Bergen based investigator Varg Veum is at a stage in his life where nothing much surprises him. So when a new client introduces herself as his half sister, it’s almost enough to make a guy reach for the Aquavit. After tracking him down, Norma Bakkevik wasted no time with small talk. She wants him to find her teenage god-daughter, Emma Haglund. She left a troubled home life & moved to Bergen several weeks ago but no one has heard from her since. Varg has many questions. About Emma….and about Norm...

Having read and enjoyed the previous translated Varg Veum books, I was thrilled to be able to read Big Sister recently. Gunnar Staalesen is a masterful storyteller and I was eager to get reading.In Big Sister, Veum finds out that he has a half-sister, Norma. The only reason he finds this out is because Norma turns up at his office needing his help in finding her missing goddaughter Emma. Emma has vanished from Bergen, and Norma figured this was as good a reason as any to track down her half-brot...

A bit slow,but good overall

This is the second Varg Veum book I have read, following last year's superb Wolves in the Dark. Varg seems less haunted by his demons in this latest instalment, he drinks less and doesn't seem as set on a path of self-destruction. Nevertheless the case he takes on leads him into great personal danger and also results in him making life-changing discoveries about his own past. His half-sister, Norma arrives at his office unexpectedly one day - though he was aware of her existence, the two had nev...

Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.comVarg Veum is a private investigator. One afternoon he is visited by a woman, Norma, who explains to him that she is his half-sister who was given up for adoption before he was born. She is there because she is looking for her God-Daughter, Emma, and needs Varg’s services. She explains that the young woman was studying to be a nurse and moved out of her bedsit two weeks ago and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.Varg thinks that it will most l...

Private Investigator Varg Veum is the bestselling series written by award winning Norwegian author Gunnar Staalesen and ‘Big Sister’ is the 20th book in this compelling and well written crime series.When Varg receives a surprise visit in his office, a woman who introduces herself as his half-sister, he is shocked that she has a job for him. Her god-daughter, a 19-year-old trainee nurse from Haugesund, moved from her apartment in Bergen two weeks ago and since then, no one has heard anything from...

The wolf is back! I was so pleased to be re-acquainted with Varg in Big Sister. He is a character I have a real soft spot for and I had eagerly awaited Gunnar Staalesen’s next book. And, oh boy, does Staalesen deliver again with the latest Veum instalment. While this is a long running series Big Sister does work as a standalone although I would highly recommend checking out the earlier books in the series.When Varg is commissioned to look for the missing god-daughter of Norma Bakkevik, the case

Big Sister – Top Nordic NoirGunnar Staalesen is back and once again proving why he is regarded as one of the best Nordic Noir thriller on the scene. He is also is my favourite way of visiting Norway without having to put up with the cold weather and the darkness of a Norwegian winter. Big Sister is once again Staalesen at his sublime best, with all his darkness and throwing in a surprising twist when you think you have everything sorted out in your mind.Varg Veum’s world has changed, well around...

Big Sister is the latest in the long running series to feature Varg Veum and is set in 2003. The case he has to solve is often chilling and a harsh reminder that some of the more murky side to society was an issue then as well. Many of the people he has to see don’t want to talk or are simply unable to. And some of them you really wouldn’t want to meet.With this novel I felt like I got to know Varg more. There is the case he is trying to solve, which he does in his usual way. Mainly by annoying

A solid 4 stars.Thanks to Trafalgar Square Publishing for sending me this eARC through NetGalley. I visited Bergen, Norway in 2009 and our guide recommended this series by Staalsen. I purchased the only book available in English The Writing on the Wall and enjoyed it. This book has Varg Veum taking a case from a half sister that he meets for the first time. She asks him to search for her missing goddaughter. His search leads him into an unsolved rape from many years before. There were several un...

Varg Veum is back and hoo boy, what a return it is!Varg Veum is surprised when a half-sister he’s never met shows up in his office. She needs his help in finding her goddaughter, Emma, who disappeared without a trace. Since Emma is nineteen and took personal belongings with her, the police don’t take her case seriously and aren’t looking for her. Varg Veum promises to investigate but he has no idea what he’s getting himself in to.The investigation leads him to uncover a horrific crime, while als...

This is my second Gunnar Staalesen book in this series and I am loving them. Varg Veum is a P.I. with a lot of experience behind him besides being a man who is pretty well a private bloke, so when a lady turns up and says she is his half-sister that he has never met, I think we were both a bit shocked. Norma’s teenage god-daughter Emma has gone missing and no-one seems to give a damn. Varg Veum sees it, on the surface, as what should be a straightforward case but his life is to get a whole lot m...

This title was read in paperback format. It is not listed here except as CD or ebook versions.It was my serendipity read for the month of October. Sometimes they are a gem find, sometimes they are not. This one was not despite my being a fairly strong fan of Nordic who-dun-its of every genre tinge- be they milder or gritty dark.This one was far, far overlong to the point of tedious. And the P.I. who is Varg is 61 years old. The big sister is 76 years old. So that tells you a little about the pas...

This was quite like an old fashioned mystery that unfolded slowly with spurts of quick action thrown in so it never slowed to a lull in reading. I had a bit of trouble keeping up with all the names (I gave up trying to pronounce them) but that’s probably bc I’m an American. Thanks to Orenda for this free copy:)

Gunnar Staalesen is one of the most successful Scandinavian crime fiction writers, some critics refer to him as the ''Norwegian Chandler'', and the creator of a legendary main character, Varg Veum. ''Big Sister'' is the twentieth (!) installment in the series which began in 1977 (''Das Haus mit der grünen Tür'') and Varg is now sixty-one years old while he is trying to solve a possible crime when a young college girl goes missing and nobody seems to know her whereabouts. This particular case has...

Even though this is part of a series, Big Sister works very well as a stand alone. I do advise reading the others also due to them being really great reads and wouldn't want anyone to miss out.It was really good to meet up with Varg again. I was actually quite happy when his half sister turns up as thought it might bring something to his solitary lifestyle. Obviously being a crime book, someone just turning up out of the blue like that is going to bring a certain amount of mystery along with the...

Just when you thought that wily private investigator Varg Veum’s personal life couldn’t get any more complicated, Staalesen illustrates once again his ability to stretch his character to almost breaking point. Grappling with ghosts of the past, and a particularly emotional and troublesome missing person case, Veum is tested to the limit in the course of this all too personal investigation…It goes without saying that Staalesen consistently produces crime thrillers to the highest standard, and con...

“In November, rain is the personification of gloom,”This is the third Varg Veum novel I’ve read and I have to say each one is different from the last. With this one, Veum is surprised by a visit by his big sister who has a case for him. I was intrigued how the disappearance of Emma led Veum in so many different directions and gave him so much information, not all necessarily all related, about the past. I loved the personal journey that Veum went on when he ventured down one of his avenues of in...

Private Investigator Varg Veum has more than the usual interest when taking on his new case. The woman who asks is his sister whom he has never met, so not only a chance to get to know her but also the possibility of finding out more about his family. His sister is concerned about the disappearance of her god-daughter.This is yet another new to me author as I join in the Varg Veum series. Sometimes I think this is a good thing especially when the book works as a standalone, as this one does. It

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book. Only my second book in this series, but very enjoyable. Slow to get going, but a very good ending. Strongly recommended.