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1222 is the story of how a small group of people find themselves stuck in a hotel during an apocalyptic snow storm. Following a dramatic train derailment at Finse, the conflict between the survivors escalates while a furious hurricane threatens the unprotected village. Nobody is there to help, and there is no way out of the inferno for the survivors hiding out. On the first night at the hotel, a man is found shot and murdered. The victim is Cato Hammer, a priest known nation-wide for his ability – and desire – to get in the papers. Hanne Wilhelmsen, retired Inspector at the Oslo Police, is drawn into a race against time, a murderer, and the worst storm in the Norwegian alps on record. She loses the first round. Soon, another one of God’s servants is murdered, when an icicle cuts through his body…
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
307 people are currently reading
3536 people want to read
About the author
Anne Holt
57 books641 followersAnne Holt was born in Larvik, grew up in Lillestrøm and Tromsø, and moved to Oslo in 1978. She graduated with a law degree from the University of Bergen in 1986, and went on to work for The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) and then the Oslo Police Department, earning her right to practice as a lawyer in Norway. In 1990 she returned to NRK, where she worked one year as a journalist and anchor woman for the news program Dagsrevyen.
Holt started her own law practice in 1994, and served as Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland for a short period from November 25, 1996 to February 4, 1997.
In 1993 Holt made her debut as a novelist with the crime novel Blind gudinne, featuring the lesbian police officer Hanne Wilhelmsen. The two novels Løvens gap (1997) and Uten ekko (2000) are co-authored with former state secretary Berit Reiss-Andersen.
Holt is one of the most successful crime novelists in Norway. She has been published in 25 countries.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Holt started her own law practice in 1994, and served as Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland for a short period from November 25, 1996 to February 4, 1997.
In 1993 Holt made her debut as a novelist with the crime novel Blind gudinne, featuring the lesbian police officer Hanne Wilhelmsen. The two novels Løvens gap (1997) and Uten ekko (2000) are co-authored with former state secretary Berit Reiss-Andersen.
Holt is one of the most successful crime novelists in Norway. She has been published in 25 countries.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 862 reviews
June 4, 2023
What could be more Norwegian than having your train break down and be trapped in an isolated mountain lodge for days during a blizzard while the wind howls and breaks the windows?
Apparently secret service agents were aboard the train and there are a lot of mysterious goings on. Then the bodies start to drop.
Detective Hanne Wilhelmsen happened to be on the train and she is coerced out of retirement to help solve the deaths. Hanne is confined to a wheelchair and seems to be trying to be as unpleasant as possible to anyone who offers her help. All detectives have quirks – it’s essential to the genre - but Hanne seems to specialize in curmudgeonly-ness, to the point where I genuinely disliked the character.
With a setting like this, be prepared for paragraphs in every chapter about blowing snow and howling wind that get repetitive. Eventually it’s the reader who starts to feel trapped. But I stuck with it, so I guess it’s worth a 3.
The author (b. 1958) has written ten novels in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series. Oddly, this book, 1222, #8 in the series, is her most popular by number of GR ratings, but it's also her lowest rated – quite low at 3.4. I also read Blind Goddess which I enjoyed more and gave it a ‘4.’ Although I have not read these, readers new to the series might want to start with #9 titled Offline, or #10, In Dust and Ashes, the two most highly rated on GR. Numbers 5 and 11 in the series don't show yet on GR as being available in English.
Top photo from fjordtravel.no
The author from salomonssonagency.se
Edited 6/4/23
Apparently secret service agents were aboard the train and there are a lot of mysterious goings on. Then the bodies start to drop.
Detective Hanne Wilhelmsen happened to be on the train and she is coerced out of retirement to help solve the deaths. Hanne is confined to a wheelchair and seems to be trying to be as unpleasant as possible to anyone who offers her help. All detectives have quirks – it’s essential to the genre - but Hanne seems to specialize in curmudgeonly-ness, to the point where I genuinely disliked the character.
With a setting like this, be prepared for paragraphs in every chapter about blowing snow and howling wind that get repetitive. Eventually it’s the reader who starts to feel trapped. But I stuck with it, so I guess it’s worth a 3.
The author (b. 1958) has written ten novels in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series. Oddly, this book, 1222, #8 in the series, is her most popular by number of GR ratings, but it's also her lowest rated – quite low at 3.4. I also read Blind Goddess which I enjoyed more and gave it a ‘4.’ Although I have not read these, readers new to the series might want to start with #9 titled Offline, or #10, In Dust and Ashes, the two most highly rated on GR. Numbers 5 and 11 in the series don't show yet on GR as being available in English.
Top photo from fjordtravel.no
The author from salomonssonagency.se
Edited 6/4/23
December 18, 2011
Why do I keep getting talked into reading books like these?
