The Wolf is the latest novel in the Munch and Krüger series which began with I’m Travelling Alone in 2016, an instant hit with readers and critics. Scandi-noir is now more of a regional that a style designation but Norwegian author Samuel Bjørk’s novels are firmly in that original dark, psychological mould that fascinates British and American readers thanks to Steig Larsson and Jo Nesbø. The Wolf is is actually prequel so this is the real beginning of the story:
The tragic discovery of the bodies of two young boys in Norway is all the more chilling as the crime is reminiscent of an unsolved case in Sweden eight years earlier.
Veteran detective Holger Munch and his team investigate the baffling case but it’s the uncanny insight of a Police Academy cadet, Mia Krüger, that brings real insight to the mystery. This is a page turning psychological thriller, with a twist or two that induce a shudder.
Writer Samuel Bjørk, under his real name Frode Sander Øien, is a successful musician and actor too. I started by asking him if always had these fluid artistic urge:
Samuel Bjørk: Yes, I guess I´ve always been a natural creative person. I love creating something out of nothing, making my ideas come to fruition. I started as an actor, moved over to writing plays, then making and performing music. I had written two literary novels, when there was a big national competition to write the best crime novel, and I thought why not give it a go?
To my surprise, I actually loved it, and luckily for me, a worldwide audience did too.
PB: That’s an interesting way to come to crime writing. Nordic noir covers all kinds of crime fiction but I think you are part of that Jo Nesbø, Håkan Nesser tradition of dark fiction with a strong sense of place and climate creating atmosphere.
SB: Like I said, I never thought I would write a crime novel. I feel like I was just handed a golden ticket, and was able to create my own world within the genre. I feel part of the Nordic Noir genre, absolutely, but my influences did not come from other crime writers. I have always been inspired by writers who write more literary but still exciting books, like Donna Tartt, The Secret History, John Fowles, The Magus, and William Gibson’s Sprawl-trilogy.
Paul Burke: So to the novel, The Wolf is the 4th Munch and Krüger to be published in English, and there are more to follow. This one is a prequel but did you imagine that this would be a series with staying power when you published I’m Travelling Alone?
SB: I had no idea or plans for this to be a series when I wrote the first book. I didn’t even know if it was going to be published, so I had no pressure, and just wrote what I wanted, trying to interest myself as much as possible as I went along. The interest in the book created the follow-ups naturally, the readers wanted more, and I was more than happy to keep on going.
PB: So I mentioned The Wolf is a prequel to the series. It takes us back to Mia Krüger as a trainee at the police academy becoming involved with Munch’s unit. Why a prequel, why now?
SB: After writing three books pretty fast, I felt I needed some time to think through where I wanted the series to go next. My British publisher mentioned pretty early that he thought a prequel would be a good idea, since the first book kept referring to incidents that had happened ten years earlier. I felt now would be a good time to go back and let the reader in on what had really happened.
PB: So The Wolf brings us Mia Krüger and Holger Munch in earlier guise. I’d imagine going forward in time was a natural way to develop the characters but how was it going back in time?
SB: Like I said, writing the first book I already had done the work getting to know the characters, and what had happened earlier, but I was a bit nervous at first, to see if I could make it all come together. Luckily my previous work made everything flow naturally.
PB: We share Mia experience before the tragedy of her sister, Sigrid, unfolds, what makes her a troubled and depressive character. Mia is not yet a haunted woman. How was it writing that side to her? We see her insight into the case, it’s a kind of curse that foretells the future.
SB: I was a bit afraid in the beginning that Mia as a character would not be interesting, but that quickly went away as I started writing. Through the course of this book I got to know her better, and I think showing her as the person she was before all her darkness, made her more real in a sense, not just a stereotypical troubled detective.
PB: The case is challenging. Eight years after an unsolved crime in Sweden 2 boys are murdered in similar fashion in Norway. Young people and the vulnerable are often the focus of your writing. Why is it important to you to explore the issues this raises for society?
