Katalysatormordet

K2 #3

by Hans Olav Lahlum

Ei kvinne blir funnet skutt i et trikkespor i Oslo. K2 skjønner at drapet har forbindelse med en hyttetur som fant sted to år tidligere. Falko Reinhardt forsvant fra ei hytte i Valdres, og kvinnen som nå er drept var Falkos kjæreste. K2 skjønner at han må gå tilbake i tid for å klare å oppklare mordet.

Tredje bind i serien om K2 og Patricia utspiller seg i Oslo og Valdres i august 1970. K2 blir vitne til at en ung kvinne desperat forsøker å komme med trikken på Smestad. Dørene smeller igjen foran nesen på henne, og neste gang han ser henne er hun død. Drept av en kule midt i trikkesporet. K2 har fått en ny sak å bryne seg på.

Det hele startet to år tidligere da en gjeng politisk aktive ungdommer er på hyttetur i Valdres. Natt til 3. august forvinner én av dem, den karismatiske lederen Falko Reinhardt. Kvinnen som er død nå, to år senere var hans kjæreste. Ganske raskt forstår K2 at for å oppklare dette mordet må han tilbake i tid, kanskje lenger tilbake enn 1968. Og bare Patricia kan hjelpe ham denne gangen også, han merker ikke at hun har sine egne problemer å stri med ...

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Procedural, Nordic Noir, Audiobook

232 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Hans Olav Lahlum (born 12 September 1973) is a Norwegian historian, crime author, chess player and organizer, and politician. He has written biographies on Oscar Torp and Haakon Lie, and a history book about all the Presidents of the United States.

On May 22–23, 2013, he was interviewed by VG for 30 hours, 1 minute and 44 seconds, setting a Guinness World Record for the longest interview ever, beating the previous record by over four hours.

Lahlum is an active chess player with a FIDE rating of 2193 as of March 2014, having been an International Arbiter since 2000.

Reviews

[Χρύσα Βασιλείου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Κοίτα να δεις τι συμβαίνει τώρα με αυτόν τον απίθανο Νορβηγό,τον Hans Olav Lahlum.
Ο τύπος έχει δημιουργήσει μια σειρά βιβλίων που σε ταξιδεύουν πίσω στο παρελθόν,στα τέλη της δεκαετίας του '60 και στις αρχές αυτής του '70,και η ατμόσφαιρα είναι εντελώς νουάρ. Έχει πλάσει υποθέσεις με αρχή,μέση και τέλος και με μια εκπληκτική ροή, έχει σχεδιάσει τα τέλεια εγκλήματα - τέλεια από την άποψη πλάνου και σχεδιασμού, όχι ότι είχαν τέλεια κατάληξη! :P
Και το σημαντικότερο,έχει πλάσει δύο άκρως ενδιαφέροντες χαρακτήρες,τον επιθεωρητή Κρίστιανσεν και την Πατρίσια,που σε ιντριγκάρουν τα μάλα. Και που η σχέση τους εξελίσσεται σε κάθε βιβλίο. Και που δεν ξέρεις αν υποβόσκει και κάτι ερωτικό ανάμεσά τους,γιατί τους χωρίζουν πολλά και,μιας και οι δύο είναι τέρμα ρεαλιστές και έχουν μια σχέση συμπάθειας κι αλληλοεκτίμησης,δεν ξέρω αν θα θελήσουν να τη βάλουν σε κίνδυνο για κάτι άλλο. Και που έχει πετάξει υπονοούμενα για το μέλλον των ηρώων του,το μακρινό μέλλον,ήδη από τα προηγούμενα βιβλία του. Κι εσύ βρίσκεσαι τώρα μόλις στο τρίτο,ΨΟΦΑΣ από περιέργεια να μάθεις τι στο καλό γίνεται παρακάτω,και δεν ξέρεις Νορβηγικά! Και βέβαια τα επόμενα βιβλία του δεν έχουν καν βγει στ' αγγλικά - ακόμη. Και κάπως έτσι θες να μάθεις ΤΩΡΑ τι γίνεται στο 7ο ή στο 8ο,ας πούμε. Και δεν μπορείς. Και κάνεις υπομονή. ΜΗΠΩΣ ΜΠΟΡΕΙΣ ΝΑ ΚΑΝΕΙΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΙΠΟΤΕ ΑΛΛΟ;!
Τα κακά του booknerd...

