The Katharina Code by Jørn Lier Horst translated by Anne Bruce

(39. - 1282.) The Katharina Code by Jørn Lier Horst translated by Anne Bruce - Norwegian Chief Inspector William Wisting is reviewing the file of Katharina Haugen. It has been a year since he last looked at the file. Twenty-four years have passed since Katharina disappeared. He keeps hoping that “he would discover a detail he had previously overlooked, or spot a connection he had not made before”.

Most puzzling is a piece of paper found on her kitchen table. On the paper are “a series of numbers arranged along three vertical lines”. Police experts, military cryptologists and foreign experts have failed to solve what has been named “The Kaharina Code”.

Wisting carries on with life. He enjoys time with his daughter, Line, and his granddaughter, Amalie. Still he meets with Katharina's husband, Martin Haugen, each year on the anniversary of Katharina’s disappearance.

Why were there fourteen red roses in her house beside an ornament?

He looks for lies in the material:

Lies were an element of every investigation. Everyone lied. It was seldom a matter of downright untruths, but most people avoided the unvarnished truth in some way or another.

On this anniversary Martin is not at home and Wisting cannot find him.

Adrian Stiller from the Cold Case Unit of the Kripos - a special agency in the Norwegian Police Service - comes to the detachment to lead a new investigation into the kidnapping of Nadia Krogh who also disappeared. New technology has enabled the unit to find an important connection with Katharina’s case.

Wisting describes Martin as withdrawn and good-natured to Stiller.

Stiller, backed by senior officers, wants Wisting to become close to Martin and gain his confidence. He is to get Martin to confide in him.

Stiller is a manipulative man. Wanting a series of stories on Nadia’s kidnapping he arranges for Wisting’s daughter, Line, a journalist at the VG newspaper to be chosen to write the stories.

Wisting will have to keep secret from Line his investigation into Martin.

Thus there is a police task force re-investigating Nadia’s case and a VG team questioning individuals with personal knowledge of Nadia.

I found having the father, the detective, and the daughter, the journalist, investigating different parts of the same case fascinating.

I admire Wistering and the Norwegian police for getting authorization to do covert searches. Not for them the American way of fictional police breaking in because it is more expedient. The Norwegian way is just as efficient in solving crime and promotes respect for the law.

It is a wonderfully complex case.

As I read the book I thought about the cold cases of Harry Bosch. His careful thoughtful review of old police files would provide the break that led to resolution of the case. Wisting’s equally detailed examination of the files he knows so well and the consequences of a current domestic violence conviction lets him break open the case. That the break involves books was very clever. It was also very credible.

The police use a combination of electronics and personal contacts to build their case. 

The code is solved with careful thought. Its design was ultimately simple but unless you had the key impossible to decipher. It was a brilliant concept.

Tension builds as the police learn more of the past. Great secrets are hard to live with in fiction and real life.

Bruce's translation was excellent. The plot flowed.

I bought the book because it was the 2019 winner of the Petrona Award for Best Translated Scandinavian Crime Novel. Horst is a talented writer and I will read more of his work.