The Assistant

**A seemingly straightforward investigation into marital infidelity leads a PI and his ex-con assistant on a murderous trail, in a sophisticated, riveting, cunningly plotted historical thriller set in interwar and prohibition-era Norway.** 'An expertly crafted unravelling of mixed loyalties, love, lust, lies and trust, set against the background of a world increasingly on the edge of all-out war' **John Harvey** 'Dark, gritty and compulsive … feels like a classic of the genre' **William Ryan** 'A stylish standalone thriller … Dahl ratchets up the tension from the first pages and never lets go' ***Sunday Times*** \------------------------ **Oslo, 1938.** War is in the air and Europe is in turmoil. Hitler's Germany has occupied Austria and is threatening Czechoslovakia; there's a civil war in Spain and Mussolini reigns in Italy. When a woman turns up at the office of police-turned-private investigator Ludvig Paaske, he and his assistant - his one-time nemesis and former drug-smuggler Jack Rivers - begin a seemingly straightforward investigation into marital infidelity. But all is not what it seems, and when Jack is accused of murder, the trail leads back to the 1920s, to prohibition-era Norway, to the smugglers, sex workers and hoodlums of his criminal past ... and an extraordinary secret. Both a fascinating portrait of Oslo's interwar years, with Nazis operating secretly on Norwegian soil and militant socialists readying workers for war, *The Assistant* is also a stunningly sophisticated, tension-packed thriller - the darkest of hard-boiled Nordic Noir - from one of Norway's most acclaimed crime writers. **For fans of Sebastian Faulks, Lars Mytting, Mick Herron and Robert Harris.** \------------------------ 'Kjell Ola Dahl doesn't write novels; he creates experiences by executing a strong sense of place of a spellbinding period that leaves its readers craving more' **Books Technica** 'Political, or intelligence thrillers are ten a penny. Dahl does something altogether different … lush, detailed and personal' **Café Thinking Praise for Kjell Ola Dahl's *The Courier*** 'Absorbing, heart-rending and perfectly plotted …' **Denzil Meyrick** 'Cleverly braiding together past and present, the who and why of murder and betrayal are unpicked. The detail is impressive' ***Daily Mail*** 'A dark but richly described backdrop and a relentless, underlying tension drive this sad story. Fans of Nordic Noir will be satisfied' ***Publishers Weekly*** 'Skilfully juggles three Oslo timelines … simply superb plotting and essential reading' ***The Times*** 'A truly eloquent and rewarding tale' **LoveReading** 'This stunning and compelling wartime thriller is reminiscent of the writing of John Le Carré and William Boyd' ***NB Magazine*** 'Masterful, detailed plotting… Dahl has given a complex, human face to such an inhuman tragedy' **Crime Fiction Lover**