Only Important People Die (Bara betydelsefulla dör)

Varg Gyllander

"Varg Gyllander is an excellent narrator and has in "Only important people die" composed an elegant story with people that become human. Ulf Holtz and his group are nice company, and I would very much like to hear more from them " Inger Wolf

 

The winter sky is coloured orange by thousands of torchlights. Under complete silence young men in short, shiny jackets march through the small town which once a year turns into an arena for the neo-nazistic movements most important manifestation. But in the woods a man with a mission is waiting, and before the night is over one of the nazists is dead.

 

Crime investigator Ulf Holtz and Pia Levin are pulled into an investigation which takes them in many different directions, political and private. Against her will, Levin is forced to dig into the dead nazist’s past and confront unpleasant family secrets. At the same time the questions pile up: Who is the smoking man by the murder scene, and what really happens between the doors in the notorious Eaglenest?

 

As usual Holtz works with a mixture of accuracy and spontaneous ideas. The answer to the question is still far away, but the Holiday season moves in and Holtz fights with his own loneliness. His love story with the young trainee Nahid doesn’t leave him unaffected and it makes him commit a fatal mistake.

 

348 pages

 

English reading material available. Translation by Per Carlsson.

 

Rights sold

Germany: Random House/btb

Denmark: Politiken

Italy: Newton Compton

Sweden: Bra Böcker

 

Reviews

"The crime novel Only important people die is not only captivating but also offers realistic CSI and a nuanced personal portrait."

Sydsvenskan

 

"This is the second crime novel by Varg Gyllander, also the press secretary at the National Bureau of Investigation and previously as a crime reporter. He certainly knows what he is talking about. /.../ Very much a Sweden-of-today-feeling in the tightly cohesive plot, and with great descriptions of the surrounding environment."

Dagens Nyheter

 

"The page-turning nerve is there as well as a rich gallery of characters. Maybe it is because we already know the crime scene investigators Levin and Holts, but rather because Gyllander has raised his authorship to another level. Hopefully he will continue the publishing pace in the future."

Svensk Polis