Yes, I get it, Hanne is an anti-hero. She hates people. She is extremely, antisocial, embittered and intolerant…… hmm BECAUSE she’s a wheelchair user!? (Ta-da! Makes sense now doesn’t it?) Despite being gay, disabled, married to a Muslim, she still finds room to be totally repellent and prejudiced towards someone with Dwarfism (i.e. the doctor Magnus Streng.)
I had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I read her characterisation of Streng but thought perhaps there would be a realisation/revelation by the main character Hanne, later in the book, that Streng “is a human being too” (think Sesame Street). The only reason I kept reading this awful book was to see why she wrote stuff like this:
“I myself was taken care of by the dwarf. He couldn’t have been more than 140 centimetres tall. As if to compensate for this, he was exactly the same width. His head was too big for his body, and his arms were even shorter, comparatively speaking, than those I had seen in persons of restricted growth before. I tried not to stare.”
“As the little doctor moved through the room with an odd, rolling gait, the crowd parted before him like Moses parting the Red Sea…. His voice was surprisingly deep. I had expected some kind of helium voice, as if he were an entertainer at a children’s party. As it would be extremely impolite not to look at the doctor when he was speaking to me, and my closed eyes might suggest that I felt worse than I actually did, I opened them. ‘Magnus Streng,’ he said, taking my reluctant right hand in a thick, stubby paw. I mumbled my name and couldn’t help thinking that the doctor’s parents must have had a very particular sense of humour. Magnus. The Great One.” (There's more where that came from but it's too depressing to quote it all.)
My conclusion: WHAT. THE. F***?
So, she wants us to hate Hanne for being a bigot? Well, it worked. Except it’s more likely that Holt is actually a completely bigoted idiot. She can’t characterise disabled people to save herself. If you’re listening Holt, please do your research. We shouldn't have to read this dross.
Apart from the utterly weird characterisation of the dwarf, every other conceivable part of this book is just paint-by-numbers genre fare. Poor. Very poor. I'm afraid a one star review might be too good for it.
Yes, I get it, Hanne is an anti-hero. She hates people. She is extremely, antisocial, embittered and intolerant…… hmm BECAUSE she’s a wheelchair user!? (Ta-da! Makes sense now doesn’t it?) Despite being gay, disabled, married to a Muslim, she still finds room to be totally repellent and prejudiced towards someone with Dwarfism (i.e. the doctor Magnus Streng.)
I had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I read her characterisation of Streng but thought perhaps there would be a realisation/revelation by the main character Hanne, later in the book, that Streng “is a human being too” (think Sesame Street). The only reason I kept reading this awful book was to see why she wrote stuff like this:
“I myself was taken care of by the dwarf. He couldn’t have been more than 140 centimetres tall. As if to compensate for this, he was exactly the same width. His head was too big for his body, and his arms were even shorter, comparatively speaking, than those I had seen in persons of restricted growth before. I tried not to stare.”
“As the little doctor moved through the room with an odd, rolling gait, the crowd parted before him like Moses parting the Red Sea…. His voice was surprisingly deep. I had expected some kind of helium voice, as if he were an entertainer at a children’s party. As it would be extremely impolite not to look at the doctor when he was speaking to me, and my closed eyes might suggest that I felt worse than I actually did, I opened them. ‘Magnus Streng,’ he said, taking my reluctant right hand in a thick, stubby paw. I mumbled my name and couldn’t help thinking that the doctor’s parents must have had a very particular sense of humour. Magnus. The Great One.” (There's more where that came from but it's too depressing to quote it all.)
My conclusion: WHAT. THE. F***?
So, she wants us to hate Hanne for being a bigot? Well, it worked. Except it’s more likely that Holt is actually a completely bigoted idiot. She can’t characterise disabled people to save herself. If you’re listening Holt, please do your research. We shouldn't have to read this dross.
Apart from the utterly weird characterisation of the dwarf, every other conceivable part of this book is just paint-by-numbers genre fare. Poor. Very poor. I'm afraid a one star review might be too good for it.
December 13, 2011
I had never heard of Anne Holt before - she's described as Norway's #1 bestselling crime writer. After finishing her latest book 1222, I can see why - and I will be hunting down her backlist.
1222 features one of Holt's recurring characters - Hanne Wilhelmsen. Hanne is not a stereotypical protagonist. She's wheelchair bound, having been paralyzed from the waist down in a police shoot out four years ago. She's a lesbian, a loner and astute. Oh, and she really doesn't like people at all, even more so since her accident.
