Imagine a big box (book) full of so many tiny jigsaw puzzle pieces and then you start fitting in the pieces and there are so many. Then come the 'eureka' moments when you can recognise a piece of sky or a human foot. And you continue piece by piece. Yes this was a well enjoyed jigsaw puzzle, slightly blurry at the final edge but yes.

”People who are in such an exteme situation that they commit murder, probably don’t think so rationally that they take into account the possibility of punishment before they kill?” Line Wisting is interviewing convicted murderers for a journalistic piece about the effectiveness of punishment. She is the daughter of the famed police officer William Wisting, and their discussions about crime and punishment are enhanced by the intriguing information that is coming out of her interviews. ”’Has it he...

This is Jorn Lier Horst's first book to be translated into English.I will certainly read more in the series (6 books so far) when they are available. The only complaint I would make is that, as the case is resolved, the explanation that is given simply comes from our being told what happened. Someone explains to us, as if we are being lectured. This is a non-dramatic, cop-out way of bringing detective fiction to a close and is, unfortunately, very common in detective fiction. I see this as a qua...

Despite the title, this is not another Nordic doom and gloom but a solid police procedural. Very solid. The author, Jørn Lier Horst was himself a policeman when he wrote this novel and had the same job as the protagonist. Chief Inspector Wisting is head of investigations in Larvik, a Norwegian town of 20,000 plus. The novel starts with the discovery of a foot on the beach. The foot has clearly been in the sea for some time. What kickstarts the investigation is that this is the second foot discov...

I usually hate reading a series out of order but since, even though, this is the 6th it is the first translated into English. Characters were not as flawed as the characters in many nordic crime fiction, but the storyline was interesting. A bit of historical data and really enjoyed the alternate but complimenting storyline by Wisting's daughter, who is a journalist. Looking forward and hoping that the rest of the series is translated and released in the US.

This is the first nordic novel I've read that was not noir with the main character tormented or forced to deal with corruption within their organization. (The usual irritating/ladder-climbing/brown-nosing supervisor is there--but no corruption.) The storyline was interesting and characters are well written.There is a large number of characters in this novel and I did have a bit of trouble keeping up with all of them towards the end of it. But it was a good read and I'd recommend it to others loo...

In an attempt to expand my literary horizons, I took it upon myself to introduce myself to Jorn Lier Horst, acclaimed Scandinavian mystery writer. Chief Inspector William Wisting has a great deal of experience with police work in Norway, as well as its dark underbelly. After a shoe washes ashore with a left foot still inside, Wisting cannot tell if this is foul play or some horrible accident. When a second shoe turns up, also containing a left foot, Wisting must begin to wonder if there is a dis...

It really is a shame to have missed the first five novels in this series, because Dregs is exactly what I look for when I'm reading a novel of crime fiction. It has a good plot, enough suspects to keep the reader guessing, very little in the way of extraneous subplot, romance or main-character existentialist angst/crisis so that the reader stays focused on the crime and its solution. It is a brilliant police procedural which is all about getting to the root of the mystery at the heart of the sto...

I am a fan of all Scandinavian mystery crime novels available in English. My favorite authors are Jussi Adler-Olsen, Camilla Lackberg, Asa Larsson, among others. I was so excited and looking forward to have found a new series, saw great reviews about this series and was not very impressed. It was a bit slow, not much to keep me going, very slow and the main character always drained of energy, it kinda transfer his lack of energy to the reader. A real downer without much excitement and in the cli...

I would heartily recommend this to fans of scandinavian crime fiction. This is the first of Horst's books to be translated into English, and it introduces us to William Wisting - Norwegian detective, widower and father. Wisting is a very likeable character and his daughter is for once, not flawed as in other Scan Crime fiction - especially Jar City by Indriadsson! Line Wisting is also a likeable character who you get the feeling will go far in her chosen professional field of journalism.This nov...

I finally got round to reading Jorn Lier Horst in English. Unfortunately, this is the first translation from Norwegian into English and it started off with the 6th volume, not with the first. Shame on you publishers!! Now I'll have to buy the first volumes in German, to see what the fuss is all about. I should have waited, but I wasn't sure whether I should buy the first 5 volumes in German. There's lots of so-and-so (and let's say it outright, bad...) fiction coming out of Scandinavia nowadays,...

This was a really solid introduction to the William Wisting series by Jorn Lier Horst. The story plot builds little by little in a way that allowed me to stay very connected with the way the story developed without less important side stories. In saying that however, there was still sufficient interest in the characters to get some insight into them as people as well which I really like. This is actually the 6th book in this series.. I usually prefer to start at the first but I got my hands on t...

This is a great police procedural. Set in Norway this is a solid read, a great crime story with a intriguing plot.I think I have found another great character in William Wisting, looking forward to more if the first five books are ever translated.

Dregs, is very much cut from the same cloth as Wallander or Beck: this is Scandi crime and not Nordic noir. It's a thoughtful police procedural, not a melancholic investigation of the dark night of the soul.I swiftly felt at ease with this solid, old-school Scandinavian detective. His investigation is told in an accessible, unfussy literary style. Events happen sequentially, from the perspective of the main characters, without jumping around in time or relying on stunt misdirection to mislead th...

This is the first book I've read in this series and I am so glad I started at the beginning. Looking forward to reading more with this fantastic character, Inspector William Wisting and and his journalist daughter Line. Loved it 🌟This one involved a mystery where severed feet turn up on beach shores and after a few it is clear there is a murderer at large. Wisting and his team proceed to investigate, but as the investigation goes along it is clear it is much more complex, with a motive I honestl...

I really enjoyed the first series of Wisting on TV & as I have no idea when, or if, there will be a second series I thought I would read one of the novels.William Wisting is Chief Inspector in the Larvik CID, which is the same job held by Norwegian author Jorn Lier Horst. So, here's an author who really knows what he's writing about. Dregs is a good, old fashioned police procedural & Horst's prose is concise & straight to the point. The plot is neatly constructed & the characters interesting eno...

“People who are in such an extreme situation that they commit murder, …” “… probably don’t think so rationally that they take into account the possibility of punishment before they kill”By the time the fourth left shoe complete with the grisly remnants of a human left foot washed up on the Norwegian shore line, it was obvious to police inspector William Wisting that he was dealing with far more than a marine accident or unrelated drowning deaths. DREGS is a workmanlike, well-composed police proc...

William Wisting’s career as a law enforcement professional who became a Chief Inspector in the Criminal Investigation Department of Lavrik Police mirrors that of DREGS author Jorn Lier Horst. The author, one of Norway’s most experienced crime fighters introduces Wisting as he is immediately called to a crime scene at a tourist beach south of Oslo where he is confronted by a training shoe with a severed foot inside that has washed along the shore. What is disconcerting is that it is the second le...

I wa fortunate enough to receive ARCs of the first two books in The Cold Case Quartet featuring Chief Inspector William Wisting: The Katharina Code and The Cabin. The third is due for publication in May. Then the first series of Wisting was broadcast on BBC4. Enough to whet anyone's whistle. Terrific Scandi noir. I decided to go back to where it all began...Jorn Lier Horst's first book that introduces the reader to the Norwegian detective CI William Wisting is Dregs. A baffling plot that keeps t...

Dregs is a straightforward police procedural that is very much in the Scandinavian style – a relatively dour detective, an understated narrative with close attention to detail, and realist in its depiction of police work and society. The plot works at the level of carefully revealing the solving of a puzzle rather than being driven by action and tension. Dregs starts at a relatively sedate pace, slowing moving pieces into place, and it’s only as the telling progresses that the extent of the puzz...