The shortlist for the 2026 Riverton Prize has just been announced in Norway, with Jo Nesbø’s Wolf Hour and Jørn Lier Horst’s The Last Case among the five nominees for the prestigious annual award honoring the best Norwegian crime novel.

The jury praise Wolf Hour with the following motivation: “This is truly a virtuoso novel—large, dense, and elegantly driven forward, with surplus energy and flair, seamlessly composed with striking zoom-ins and zoom-outs. There are many details and feints to enjoy—a genre-faithful hardboiled style, a troubled, battle-scarred investigator wearing his heart on his sleeve. The novel’s different layers of reality, with its true-crime dynamic, invite the reader in and, in a striking way, elevate and expand the novel’s pulse and scope.”

The Last Case, the latest installment in the William Wisting series, is commended by the jury as follows: “In Jørn Lier Horst’s characteristically elegant style, the different plotlines are seamlessly woven together into an exciting, surprising, and clever crime novel.”

The winner will be announced on April 15.

The Norwegian Storytel Awards 2026 are now open for voting.

Among the nominated in the category Crime & Suspense are Jørn Lier Horst’s The Lake, Lars Kepler’s The Sleepwalker, Jo Nesbø’s Blood Ties, and Liza Marklund’s Storm Mountain.

In the Children’s category, Martin Widmark is nominated for both The Dinosaur Mystery and Nelly Rapp and the Mare.

The winners will be announced on February 12. To cast your vote, click “Read more” below.

The official Norwegian bestseller lists for 2025 have been compiled, and claiming the No. 1 spot in hardcover fiction is Jo Nesbø with Wolf Hour. Jørn Lier Horst appears on the lists with two titles, coming in at No. 3 in hardcover and e-book with The Last Case, and No. 3 in paperback with The Lake. Pascal Engman meanwhile has three titles on the lists, starting with Tierra del Fuego and X at No. 6 and No. 7 in paperback, and No One at No. 9 in e-book.

Pascal Engman and Jørn Lier Horst conclude 2025’s weekly bestseller lists by coming in at No. 1 in one category each. Horst’s The Last Case is No. 1 in hardcover, and Engman’s No One is No. 1 in paperback.

Pascal Engman and Jørn Lier Horst repeat their feats from previous weeks, coming in at the top also this turn. Engman’s No One is No. 1 in paperback, and Horst’s The Last Case continues to hold the No. 2 position in both hardcover and e-book.

Pascal Engman’s No One, the latest installment in the Vanessa Frank series, debuts at No. 1 on the paperback list. Meanwhile, Jørn Lier Horst’s eighteenth installment in the William Wisting series, The Last Case, climbs to No. 2 in both the hardcover and e-book categories.

Jørn Lier Horst’s The Lake, the seventeenth installment in the internationally bestselling Wisting series, has received the Norwegian Beech Noir Award for Best Norwegian Crime Novel of 2023/2024.

The jury’s motivation read: “This is a Wisting story of fine quality. A good plot where the threads come together in the end. As usual, a solid resolution.”

The award was presented at Larvik Library on the 11th of November.

Jørn Lier Horst’s The Last Case, the latest installment in the William Wisting series, continues to dominate the Norwegian bestseller list, holding the No. 1 spot in the hardcover category.

Jørn Lier Horst’s The Last Case, the latest installment in the William Wisting series, claims the No.1 spot in the hardcover category this week. This marks the book’s fourth consecutive week in the top 2.

This week, Jørn Lier Horst’s newly released novel The Last Case, the latest installment in the William Wisting series, debuts at No. 1 on both the hardcover and e-book bestseller lists. Close behind is Anne Holt’s Diamonds and Rust, the final book in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, taking the No. 2 spot on both charts. On the children’s list, Horst & Sandnes’ Operation Zombie climbs to No. 2.

This week, Jørn Lier Horst’s 17th installment in the William Wisting series, The Lake, tops the paperback list at No. 1. Meanwhile, his and Hans Jørgen Sandnes newly published Operation Zombie, claims the No. 5 position on the children’s list.