'It's having people close to me that I find difficult. I am interested in people, but I don't want people to be interested in me. A very taxing situation. At least it is if you surround yourself with friends and colleagues, and if you have to work in a team - as you do in the police. When I got shot and almost died, I ran out of strength. I was perfectly happy sitting there, all by myself."
Hanne is on a train to see a specialist about her paralysis. When the train derails in a snowstorm high above any settlement, the passengers are forced to take refuge in a hotel at the top of the mountain. Communication is cut off as the storm rages on. And someone else is full of rage as well - a clergy man is found shot. Hanne is recognized and reluctantly conscripted to the team that seems to be taking charge - a lawyer, a doctor, and the hotel manager. The storm is increasing in ferocity - and there's a murderer among them. And what about that extra car on the train - the one with armed guards?
I loved this book so much! The character of Hanne was different, not a by the numbers detective. She somewhat reminded me of Inger Ash Wolfe's Hazel Micallef character. Stubborn, sardonic, irascible and highly observant.
"Like other practised liars, he had stuck close to the truth. As a rule, it's the sensible thing to do, but Adrian had given me a piece of a jigsaw puzzle without realizing that I only needed a fragment of sky to sense the outline of the entire finished picture."
1222 has been likened to Agatha Christie's 'locked room' mysteries. The comparison is quite apt. Hanne herself notes "I thought about Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. I immediately tried to dismiss the thought. And Then There were None is a story that doesn't exactly have a happy ending."
Each chapter has a clever title page listing the Beaufort Scale, a wind rating that starts at one and rises to 12, ratcheting up as the tension increases in the hotel.
I truly had no idea who the murderer was until the very end. The hotel is populated with many possibilities. Indeed, the various characters are half the fun of this read. Hanne's unveiling of the perpetrator at the end and her reasoning were right there before me the whole time, but I hadn't seen it.
This was a five star read for me - and a perfect read for a blustery winter day. Releases on December 27, 2011
1222 features one of Holt's recurring characters - Hanne Wilhelmsen. Hanne is not a stereotypical protagonist. She's wheelchair bound, having been paralyzed from the waist down in a police shoot out four years ago. She's a lesbian, a loner and astute. Oh, and she really doesn't like people at all, even more so since her accident.
'It's having people close to me that I find difficult. I am interested in people, but I don't want people to be interested in me. A very taxing situation. At least it is if you surround yourself with friends and colleagues, and if you have to work in a team - as you do in the police. When I got shot and almost died, I ran out of strength. I was perfectly happy sitting there, all by myself."
Hanne is on a train to see a specialist about her paralysis. When the train derails in a snowstorm high above any settlement, the passengers are forced to take refuge in a hotel at the top of the mountain. Communication is cut off as the storm rages on. And someone else is full of rage as well - a clergy man is found shot. Hanne is recognized and reluctantly conscripted to the team that seems to be taking charge - a lawyer, a doctor, and the hotel manager. The storm is increasing in ferocity - and there's a murderer among them. And what about that extra car on the train - the one with armed guards?
I loved this book so much! The character of Hanne was different, not a by the numbers detective. She somewhat reminded me of Inger Ash Wolfe's Hazel Micallef character. Stubborn, sardonic, irascible and highly observant.
"Like other practised liars, he had stuck close to the truth. As a rule, it's the sensible thing to do, but Adrian had given me a piece of a jigsaw puzzle without realizing that I only needed a fragment of sky to sense the outline of the entire finished picture."
1222 has been likened to Agatha Christie's 'locked room' mysteries. The comparison is quite apt. Hanne herself notes "I thought about Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. I immediately tried to dismiss the thought. And Then There were None is a story that doesn't exactly have a happy ending."
Each chapter has a clever title page listing the Beaufort Scale, a wind rating that starts at one and rises to 12, ratcheting up as the tension increases in the hotel.
I truly had no idea who the murderer was until the very end. The hotel is populated with many possibilities. Indeed, the various characters are half the fun of this read. Hanne's unveiling of the perpetrator at the end and her reasoning were right there before me the whole time, but I hadn't seen it.
This was a five star read for me - and a perfect read for a blustery winter day. Releases on December 27, 2011
December 29, 2022
Honestly I found this a hard slog and I think it's because our main character is such a dislikeable person.
I loved the premise, a rail crash, in a snow storm and all the passengers are forced to take shelter in an old mountain top hotel, then the first murder occurs.... Awesome right?
But honestly it dragged on and on and on, and Hamme Wilhemsen (the miserable detective) just keeps harping on about how much she hates people...
Sadly for me a great plot, but a book that bored me to tears.
I loved the premise, a rail crash, in a snow storm and all the passengers are forced to take shelter in an old mountain top hotel, then the first murder occurs.... Awesome right?
But honestly it dragged on and on and on, and Hamme Wilhemsen (the miserable detective) just keeps harping on about how much she hates people...
