved mysteries and dubious business ethics. Then, in one of the most heart-stopping scenes in crime fiction, the first body appears…


A chilling, timeless story of love, revenge and desire, We Shall Inherit the Wind deftly weaves contemporary issues with a stunning plot that will leave you gripped to the final page. This is Staalesen at his most thrilling, thought-provoking best.

«The characters in the book are drawn with more nuances and more psychological insight than in most crime novels … there is generally something Ibsenian about this detective novel in which past sins play such an important part in the present» --Bergens Tidende
«Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth» --Ian Rankin

“A Norwegian Chandler” --Jo Nesbo

«Gunnar Staalesen was writing suspenseful and socially conscious Nordic Noir long before any of today’s Swedish crime writers had managed to put together a single book page … one of Norway’s most skilful storyteller” --Johan Theorin

“Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest” --Quentin Bates

“Not many books hook you in the first chapter – this one did, and never let go!” --Mari Hannah


“One of the finest Nordic novelists in the tradition of Henning Mankell” --Barry Forshaw, Independent


«Staalesen’s mastery of pacing enables him to develop his characters in a leisurely way without sacrificing tension and suspense” --Publishers Weekly


“The Varg Veum series stands alongside Connelly, Camilleri and others, who are among the very best modern exponents of the poetic-yet-tough detective story, with strong, classic plots; a social consience; and perfect pitch in terms of sense of place” --EuroCrime

«Norway’s bestselling crime writer” --The Guardian


“An upmarket Philip Marlowe” --Maxim Jakubowski, The Bookseller


“In the best tradition of sleuthery” --The Times