Τα παραπάνω σχόλια αφορούν γενικά τη σειρά βιβλίων "Κ2 και Πατρίσια",και έπρεπε να τα γράψω γιατί απλά θα έσκαγα! :P
Αναλυτική κριτική για το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο στον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο:
Η δολοφονία καταλύτης

[Paradoxe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Οι αποχρώσεις των σχέσεων μεταξύ του Κ2 και της Πατρίσια είναι που κατά κύριο λόγο μ' ενδιαφέρουν και με συγκρατούν. Το έκαναν εξαίσια και σε αυτό το βιβλίο. Κάτι άλλο που με κέρδισε ήταν η ηθική υπόσταση που δίνει στους χαρακτήρες του, εξαρτώμενη απ' το άτομο, τις διαπροσωπικές σχέσεις και λιγότερο την κοινωνία.

Εξαιρετικά καλή θεωρώ και την αποτύπωση του Τρουν, των Ρέινχαρτ και του Λίεν. Κάπως λιγότερο του Φάλκο. Τη Μίριαμ δεν την αποτυπώνει τόσο καλά όσο πιστεύει ο ίδιος, θεωρώ πως το στοίχημα του πειράματος του δεν το κερδίζει. Οι υπόλοιποι χαρακτήρες αποτελούν περισσότερο ένα κενό που συμπληρώνει ο αναγνώστης και πολύ λιγότερο μια επιτυχημένη σκιαγράφηση απ' το συγγραφέα.

Τα δραματικά στοιχεία στην εν λόγω υπόθεση δεν ήταν περισσότερα από τα άλλα δυο βιβλία, αλλά ο τόνος ήταν δραματικότερος κάτι που από ένα σημείο και μετά άρχισε να μ' ενοχλεί.

Η υπόθεση ήταν ενδιαφέρουσα, ωστόσο ενώ οι Μύγες και οι Δορυφόροι σαν Ορισμοί παρουσίασαν μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον, εδώ ο Ορισμός του καταλύτη δεν ήταν κάτι ιδιαίτερο και ούτε πιστεύω πως αποδείχτηκε. Μια εναρκτήρια δολοφονία που οδήγησε στις επόμενες. Έχει ξανασυμβεί τόσο στο συγγραφέα, όσο και σε άλλους.

Ο Κ2 αυτή τη φορά με εκνεύρισε πολύ, τόσο σε σχέση με την υπερβολική παρουσίαση του ως ''αιδοιόδουλου'', όσο και απ' την περισσότερο από άλλες φορές τυφλαμάρα του. Καταντούσε προβληματικό σε πολλές περιπτώσεις. Ένας άνθρωπος που δε μπορούσε να σκεφτεί μόνος του πέρα απ' το να φάει προωινό. Μου θύμισε ένα παραμύθι μ' ένα παιδί που είχε κάποιο αερικό στην τσέπη κι έπαιζε πιάνο αντί γι' αυτό, του έλυνε τα μαθηματικά κ.α. ώστε τελικά σταμάτησε να κάνει την παραμικρή προσπάθεια να σκεφτεί και να δράσει.

Τέλος, θα ήθελα να πω το εξής γιατί το είδα και βιβλία άλλων Σκανδιναβών συγγραφέων: Δεν ξέρω αν γίνεται προσπάθεια να αλλάξουν την εντύπωση του υπολοίπου κόσμου σχετικά με την αντίληψη πως οι χώρες αυτές παρέμειναν αμέτοχες κατά τη διάρκεια του Β' Παγκοσμίου πολέμου, ωστόσο σε πολλές περιπτώσεις βγαίνουν προς τα έξω πλέον, τόσο οι περιπτώσεις σύμπραξης έστω και προφορικής με τους Ναζί, όσο και αντίθετα η αντίδραση σε αυτή την ιδεολογία, καθώς και ο σχετικός ακτιβισσμός με τις επόμενες τερατολογίες, πχ το Βιετνάμ. Ακτιβισμός που έχει εκφραστεί μέσω διαδηλώσεων κι εθελοντών νοσοκόμων και στρατιωτικών.