Sadly for me a great plot, but a book that bored me to tears.
February 5, 2017
I really enjoyed this book in the Hanne Wilhelmsen, I had not read the book before, therefore was a bit shocked to find out about her situation. I liked this book especially as it all occurs after an accident on a train and all the people after the accident are holed up in a hotel. Hanne Wilhelmsen who is not a police officer anymore, suddenly finds herself having to be the person in charge of the investigation. There is also some personal information about Hanne and how she has changed due to what happened in the last book (I presume).
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June 2, 2015Norwegian crime novel starring Hanne Wilhelmsen, a retired police detective, paraplegic, lesbian, and semi-misanthrope. A powerful snowstorm hits Norway, and the train Hanne is taking from Oslo to Bergen derails. Miraculously, all 269 passengers survive—the only casualty was the train’s engineer—and hole up in a nearby hotel to wait out the storm. And that, of course, is when the murders start. Hanne Wilhelmsen is my new favorite detective: she’s a woman who takes advantage of the prejudices and assumptions often attached to her wheelchair; she’s more than willing to eavesdrop, to manipulate, to lie; she’s a crankier, less polite Miss Marple. This is actually the eighth book in the series, but the first to be translated into English—I can’t wait to read the others! — Leila Roy
from The Best Books We Read In May: http://bookriot.com/2015/06/02/riot-r...
from The Best Books We Read In May: http://bookriot.com/2015/06/02/riot-r...
March 3, 2017
Locked room mystery suspense-filled all through, until weak and far-fetched ending.
April 2, 2018
A volte succede che lasciando passare un po’ di tempo tra un romanzo e l’altro dello stesso autore con lo stesso protagonista, quando riprendi il filo ti ritrovi un po’ spaesato.
Quando ho iniziato il romanzo ho trovato qualcosa di strano, in effetti. E ci ho messo un po’ a capirlo: di diverso c’è Hanne. Non per quello che è successo nel volume precedente (non posso, sarebbe spoiler, non ve lo dico). Non sono le conseguenze. È proprio cambiato qualcosa. Il che alla fine non so se mi convince, che la stronzaggine della nostra antieroina nei confronti del resto del genere umano era quantomeno un carattere fondamentale del personaggio. Devo dare altre possibilità a questa nuova Wilhelmsen per capire se approvo.
Il romanzo: è un Orient Express che è però un po’ Shining senza visioni al bar e anche 10 Piccoli Indiani eccetera. La tensione data dalla claustrofobia - vicenda: si ribalta un treno, tutti i passeggeri si ritrovano bloccati in un hotel durante la peggio bufera di neve della storia della Norvegia e vai con gli omicidi -, regge. Il mistero sull’assassino, regge (cioè: sì, lo sapevo prima della risoluzione ma riesco anche a scoprirlo prima, di solito, quindi regge).
Quello che veramente, ma veramente, ti prego NO, mi ha fatto scoppiare a ridere per non piangere è il finale della sottotrama legata al terrorismo: non regge. No, Holt, proprio non ci siamo. Potevi lasciarci nel campo dell'ipotetico. Il passeggero misterioso rivelato alla fine proprio sembra una barzelletta. Fa ridere. Dovevi farcelo immaginare, farcene immaginare uno qualunque, ma non quello lì. Meno una stella solo per quello, anzi, ne meriteresti di peggio.
Perché il giallo in sé andava anche bene. Scivolare così, è banalizzare al massimo una conclusione che alla fine fa rivalutare anche tutto quello letto prima.
Senza infamia, con qualche lode, l’ideale dopo essersi letti un romanzo impegnativo tipo quello dal quale arrivavo io - che era bello tosto.
Si legge in una giornata.
Io, ovviamente, siccome la trama parla di tempeste di neve, me lo son letto in una di quelle giornate di marzo in cui nevicava: aiuta a calarsi nell’atmosfera.
Quando ho iniziato il romanzo ho trovato qualcosa di strano, in effetti. E ci ho messo un po’ a capirlo: di diverso c’è Hanne. Non per quello che è successo nel volume precedente (non posso, sarebbe spoiler, non ve lo dico). Non sono le conseguenze. È proprio cambiato qualcosa. Il che alla fine non so se mi convince, che la stronzaggine della nostra antieroina nei confronti del resto del genere umano era quantomeno un carattere fondamentale del personaggio. Devo dare altre possibilità a questa nuova Wilhelmsen per capire se approvo.
