Certain Signs That You Are Dead By Torkil Damhaug.
Every killer leaves a trace.

In Akershus University Hospital, a patient disappears into thin air.

That evening, his body is found in a basement box-room, his throat cut.

When retired forensic pathologist Jennifer Plåterud is called in to examine the dead man, she has no idea of just how closely she is involved in the murder herself.

And in the merciless heat of summer, she will be forced to make connections she would have preferred to ignore..
This was a fantastic read with brilliant characters. I couldn't put it down. Even though it was book 4 I still read it. I wanted to know what happened. 5*. Netgalley and headline.

I would Like to thank Netgalley and Headline for a review copy of Certain Signs That You Are Dead, the fourth in a series of crime novels set in Oslo.

The novel revolves around 2 main characters Sigurd Woods who gets into some extremely dangerous situations helping his mysterious girlfriend, Katya, and Arash, an Iranian immigrant with PTSD who loses the patient from the blurb and may have more to do with it than he is saying.

This is a difficult novel to review without issuing spoilers as so much happens after these initial events and it is all interlinked. It is very slow to start with the author concentrating on Sigurd and Katya's relationship. A confident 23 year old, Sigurd is making a good living through network marketing. The product sounds extremely dodgy but perhaps that gives an insight into Sigurd's personality as he's not as upstanding as the original impression. His behaviour over Katja's lies is inexplicable, constantly deciding to dump her and then rushing to help her. Arash doesn't make an appearance until 15% into the novel when the patient he is supposed to be moving from A&E to the orthopedics ward vanishes. This is a mixture of very recognisable hospital incompetence and something more. Arash is one of the few likeable characters in a novel populated with people you wouldn't want to spend time with.Like Sigurd he is caught up in events that have nothing to do with him.

Certain Signs That You Are Dead, after the initial slow start, is a fairly high octane read with plenty going on, both action and plot wise. It isn't fundamentally complicated but it switches between points of view, Sigurd, Arash and Sigurd's mother, the pathologist Jenny Platerud and can be allusive in parts so you need to concentrate. I couldn't follow the reasoning behind the title as it's all a bit airy-fairy for me.

I enjoyed this novel so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.