Επιπλέον, πολλοί δυσφορούμε στο να διαβάσουμε την Ιστορία της χώρας μας προκειμένου να αντλήσουμε στοιχεία που δείχνουν όχι μόνο πως η Ιστορία επαναλαμβάνεται, αλλά και παραδείγματα για την ίδια τη ζωή μας. Κάλλιστα επειδή παρουσιάζει μια α' γοητεία μελετώντας την Ιστορία άλλων λαών θα βρίσκαμε σε μικρότερο ή μεγαλύτερο βαθμό την ίδια συχνότητα αιτιών, αιτιατών ακόμη και συμβάντων.

Κλείνοντας, τολμώ να ομολογήσω πως μια Νορβηγία της οποίας ο πρωθυπουργός το 1970 παρότι γραφειοκράτης προέρχεται από κάτι που λέγεται Αγροτικό κόμμα με ιντριγκάρει. Στη χώρα μας που θα έπρεπε να έχει πρωτογενή παράγοντα τη γεωργία και την κτηνοτροφία, ανεξαρτήτως των ποσοστώσεων που επιδρούν λιγότερο ή περισσότερο και στην τελική δεν το παλέψαμε ποτέ κι ιδιαίτερα, το να διαβάζω για μια άλλη χώρα πως έχει πολιτική παρουσία ένα κατ' εξοχήν αγροτικό κίνημα και μάλιστα έφτασε ως την πρωθυπουργική θωκό φαντάζει τόσο ως σενάριο επιστημονικής φαντασίας, όσο και γοητευτικό.

Η βαθμολογία του συγκεκριμένου βιβλίου είναι κάτ λιγότερο από 3 αστέρια, παραπάνω από 2,5.

[Geevee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable read from Mr Lahlum. A similar approach with murders and foul-play but this time in public spaces rather than the closed-room scenarios of books 1 and 2.

For me I enjoy the plots, characters and stories with jealously, love and anger linked to business, politics and even memories of WWII in late 1960s/early 1970s Norway. The weaving of real people and events is always well done in Mr Lahlums books too.

In The Catalyst Killing, a well-loved and respected young socialist disappears and months later a young woman with connections to the disappeared dies trying to board a train. Our detective hero Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen (K2) is given the case - having seen the women try to board that train whilst he was a passenger - and suspicion falls on other members of the political group of young people but also others. Secrets (of state, politics, war and love) all come to the fore as the book progresses.

The ending brings a conclusion but also challenges K2 in his own relationships and dealings with people too.

Recommended for followers of Agatha Christie and similar crime fiction.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

i can't believe i persevered with this and that others liked it so much. The cop reports to a young woman who tells him what to do next and he does it. And then he gets the kudos for solving the crime when he wouldn't have done it without her. Super dumb. I particularly disliked the lack of dialogue and the constant reporting style. Very dull.

[Martine vold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tør man kalle hovedpersonen litt uintelligent?

[Anne-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nok en strålende klassisk krim og historisk roman fra Lahlum! Hørte denne på lydbok og Nils Nordberg er en mesteroppleser!

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this series and loved this one. Cannot wait for the next.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen is mesmerised by the expression on the face of a young woman running to catch his train. But the doors close on her. And later her murdered body is found on the train tracks and Kristiansen must find her killer. Set in Norway in 1970 this murder mystery conjures an era of left-wing political groups and splits that seem so much of its time. We follow the progress of Inspector Kristiansen's witness interviews and crime-scene visits, punctuated by his lunches and suppers with his mysteriously accurate and gifted detection muse, the young Patricia. Meanwhile the crimes themselves escalate.
Christie-like whodunits are not my usual choice of crime read and when I realised how much I was in "whodunit land"with this book, I didn't think I would enjoy it. But it reads smoothly and coolly in this English translation by Kari Dickson, with writing that manages irony and humanity, and individualised characters. Instead of a boring traipse through clues, I found a calm narrative pace - so much so that I was surprised by my involvement in the suspense and tension of the story's conclusion. Was this book a successful crime-read for me, an inveterate Scandi-Noir fan? Yes, it was.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really gripping, quite different from the locked-room murder mysteries of the first two books. Very clever the way one catalytic event triggers a series of events with personally devastating consequences for so many characters. Trust no one!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A catalyst murder is a murder that, intentionally or unintentionally, sparks or accelerates other dangerous processes. A catalyst murder can involve both very famous and unknown people” p230.