Il romanzo: è un Orient Express che è però un po’ Shining senza visioni al bar e anche 10 Piccoli Indiani eccetera. La tensione data dalla claustrofobia - vicenda: si ribalta un treno, tutti i passeggeri si ritrovano bloccati in un hotel durante la peggio bufera di neve della storia della Norvegia e vai con gli omicidi -, regge. Il mistero sull’assassino, regge (cioè: sì, lo sapevo prima della risoluzione ma riesco anche a scoprirlo prima, di solito, quindi regge).
Quello che veramente, ma veramente, ti prego NO, mi ha fatto scoppiare a ridere per non piangere è il finale della sottotrama legata al terrorismo: non regge. No, Holt, proprio non ci siamo. Potevi lasciarci nel campo dell'ipotetico. Il passeggero misterioso rivelato alla fine proprio sembra una barzelletta. Fa ridere. Dovevi farcelo immaginare, farcene immaginare uno qualunque, ma non quello lì. Meno una stella solo per quello, anzi, ne meriteresti di peggio.
Perché il giallo in sé andava anche bene. Scivolare così, è banalizzare al massimo una conclusione che alla fine fa rivalutare anche tutto quello letto prima.
Senza infamia, con qualche lode, l’ideale dopo essersi letti un romanzo impegnativo tipo quello dal quale arrivavo io - che era bello tosto.
Si legge in una giornata.
Io, ovviamente, siccome la trama parla di tempeste di neve, me lo son letto in una di quelle giornate di marzo in cui nevicava: aiuta a calarsi nell’atmosfera.
July 6, 2019
It took me an unusually long time to read this one, simply because I was not enjoying it. It pains me to say that honestly, because this book is basically all my catnip. The authorial voice/writing in this just made it a slog. I'm not sure if this can be chalked up to being a book in translation, but whatever the root cause, I personally just didn't enjoy my time with this book. Very fun/strong setup for an isolated closed circle mystery, though, so worth giving a try to see if you can like it better than I did
July 20, 2021
It was entertaining enough but wasn't something I had a lot of excitement picking up. Think Anne Holt have better books then this and might read something else. Don't remember if I've read anymoee
June 4, 2023
1222 cumplió su función: con este libro fui pasando las páginas sin enterarme, me entretuvo y mantuvo el misterio, por ello le doy un 4. Aún así creo que Anne Holt podría haber sacado mucho más partido a esta historia.
También me faltó conectar un poco con los personajes. Terminas el libro y no llegas a conocer mucho sobre ellos.
He leído que 1222 no es de sus mejores obras, así que volveré a leer a esta autora buscando una mejor historia 📖
También me faltó conectar un poco con los personajes. Terminas el libro y no llegas a conocer mucho sobre ellos.
He leído que 1222 no es de sus mejores obras, así que volveré a leer a esta autora buscando una mejor historia 📖
June 24, 2012
I also was disappointed in this book mainly because it left too many questions unanswered.
For starters, how could the killer carry a large icicle with her when meeting the second priest and not have him notice. I question that an icicle that had been indoors could even have been a murder weapon. Then if this priest had been murdered outside, are we to presume that the killer carried him down to the dog room without leaving a trace of blood? And how did she get into the dog room which we were told was locked overnight?
Why pick on the obnoxious woman with her purse at the end? This was unnecessary.
She killed the second priest because he knew she killed the first one? Or that is what we are to assume? But that means that the second priest knew her. But we had no reason to believe that he really did unless we are to assume that he saw her at her mother's trial or at work. He had no proof that she killed the first priest and so she really didn't have to kill him. (All she had to do was dispose of the gun.)
Also, all this nonsense about the second priest being so easily scared of Adrian so as not to share his information with Hanne is too much to swallow.
All in all, Hanne is a despicable character, there is no humor in this book, the subplots are ridiculous, and the whole setup is too farcical.
I'll not bother with other Anne Holt books.
P.S. and what was she suggesting at the end: Osama Ben Laden?
For starters, how could the killer carry a large icicle with her when meeting the second priest and not have him notice. I question that an icicle that had been indoors could even have been a murder weapon. Then if this priest had been murdered outside, are we to presume that the killer carried him down to the dog room without leaving a trace of blood? And how did she get into the dog room which we were told was locked overnight?
Why pick on the obnoxious woman with her purse at the end? This was unnecessary.
She killed the second priest because he knew she killed the first one? Or that is what we are to assume? But that means that the second priest knew her. But we had no reason to believe that he really did unless we are to assume that he saw her at her mother's trial or at work. He had no proof that she killed the first priest and so she really didn't have to kill him. (All she had to do was dispose of the gun.)
Also, all this nonsense about the second priest being so easily scared of Adrian so as not to share his information with Hanne is too much to swallow.
All in all, Hanne is a despicable character, there is no humor in this book, the subplots are ridiculous, and the whole setup is too farcical.
I'll not bother with other Anne Holt books.
