THE IRON CHARIOT

Stein Riverton (Lightning Books)

Originally published in 1909, this crime classic receives an English reprint after being voted the greatest Norwegian crime novel of all time in its home country in 2017. Lauded as the “founder of the modern Norwegian crime novel” by Jo Nesbo, author Stein Riverton’s short book retains a nightmarish quality as the idiosyncratic detective Asbjorn Krag investigates a series of deaths on a tranquil bathing resort against a menacing backdrop of local myths, fading summer and ghostly terror. Although a little dated – the book’s narrative style comes across rather twee, especially when compared to today’s crime novels and modern Nordic noir – The Iron Chariot is nonetheless taut with tension and paranoia, a paradise disturbed by the most brutal of acts. RON

Price: £8.99. Info: eye-books.com