The Catalyst Killing continues Norwegian writer, Hans Olav Lahlum’s K2 series, featuring Inspector Kolbjørn Kristiansen and Patricia Louise I.E. Borchmann, who features as K2’s behind the scenes brainstrust. Patricia is really the driving force behind K2’s success and is an interesting supporting character. Patricia uses a wheelchair following an accident prior to the first book in the series. She is exceptionally smart and has incredible ability to piece together the clues and events of the crimes in question, ultimately solving them. She remains in the background while K2 gets the accolades and recognition. Set in the late 60s and 70s I guess this is indicative of such a time. Disability as something that can only serve to confine in an almost institutional way. I think this story is interesting because K2 has a love interest that evolves for the able bodied woman with the disabled woman only able to serve a functional purpose.

The story revolves around a group of politically active pro communist youth, opening with the murder of one member, a young woman who is witnessed ‘running for her life’ before being found dead on a railway track. Coupled with the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend and leader of their group, the stage is set for a Cold War showdown that involves a group of Norwegian Nazis and the secret police, a very real backdrop of the Norwegian political landscape of that time.

I’m really loving this series. Solid 4 stars for this one.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Norway, 1970, with a nod to the young radicals of the 1960s. There is a murder of a young woman, almost witnessed by the detective K2, and this seems to be linked to a locked room mystery involving an unexplained disappearance in 1968. Into the equation comes another possible link, to a group of former (Norwegian) Nazis. K2 eventually solves the case, or rather, his secret helper Patricia does, but at a cost to both, and the novel ends rather sadly, despite the success. (I worked out who the missing link was, and wonder why Patricia is so mysterious: she gives the impression of knowing most things but doesn't actually divulge very much. Will K2 himself ever be unmasked as a bit of a fraud?)

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The other books in this series have been very Agatha Christie, but this one wasn't, which was honestly refreshing. Still, Patricia feeds K2 information and (accurate) theories - as well as food, haha. The story was very thrilling, I read about the last 2/3 in one sitting, I just couldn't put it down. It's also a very tragic story for so many of the people involved. The title is incredibly clever, cause it's true.

[Lidia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doy gracias a haber sentido que la historia mejoraba a la par que avanzaba, pero no termino de conectar con el protagonista.

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As he did with THE SATELLITE PEOPLE Lahlum has explored a theory about the cause of homicide, i.e. that often a first killing sets off a chain reaction, and is the catalyst for further killings.

The real brains behind investigator K2 is without doubt his young assistant Patricia. She prompts him with questions to ask, lines of enquiry to take, and people to investigate. However the end result of this is that often the reader is also playing catch up, and we do not have the full facts, so it is very hard for us to solve any of the mysteries. I eventually found this quite frustrating. It is a method which involves K2 chasing a number of red herrings, often at great length, only to find that track is a dead end. Patricia meanwhile sits smugly in her wheel chair waiting for K2 to come to the right conclusion.

It is obviously a carefully plotted novel, and the political setting in 1970 would mean a lot more to Norwegian readers.

[Morten Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elsker Lahlum sine bøker, koser meg hver gang.

[TheRavenking · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book 3 in a series featuring Detective Inspector Kolbjorn Kristiansen from Oslo and his young assistant Patricia. Patricia is a wheelchair-bound young woman who is extremely smart and obsessed with mysteries. K2 is the narrator of these stories, which puts him in the Watson role while Patricia is the brilliant amateur sleuth. Or perhaps their relationship is more similar to that of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, where the detective never leaves his home and his assistant does all the legwork. Goodwin however is a much wittier and sharper character than K2. The latter is a man of mediocre intelligence who relies heavily on Patricia, who has already helped him twice in the past, significantly furthering his career.

I really enjoyed the first one in the series, “The Human Flies”, but was a bit underwhelmed by the sequel, “Satellite People”. So, was “The Catalyst Killing” another drop in quality or a return to form? Well, sort of both. While the plot here is more engaging, with the detectives having to figure out how a man could disappear from a cabin in the woods in the middle of the night while he was surrounded by his friends, without leaving any witnesses, the solution to this turns out to be disappointingly mundane. The plot has many layers, but the culprit is relatively obvious from the beginning. Also some of the later story-developments didn’t ring true, especially the final twist requiring too much suspension of disbelief.

One of the criticisms I have seen levelled at this series is, that there is little character-development. And indeed K2 doesn’t seem to have become any smarter. I found it almost unintentionally comical, how K2 had to run to Patricia every time a problem arose, for example inquiring per phone what questions to ask a certain witness, making him seem annoyingly dim-witted. His partner Patricia after three books still remains something of a cypher. We know that she is extremely intelligent, but that’s about it. What does she feel, what does she want, what is going on inside her head?