P.S. and what was she suggesting at the end: Osama Ben Laden?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2016
An odd one, as in a more receptive mood I might've enjoyed it more. This Scandinavian crime thriller had a very interesting set-up (a train full of passengers is forced to hole up in a Norwegian mountain hotel, then as they're snowed in.. people get murdered) but for me it wasn't my kind of book. The cover blurb makes reference to similarities with Agatha Christie, and I can understand this, but the 'closed room' nature of the plot and the sassy, thoughtful, intelligent, observant female detective protagonist at the centre of things.. I didn't really like it. Most of the 100+ characters are curiously undescribed and feel like cardboard cut-outs, most of the central characters who are described are unlikeable, and there is a lot of tangential dull 'thinking' by the first-person narrator. The unveiling was confusing in places, unbelievable in others, and really quite clichéd in parts. I got the feeling that handled by a different author this could've been a lot more my kind of thing. I don't much like Agatha Christie from what I've read of hers. I'm sure many would like this book, I didn't much.
January 16, 2011
Back in November, I spent a day driving to various places for work, and so was listening to Radio 4 and there was an interview with Anne Holt who I had never heard of.
She is Norwegian, and they were talking about the sudden popularity of Scandinavian crime books, the fact that she seems pretty scathing about Norwegians in her books and her latest book that had just been translsated and was about to be released in the UK – 1222. I added it to my wishlist, and was delighted to get an Amazon reminder of it, informing me that it was available on Kindle for the princely sum of £1. Result!
Anne Holt herself used to work for the Oslo Police Department and was in fact Norway’s Minister for Justice back in the 90s.
This is the most recent in her series of books featuring detective Hanne Wilhelmson, of which I believe there have been 8 books since 1993. She stressed that this story easily stood alone as a story, and I loved the sound of it, so thought i’d give it a go.
1222 refers to how many metres above sea level the highest station on the oslo to Bergen train route is. The story starts slap bang (no pun intended) in the train crashing just outside the station during a snowstorm.
Only the driver dies in the crash and all of the passengers are rescued and moved to a nearby hotel. There are just under 200 of them, including Hanne Wilhelmson. The snowstorm becomes worse, effectively cutting off any chance of rescue, the train being moved, and any communication with the rest of the world. And then, of course, there is the case of the mysterious ‘extra carriage’ on the train of which speculation is rife!
The passengers and hotel staff settle in for what looks like it could be a long stay, and all of their personalities etc start to come out. And then, in the morning, one of the most prolific passengers – a prolific football-loving priest – is found frozen dead outside in the snow and ice. But it wasn’t the cold that killed him, it was a bullet through the head. there is a murderer in their midst.
In the interview, Holt said that she wanted to write a story that had elements of the old Agatha Christie whodunnits where the detectives were in an isolated situation and had to use their own detecting skills without any help from technology, databases or a team.
Well, that’s certainly how it worked – it was pretty claustrophobic…the only thing that didn’t really work for me was the fact that there were supposedly a couple of hundred people there. The story obviously centred in on just a handful (there were probably about 15 main characters), and so there were tens of people supposedly ‘around’ that were completely uninvolved in the story but still in the isolated situation.
Because of the dramatic start, and the very descriptive narrative, the unfamiliar landscape and situation and the hints at what was to come, I felt extremely drawn in from the book right from the first few pages – and it didn’t let up! i really enjoyed it.
I must admit, there was a complete light bulb moment for me when I felt that I had worked out ‘whodunnit’, but at least you’re kept guessing and don’t have suspicions confirmed until right at the end. There was just one twist in the tale in the last couple of pages that was a bit superfluous, daft and made me groan – it could have done without that, and it added nothing to the story.
Apart from that – brilliant. Tense, different and well written. I’d give another Anne Holt book a go!
She is Norwegian, and they were talking about the sudden popularity of Scandinavian crime books, the fact that she seems pretty scathing about Norwegians in her books and her latest book that had just been translsated and was about to be released in the UK – 1222. I added it to my wishlist, and was delighted to get an Amazon reminder of it, informing me that it was available on Kindle for the princely sum of £1. Result!
Anne Holt herself used to work for the Oslo Police Department and was in fact Norway’s Minister for Justice back in the 90s.
This is the most recent in her series of books featuring detective Hanne Wilhelmson, of which I believe there have been 8 books since 1993. She stressed that this story easily stood alone as a story, and I loved the sound of it, so thought i’d give it a go.
1222 refers to how many metres above sea level the highest station on the oslo to Bergen train route is. The story starts slap bang (no pun intended) in the train crashing just outside the station during a snowstorm.
