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Blind Goddess: A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel Audiobook
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(3.01) - 487 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A small-time drug dealer is found battered to death on the outskirts of the Norwegian capital, Oslo. A young Dutchman, walking aimlessly in central Oslo covered in blood, is taken into custody but refuses to talk. When he is informed that the woman who discovered the body, Karen Borg, is a lawyer, he demands her as his defender, although her specialty is civil, not criminal, law. The young man is adamant: he will speak to Karen Borg, and to her alone. A couple of days later, Hans E. Olsen, a lawyer of the shadiest kind, is found shot to death. Very soon, police officers Håkon Sand and Hanne Wilhelmsen establish a link between the two killings. They also find a coded message hidden in the murdered lawyer’s apartment. Their maverick colleague in the drug squad, Billy T., reports that a recent rumor in the underworld involves lawyers employed in drug dealing. Now the reason the young Dutchman insisted on having Karen Borg as a defender dawns on them: since she was the one to find and report the body, she is the only Oslo lawyer that cannot by any means be implicated in the crime. As the officers investigate, they uncover a massive network of corruption involving the highest levels of government.
As their lives are threatened, Hanne and her colleagues must find the killer and, in the process, bring the lies and deception out into the open.
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"My first for Anne Holt, but won't be my last. I thought this was a really good book with an unusual plot. I like the characters also. I didn't find anything annoying about the translation or the Norwegian names as I have in other translated books. I recommend this to everyone who enjoys suspense."
— Lynette (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Det. Hanne Wilhelmsen and her colleague Håkon Sand, an attorney with the Special Branch of the Oslo police, look into two murders in Edgar-finalist Holt’s well-paced first Hanne Wilhelmsen novel…Snippets of the crooks’ reactions to the police investigation add tension, while the breaking of a ‘book code’ helps bring the criminal activities into focus.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Blind Goddess is sure to appeal to fans of either the Wallander books or their TV adaptions as well as to readers who enjoy the many female detectives in Scandinavian fiction...A winner on all counts.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Holt delivers a deeply woven detective mystery that keeps readers guessing until the bitter end. Highly recommended for crime fiction enthusiasts.”
— Library Journal -
“Fans of Scandinavian suspense will find lots to like in Anne Holt’s Blind Goddess…A topnotch police procedural, one with an exotic and icy Nordic twist.”
— BookPage -
“Politics and drugs make uneasy bedfellows in this first case for Hanne Wilhelmsen…Fans of Henning Mankell’s majestically lumbering police procedurals will relish every twist in the long road to resolution.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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A 2012Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominee
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Recipient of the 2012Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award
Blind Goddess Listener Reviews
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" Perhaps a broader editorial brush would have made this a more engaging read. Perhaps stronger character development and more exciting plot would have helped as well. Because of her reputation as a writer, I looked forward to reading Anne Holt's work from the beginning. After this mediocre experience, not sure that I want to read any others. "
— Janet, 2/8/2014 -
" Not bad, but the description of Anne Hold as "the queen of Norwegian crime fiction" may have caused me to expect a little more from this novel than I got from it. The novel is gritty all right, but Ian Rankin novels are a good deal grittier, and Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy may have ruined crime fiction for me, as I now want deeply complex characters that take more than one book to unravel. In comparison to someone like Lisbeth Salander, Hanne Wilhelmsen falls flat. "
— Lauryn, 2/6/2014 -
" Solid crime fiction. Will be getting the next in the series. "
— Laura, 1/28/2014 -
" kind of like a Norwegian Mo Hayder. not great, but you keep reading compulsively for some reason. the next (translated, not chronological, dammit) "follow up" looks like a more interesting premise to me; we'll see. "
— Kdunbier, 1/12/2014 -
" Good mystery by a Norwegian author. I will read more of the series. "
— Elhagen, 12/19/2013 -
" Excellent, I hope the other novels in the series are in translation. "
— Laurie, 12/18/2013 -
" I was a little disappointed since I loved 1222. The book is well written and well plotted. Well translated. As a police procedural it was a little slow at times but the action picks up near the end. I will read more of Anne Holt. "
— Sandy, 12/6/2013 -
" I liked it. Holt does not write like a Norwegian but more like an American author. Good characters and possible future love story. "
— Al, 9/15/2013 -
" The characters were not well developed so difficult to distinguish from one another. Storyline tricky to follow. "
— Jo, 8/4/2013 -
" Might read more from this Scandanavian mystery writer....this was her first book. Interesting plot and witty writing but very very wordy. "
— Jane, 7/3/2013 -
" Enjoyed this a lto -- very different from other Scandinavian lit in that it's not so dark. It lacks the angst and the psychosis but makes up for it with strong characters and an intricate plot. An author I will read again. "
— Fiona715, 5/28/2013 -
" I nice summer read- not overly thrilling, but basically a Swedish version of Law and Order. "
— Jennifer, 4/2/2013 -
" Hmm. Not as good as 1222, but will certainly read more of her works "
— Margaret, 5/30/2012
About Anne Holt
Anne Holt has worked as a journalist and news anchor and spent two years working for the Oslo Police Department before founding her own law firm and serving as Norway’s minister for justice for part of 1996 and 1997. Her first book was published in 1993, and her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. She lives in Oslo with her family.
About Kate Reading
Michael Kramer is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, and recipient of a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. He is also an actor and director in the Washington, DC, area, where he is active in the area’s theater scene and has appeared in productions at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and Theater J.