In his afterword the author mentions, that he intended this this book to be an homage to the works of Ross Macdonald, who in his books turned the crime story into a Greek tragedy, dealing with dark family secrets and devastating personal traumas. However I would never have noticed this, since not only is Lahlum’s writing very different from Macdonald’s (Macdonald among other things was a great prose stylist while Lahlum uses a very simple, dry language), the characters also seem superficial compared to those in the works of the great American.

While I appreciate, that Hans Olav Lahlum is trying to combine the social commentary of Scandinavian crime fiction with the more complex puzzle plots of classic detective stories, I am not sure I will be following this series any further in the future.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read by this Norwegian historian/crime fiction writer. Set in Norway in the late 60's, it is the story of left-leaning university students/activiists, one of whom is murdered at the outset of the story, a second (her fiancé) well into the plot; and also the story of aging Nazis who have served their sentences for supporting the Nazi occupying forces and now live with a low profile in Norwegian society. I especially appreciate the historical context of Lahlum's crime fiction. The tongue-in-cheek tone is entertaining as well. The police investigator, called K2 because his first and last name start with K, is assisted (secretly) by a young home-bound handicapped woman who can see the significance of all the clues and developments well before he is able to.

[Enid Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to really get into it - partly a language/translation thing... both the fact of the translation (which is fine I'm sure) and a different style of writing (not like your typical N Am crime thriller) - but once I got into it I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I enjoyed that it was set in the recent past - I learned some about the history of Norway along the way.
The detective himself (K2) is a little slow on the uptake - not Pink Panther Inspector Clouseau slow but there are comic undertones that are similar but different - so it's a good thing he has his crime fighting partner Patricia.
I will have to go back and read the two earlier books in the same 'series'...

[Kim Arne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nå tror jeg at det blir en krimpause frem til påske! Den tredje boken i K2-serien er muligens også den sterkeste, med mye mer komplekse og interessante karakterer enn de to foregående bøkene. Pluss for en meget sterk plot-twist som virkelig setter hele handlingen på hodet – akkurat slikt som gjør at jeg liker denne sjangeren.

Et trekk som jeg lander på er positivt etter drøyt tusen sider i K2s selskap er at den fyren tidvis irriterer meg. At det er noe som gnager etter at jeg har lagt fra meg boken viser vel at Lahlum har gjort noe riktig i konstruksjonen av den litt creepy og sosialt tilbakestående førstebetjenten.

[Todayiamadaisy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oslo, 1970: Inspector Kolbjørn Kristiansen has to solve the murder of a young woman at a train station, which sets off a chain of events leading to the attempted assassination of a senior politician. This is the third in a series, and I felt I would have benefitted from reading the first two. Kristiansen has a young friend, Patricia, to whom he reports all his findings and who tells him what to do next; I didn't understand their relationship at all and suspect it's all laid out in the earlier books. Anyway, Kristiansen is so dense he doesn't realise that something is clearly up with Patricia; and she won't tell him even though she knows he's an idiot. I found them both tiresome.

[Alison S ☯️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, dull, dull. Really wanted to like this, but I found the writing overly laboured and affectless. I usually love a good Scandi Crime novel, but not this one. Maybe it was the translation, or just the mood I am in ...

[Vallery Feldman · Rating 2 out of 5]

very disappointing.

[Simona · Rating 4 out of 5]

The investigations between K2 & Patricia are really interesting & the way that crime is solved without technology

Hoping that the rest of the series gets translated into English

[Bee Wyeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing but entertaining - now I feel I compelled to go and read the first 2 in the series.

[Sigrid Tjønnøy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Katalysatormordet er oppfølgeren til Menneskefluene og Satellittmenneskene, og denne byr også på spenning, og den litt "gammeldagse" krimfølelsen.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

THAT ENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Myrto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Θυμίζει παλιό καλό κλασικό αστυνομικό! Απολαμβάνεις το διάβασμα!

[Nessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent, love this series!

[Tonje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lahlum has this writing style that when I'm in the mood, I find it calming, and when I'm not, I find it unbearably stylised.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a book I think. Nothing particularly special and I found K2's continual taking of credit for Patricia's insights infuriating.