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2000s: A woman disappears from a retreat but was she ever there in the first place?
Cursed
What you need to know before your trail
Hedda Hellberg heads off to a retreat in Italy, in order to grieve for her dead father, but when she fails to return, her husband discovers the retreat has no record of her and what’s more, there is no proof of her ever leaving Oslo. As the investigation gets underway, it even becomes apparent that she might be connected to the murder of an old man, gunned down on the first day of the hunting season in the depths of the Swedish forests…
Suddenly the entire case takes on a whole new level of mystery and danger and the missing woman could hold the clue to so much more. Why did she disappear at Oslo aiport and why?
Travel Guide
Norway’s Forests
From the start of the novel, the Nordic Noir atmosphere is dark and foreboding. A man walking his dog in the forests hears no sound apart from that of the snapping branches on the ground. But then gunshots ring out and the man falls dead.
“He knew that, right now, the forest would smell raw and cold, but soon the adders would slither out, unsure about what time of year it was.’
Varmland
The county of Varmland where he is walking is located both in Sweden and Norway.
The shadows which hide the Hellberg family are gradually swept away but what a web of intrigue they reveal? Layers of dust which have shrouded the family for years. And a mystery within an mystery.
Oslo
The world of the investigative journalist comes to life as does the world of the Oslo underbelly. There are dark and dangerous sides to this city but the harbour where Iver goes to take a boat out to the island seems like one to recommend!
Tønsberg
A lot of the action takes place in the city of Tønsberg as well. There’s also the lovely island of Jarlsø outside Tønsberg, too, and Kalvetangen – where parts of the Hellberg family live. This the harbour
Streetview Maps
B) Oslo - Sognsvann leading to Nordmarka
C) Oslo - Grünerløkka - Henning lives here
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Thomas Enger you are one of my authors to watch and to read again as this was a book which dragged me into that forest, made me jump and tied me up in a series of lies and danger. Why do I read novels set in the woods late at night? I really should learn but I never do as the urge to read anything recommended by Karen Sullivan always goes to the top of the TBR pile. Nora and Henning were very multilayered and fascinating and there’s another story in that couple alone – their background seeps into this present day storyline and weaves a web of its own.
What really freaked me out is the missing woman and the trail to find her. Didn’t arrive at the retreat? Didn’t even leave Oslo? Husband concerned? Well I had my own theories but I was happily proven more than wrong and that ending pulled the rug from under me very hard indeed.
I may still be battered and bruised from this novel but as I recover, it’s a very satisfying feeling I have now.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Cursed
Author/Guide: Thomas Enger Destination: Oslo, Åsgårdstrand, Tønsberg Departure Time: 2000s
Twitter: @EngerThomas Web: thomasenger.net
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