The Catalyst Killing (K2 and Patricia series Book 3)
Page 33
My last crime novel, Satellite People, was hugely inspired by the queen of classic crime, Agatha Christie, and was accordingly dedicated to her. The plot of The Catalyst Killing is set in 1970 and makes the leap from a locked room to a public space. Rather than Agatha Christie and other earlier British crime writers, I drew inspiration this time from one of the greatest crime writers of the decade, the American Ross Macdonald (1915–83). Tragic family stories are a major theme in Macdonald’s novels, inspired both by Greek tragedies and by his own background. Following his example, I have made tragic stories of parents and children a pervasive theme of this book.
When I started writing, my intention was to dedicate The Catalyst Killing to Ross Macdonald. But then it dawned on me that my third novel should be dedicated to a representative from my group of advisers. It also developed into a political novel, which was never the case with Macdonald’s novels; and even though the book has in a many ways a depressing ending, there is a much stronger sense of optimism about the future than in Macdonald’s work.
Of all the representatives from various extremist milieux, it is Miriam Filtvedt Bentsen who represents hope. She is a young and idealistic person who is herself, without any thought of personal gain. The young Miriam clearly distances herself from dictatorship, violence and totalitarian ideologies, and in her free time works for a democratic party to fight for a fairer society. In this novel, she is a young SPP member in 1970, but she could equally have been a member of various other youth associations in 2012. And following the violent and bloody attack on our democratic and open society that we experienced in summer 2011, it is particularly important to nurture the hope for the future that she represents here in Norway today. The best possible response to the terrorism and extremism of our day is the peaceful political mobilization of new generations of socially engaged young people. And the author and other people involved in Norwegian cultural life must do their utmost to highlight this.
So I eventually came to the conclusion that this novel should be dedicated to my fictional character, Miriam Filtvedt Bentsen. Or Mina Finstad Berg, as she is called out there in the real world.
Hans Olav Lahlum
Gjøvik, 1 January 2012
If you enjoyed The Catalyst Killing you’ll love
CHAMELEON PEOPLE
the fourth instalment in the K2 and Patricia series from Hans Olav Lahlum
1972. On a cold March morning the weekend peace is broken when a young cyclist frantically rings on K2’s doorbell, desperate to speak to the detective.
However, the boy is being pursued by K2’s colleagues in the Oslo police and a bloody knife is found in the boy’s pocket: a knife that matches the stab wounds of a politician who has just been killed in the street.
The evidence seems clear-cut, and the arrest couldn’t be easier. But when the suspect refuses to talk, and his identity remains unknown, K2 finds himself far from closing the case. And then there is the question K2 can’t get out of his mind: why would a guilty man travel straight to a police detective from the scene of his own brutal crime?
Coming autumn 2016
Praise for Hans Olav Lahlum’s K2 and Patricia series
‘A captivating murder mystery series . . . Lahlum keeps the reader guessing until a clever and satisfying conclusion’
Daily Express
‘Brilliant . . . Locked-room mysteries used to be a staple of golden-age crime fiction. Now the Norwegian novelist Hans Olav Lahlum has revived the form’
Sunday Times
‘As the latest Scandinavian crime writer to break into the English market, Lahlum is an admirer of Agatha Christie . . . This crime in a cold climate deserves a warm welcome’
Daily Mail
‘[A] Scandinavian crime novel with a difference, Satellite People by Hans Olav Lahlum, translated from Norwegian by Kari Dickson, is the second book to feature Inspector Kolbjørn Kristiansen, known as K2. Set in Oslo in 1969, it is a traditional closed-circle mystery . . . The solution is ingenious, and the investigation, with leads stretching back to the German occupation of Norway during the Second World War, certainly holds the attention’
Guardian
‘If you fancy a traditional closed-circle murder mystery . . . try The Human Flies by Hans Olav Lahlum . . . With its conscious echoes of Agatha Christie and Rex Stout, this first whodunnit by a well-known Norwegian historian and leftist politician will delight fans of both authors’
Morning Star
‘Prepare yourself for a classic whodunnit of the highest calibre, a deviously challenging murder mystery . . . a joy to read’
Crime Fiction Lover
THE CATALYST KILLING
HANS OLAV LAHLUM is a Norwegian crime author, historian, chess player and politician. The books that make up his crime series featuring Criminal Investigator Kolbjørn Kristiansen (known as K2) and his precocious young assistant, Patricia, are bestsellers in Norway. The Human Flies was his first book in the series and was followed by Satellite People and The Catalyst Killing. The fourth, Chameleon People, will be out soon.
Also by Hans Olav Lahlum
THE HUMAN FLIES
SATELLITE PEOPLE
First published in the UK 2015 by Mantle
This electronic edition published 2016 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-0-230-76958-8
Copyright © Hans Olav Lahlum 2012
English translation copyright © Kari Dickson 2015
Originally published in 2012 as Katalysatormordet by Cappelen Damm, Oslo
Main image: © Lane Oatey / Blue Jean Images / Corbis; Man standing: © Paul Gooney / Alamy
The right of Hans Olav Lahlum to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
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Table of Contents
Title page
Dedication page
Contents
DAY ONE The woman on the Lijord Line
DAY TWO Three parents, four students – and one slightly problematic witness
DAY THREE More answers, more questions – and more suspects
DAY FOUR An interesting trip to the mountains – and another running woman
DAY FIVE A running man and a torn photograph
DAY SIX By the cliff – and near boiling point
DAY SEVEN The countdown and the explosion
DAY EIGHT The triumph and the tragedy
Afterword
CHAMELEON PEOPLE
Praise for Hans Olav Lahlum’s K2 and Patricia series
About the Author
Also by Hans Olav Lahlum
Copyright page
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