Only the driver dies in the crash and all of the passengers are rescued and moved to a nearby hotel. There are just under 200 of them, including Hanne Wilhelmson. The snowstorm becomes worse, effectively cutting off any chance of rescue, the train being moved, and any communication with the rest of the world. And then, of course, there is the case of the mysterious ‘extra carriage’ on the train of which speculation is rife!
The passengers and hotel staff settle in for what looks like it could be a long stay, and all of their personalities etc start to come out. And then, in the morning, one of the most prolific passengers – a prolific football-loving priest – is found frozen dead outside in the snow and ice. But it wasn’t the cold that killed him, it was a bullet through the head. there is a murderer in their midst.
In the interview, Holt said that she wanted to write a story that had elements of the old Agatha Christie whodunnits where the detectives were in an isolated situation and had to use their own detecting skills without any help from technology, databases or a team.
Well, that’s certainly how it worked – it was pretty claustrophobic…the only thing that didn’t really work for me was the fact that there were supposedly a couple of hundred people there. The story obviously centred in on just a handful (there were probably about 15 main characters), and so there were tens of people supposedly ‘around’ that were completely uninvolved in the story but still in the isolated situation.
Because of the dramatic start, and the very descriptive narrative, the unfamiliar landscape and situation and the hints at what was to come, I felt extremely drawn in from the book right from the first few pages – and it didn’t let up! i really enjoyed it.
I must admit, there was a complete light bulb moment for me when I felt that I had worked out ‘whodunnit’, but at least you’re kept guessing and don’t have suspicions confirmed until right at the end. There was just one twist in the tale in the last couple of pages that was a bit superfluous, daft and made me groan – it could have done without that, and it added nothing to the story.
Apart from that – brilliant. Tense, different and well written. I’d give another Anne Holt book a go!
November 23, 2015
On the cover of the copy I borrowed from the library (I'm glad I didn't buy it!) it says: "Like a mash-up of Stieg Larsson, Jeffrey Deaver and Agatha Christie", and there are a couple of comments also mentioning Christie, who is one of my favourite writers, so I thought I would enjoy this book... well, I didn't!
I actually think the plot could be very entertaining if developed correctly: theres is a mention of Christie's "And then there were none" in the book, as they are also trapped with a murderer without a chance to escape for days and days. However, this story was slow, boring and, at times, it didn't even make sense, as there were details that weren't properly explained, for example, there is a conversation that literally says that there were 194 people in the hotel complex and, ADDING four more people it makes 118... well, this makes sense after a few pages, but it wasn't explained there and then, so it left me wondering if I had missed something or I was just really bad at maths...
Also I hated the characters: they were very cliche and I specially disliked Hanne, the main character, just because she is a grumpy bitch, which, it turns out is not because she is in a wheel chair, it's just the way she is and was already like that before she got paralysed. She is just not likeable, I think the writer was aiming at a character similar to Lisbeth Salander, but just got an annoying and stubborn bitch, who just took pleasure in annoying other people for the sake of it. She even refused to have a room at the hotel and chose to sleep in the lobby... why? I mean, if one of your characters is going to do that, at least explain why she is doing it.
And then, there is the end:
I don't like giving bad reviews to books, as I appreciate there is a lot of hard work behind it, but in this case I can't even sugar coat how much I disliked this book.
I actually think the plot could be very entertaining if developed correctly: theres is a mention of Christie's "And then there were none" in the book, as they are also trapped with a murderer without a chance to escape for days and days. However, this story was slow, boring and, at times, it didn't even make sense, as there were details that weren't properly explained, for example, there is a conversation that literally says that there were 194 people in the hotel complex and, ADDING four more people it makes 118... well, this makes sense after a few pages, but it wasn't explained there and then, so it left me wondering if I had missed something or I was just really bad at maths...
Also I hated the characters: they were very cliche and I specially disliked Hanne, the main character, just because she is a grumpy bitch, which, it turns out is not because she is in a wheel chair, it's just the way she is and was already like that before she got paralysed. She is just not likeable, I think the writer was aiming at a character similar to Lisbeth Salander, but just got an annoying and stubborn bitch, who just took pleasure in annoying other people for the sake of it. She even refused to have a room at the hotel and chose to sleep in the lobby... why? I mean, if one of your characters is going to do that, at least explain why she is doing it.
And then, there is the end:
I don't like giving bad reviews to books, as I appreciate there is a lot of hard work behind it, but in this case I can't even sugar coat how much I disliked this book.
January 8, 2013
Please note: I read and reviewed this book in Dec. 2011. Updating the formatting and adding a disclosure.
