Blind gudinne

Blind gudinne Blind Goddess

Hanne Wilhelmsen #1

Blind Goddess introduces the world of brilliant, arrogant Police Detective Hanne Wilhelmsen and her admiring colleagues: a world where the goddess of justice is blindfolded, and it is their job to do her bidding. A drug-related murder unravels a corrupt network in the police and justice departments, with an ulterior motive to finance Norwegian secret service operations.

Blind Goddess is the first installment in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series.

Blind Goddess was awarded with the Riverton Prize (Rivertonprisen) 1994 for ‘Best Norwegian Crime Novel of the Year’. In 1997, it was turned into a TV-series directed by Carl Jørgen Kiønig.

Reviews

  • “Anne Holt’s superb 1222, the Norwegian author’s most recent Hanne Wilhelmsen detective story, appeared in English last year, No. 8 in the series. The wheelchair-bound lesbian policewoman’s very first adventure, Blind Goddess, is now on the American market, and it’s every bit as good as what was yet to come. /…/ Ms. Holt’s 1222 was a sendoff, or an homage, of the Agatha Christie closed-room mystery. Blind Goddess, referring to Athena with the scales of justice, is more in the hardboiled vein of Dashiell Hammett. It’s a good old-fashioned mystery, enhanced by Hanne not having the mobile phones and technologies that increased with each new story.”

    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, US

  • “Holt proves a masterful plotter. Unexpected twists hold up to scrutiny, loose ends are tied up and the finale leaves readers wanting more. Let's hope there are six more Hanne [Wilhelmsen] stories in the pipeline.”

    Cleveland Plain-Dealer, US

  • “Anne Holt weaves an intricate plot of organized crime compounded with betrayal and lies in this police procedural murder mystery. /…/ The great plotting style makes for a worthwhile read.”

    Good Reads, US

  • “Anne Holt has always written notable stories that are something in between the detective novel and the political crime novel, with that cold brutality, that Nordic exoticism and that fierce social criticism which we are used to in Scandinavian authors. /…/ [Detective Hanne Wilhelmsen] has a romantic relationship to her job, as ’a fisherman to the sea’ /…/ [She is] a perfect character for telling a story like this. This crime novel shows us how society is not perfect at all.”

    Carlo Lucarelli, la Repubblica, Italy

  • “A promising first. Hanne Wilhelmsen is a brilliant detective character that masters the humour and hard-boiled manner of the genre without turning into a travesty of a woman in trench coat.”

    Politiken, Denmark

  • “In this book you meet with an important crime writer in the making.”

    Upsala Nya Tidning, Sweden

  • “This year’s best crime novel so far is written by Anne Holt. /…/ This book is well on the level with anything that Sjöwall/Wahlöö ever achieved.”

    Resumé, Sweden

  • Blind Goddess is a book to be read in one sitting. You cannot put it aside untill you find out what happens.”

    Arbetet, Sweden

  • “Impressive debut /…/ It is impossible to put the book down.”

    Norra Skåne, Sweden

  • “High-level excitement!”

    Östgöta Correspondenten, Sweden

  • “A fascinating language and a flair for dramaturgy. Anne Holt possesess both.”

    Dagbladet, Norway

Author
Anne Holt
Published
1993
Genre
  • Crime
Pages
352
Reading material

Norwegian edition

English edition

Rights sold

Brazil, Fundamento

Bulgaria, Colibri

Denmark, Modtryk

Finland, Gummerus

Germany, Atrium

Israel, Kinneret

Italy, Einaudi

Netherlands, House of Books

Norway, Vigmostad & Bjørke

Poland, Prószynski

Romania, Trei

Spain, Mondadori (World Spanish)

Sweden, Norstedts

UK, Corvus

US, Scribner

Film rights sold

Sweden, Nordic Drama Queens / Amazon

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