SB: I love writing young characters, people who have nothing but good in their hearts and openness in their minds. I feel we all start so clean, but as society and people around us slowly apply pressure, we sort of bow our heads and crumble, becoming like society wants us to be. In this process, if you are not lucky with the people you were dealt, things can go really bad, and you may spend the rest of your life dealing with it. I hope that giving a voice to these young people, maybe can open some eyes, and give these pure hearts and open minds more respect.
PB: It’s not just about the murders though, it’s the general concern for children and their care, drugs, misogyny and inequality. Things that run counter to that image of Norway as an ordered and wealthy society. Do you think the crime novel is a good way to explore society’s ills?
SB: I think both yes, and no. On one hand crime novels are of course entertainment, where the reader should be able to take a break from real life. But for me as a literary writer, I feel I have to also interject different aspects of society, and also explore the human mind and soul, to make it interesting enough for me to keep on writing.
PB: Two things strike me about your storytelling. First, violence and abuse in society are not portray gratuitously or graphically in your writing. Second, your concern for the vulnerabilities of the characters – those who suffer violence and are affected by it, including the police is so evident.
SB: That is true. I have no interest, or see no need, to ‘spice up’ my writing by going into the graphic violence in detail. I feel a story should be exciting enough without it, if not, I throw it away and start on another one. Like you say, I feel it is much more interesting to examine the effects all of this has on people, both the victims and the police.
PB: What about the development of the killer/killers in your stories. Would it be one of the hard things about writing the novels coming up with motives that have that credibility yet need to satisfy the need to intricately plot a mystery/thriller?
SB: Absolutely yes! You pinpointed my biggest headache there. I guess it comes down to me as a person, I really have a hard time understanding why people commit these crimes, so I spend huge amounts of time just trying to find the motives in my stories, something that feels real. I can spend months and months thinking about nothing else, until I finally come up with something that I believe in.
PB: Police procedural isn’t a term that really reflects a novel like yours but you do have Munch’s team investigations and processes and law on the pages, how do research this and then reflect that in your writing?
SB: That’s not what I am best at, no. I have a much more natural feel for people’s inner life and psychology, than I have for the actual real police work. So this is where I do most of my research. I study as many cases as I can, both real, and fictional (tv-versions) of crimes. I read online sites meant for the police, try to keep up with new investigative methods, and if I feel unsure about something, and can’t find a satisfying answer, I try to write around it.
PB: Would you say that you have developed an ensemble cast for the series, it’s not just Munch and Krüger, in this case we have Fredrik Riis, and new characters come in from time to time, does this help to keep it fresh and challenging for you to write?
SB: Yes, I have definitely have an ensemble cast, but like in any good series, I try to spice it up a bit with a new character now and then. Like you said, this keeps it fresh and interesting, both for me and the readers.
PB: I would like you to say a word for your character Lydia Clemens please. She is 12 and has a unique connection to the world and a role in the novel.
SB: I love this character, she made this book for me. Growing up without any real connection to society, she has to figure out who she is and what it means to be human, by instinct alone.
PB: On a lighter note, do you enjoy the red herrings and clues you need for good crime novel writing? I notice that you drop hints to the future ‘already published’ novels in this one.
SB: Oh yes, I love this part, playing mind games with the reader. Do you think this is important or not? Did you catch this? Did I fool you now? I love dropping things in the books that may or may not become important later, so the reader can say ‘Oh, I’ve seen this before’, or ‘Isn’t this the same girl that…?’ The cult you mention in this book, yes, it appears ten years later, it is has then evolved into the cult that plays a big role in I’m Travelling Alone.
PB: Are going back to the original timeline for the next novel, what can you tell?
SB: Yes, I am going back to the original timeline. To keep the series interesting I have changed the location. Mia is now back on the island Hitra, where she tried to kill herself in the first book. A boy disappeared without a trace from the island three years ago, and one day a young girl comes out to Mia’s house and says it was her fault. Same night a teenage girl is found killed, with the boy’s name written in her blood. Munch is called up from Oslo, and then Mia and him are together again, back on a new case.
Thank you Samuel for a fascinating insight into The Wolf.
The Wolf by Samuel Bjørk – (amazon.co.uk)
The Wolf by Samuel Bjørk, trans. Charlotte Barslund, is published in hardback by Bantam, Transworld.
