2025
When Lars Ove Jansen—known around town as “Love”—is found dead, at least one woman in the small village breathes a sigh of relief. But as police investigator Vigdis Malmstrøm and her team begin digging into the case, that relief quickly turns into unease—and then panic. Because what really happened fifteen years ago, when Love was convicted of a bank robbery without solid evidence, and his alleged accomplice vanished without a trace?
The Bird King is an intense drama about love, jealousy, and the complexities of family ties—and about how far we might be willing to go to protect the ones we love.
With elegance and ease, Eva Fretheim delivers a gripping psychological thriller, firmly establishing herself as a crime writer readers won’t want to miss.
Literary rural noir of the highest caliber.
… a personal blend of gritty cynicism and a portrayal of the wear and tear of ordinary lives and family dynamics that calls to mind Karin Fossum at her finest.
...Fretheim writes elegantly and effortlessly, with beautiful precision and timing, crafting a cast of characters where seemingly innocent events unfold under intense pressure, where hidden relationships and connections simmer, and where secrets are gradually and inevitably revealed.
...an elegant, seamless suspense novel… Fretheim delivers surprising revelations—and in that sense, fulfills her contract with the reader. The Bird King shows that she can craft compelling and suspenseful entertainment, both in terms of plot twists and the novel’s finely tuned literary structure.
This is an intense psychological drama about love, jealousy and complex family relationships – and how far we are willing to go in order to protect those we love.
Eva Fretheim
Julia Granberg / BLUNDERBUSS