Disclosure: I received a free e-galley copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Reading Level: Adult
My Synopsis: Hanne Wilhelmsen used to work for the police until a bullet severed her spine between the 10th and 11th vertebrae, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. She is on a train to Bergen in the middle of winter, on her way to see an American specialist because of health problems she has been experiencing, when the train is derailed. Fortunately they were only just past` the station and near to a hotel that was mostly empty at the time, and the only person killed in the wreck was the driver of the train. However, that first night, there is a murder. And another the second night. What is happening? Who is the killer? And what about the mysterious extra carriage at the end of the train – who is in it? Why is there an armed guard? Will Hanne overcome her self-imposed isolation and help find the answers?
My Thoughts: I really loved this book. Apparently it is an homage to Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” (also known in some areas as “Ten Little Indians”). The plot moved quickly, and there were lots of bits of subtle humor interspersed among the tension and suspense. The characters were wonderfully portrayed – while discussing the book with my husband I commented that you know a writer is good if you become attracted to one of the characters simply based upon the description and characterization, and that person’s personality. Magnus Streng was one of my favorite characters – he was absolutely fascinating and if he were a real person, I’d love to meet him. Edit: I should point out I mentioned to someone that I had read only one book with a character to whom I had become strongly attracted, and that was this book and Magnus Streng. So, again, impressive. End Edit
I strongly recommend this book to people who enjoy a good mystery, suspense/thriller, or simply good writing – you won’t be disappointed – it is wonderful!
Disclosure: I received a free e-galley copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Reading Level: Adult
My Synopsis: Hanne Wilhelmsen used to work for the police until a bullet severed her spine between the 10th and 11th vertebrae, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. She is on a train to Bergen in the middle of winter, on her way to see an American specialist because of health problems she has been experiencing, when the train is derailed. Fortunately they were only just past` the station and near to a hotel that was mostly empty at the time, and the only person killed in the wreck was the driver of the train. However, that first night, there is a murder. And another the second night. What is happening? Who is the killer? And what about the mysterious extra carriage at the end of the train – who is in it? Why is there an armed guard? Will Hanne overcome her self-imposed isolation and help find the answers?
My Thoughts: I really loved this book. Apparently it is an homage to Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” (also known in some areas as “Ten Little Indians”). The plot moved quickly, and there were lots of bits of subtle humor interspersed among the tension and suspense. The characters were wonderfully portrayed – while discussing the book with my husband I commented that you know a writer is good if you become attracted to one of the characters simply based upon the description and characterization, and that person’s personality. Magnus Streng was one of my favorite characters – he was absolutely fascinating and if he were a real person, I’d love to meet him. Edit: I should point out I mentioned to someone that I had read only one book with a character to whom I had become strongly attracted, and that was this book and Magnus Streng. So, again, impressive. End Edit
I strongly recommend this book to people who enjoy a good mystery, suspense/thriller, or simply good writing – you won’t be disappointed – it is wonderful!
May 9, 2012
I really wanted to like this. I read one of Holt's other books, but this one was just...just...boring. I didn't know till I got into it that it's not a stand-alone book but one of a series-maybe if I'd read the previous ones, I'd like this one more but I doubt it.
Hanne, the main character and narrator, has been described as "unlikable" by other reviewers, but I think she's pretty much antisocial and was that way before the shooting that left her paralyzed. That doesn't bother me-what bothered me is the way Hanne's attitude keeps being repeated, and her non-reasons for it also repeated ad nauseam. In fact, Hanne's navel-gazing, reminiscing, and thoughts-often prefaced by "Later on, when I thought about it again"-distracted from the story, which sounded very interesting-a train crash in a lonely mountain area, with the passengers holed up in a hotel while a fierce winter storm (are there really winter hurricanes in Norway? In the mountains? Or is the translation faulty and it's meant to be "a nor'easter"? I'll have to look it up) rages. There's a shooting and a mysterious person upstairs, guarded by armed guards. Holt throws in a doctor who's a dwarf (apparently, political correctness hasn't quite made it to Norway yet); a poorly dressed teenage boy with an attitude who has beautiful handwriting; some kind of TV personality who is trying to split the passengers into two groups to protect themselves from the murderer; and a Kurdish couple who aren't what they seem to be. Sounds interesting, huh? I gamely kept plowing on, trying to suppress my irritation with the constant deviation to Hanne's tangential thoughts, but finally gave up when a fresh shipment of books I'd ordered from the library arrived. I didn't even skip to the end to see how it turned out-if the hotel collapsed on itself and took out the train passengers, I couldn't care less.
Hanne, the main character and narrator, has been described as "unlikable" by other reviewers, but I think she's pretty much antisocial and was that way before the shooting that left her paralyzed. That doesn't bother me-what bothered me is the way Hanne's attitude keeps being repeated, and her non-reasons for it also repeated ad nauseam. In fact, Hanne's navel-gazing, reminiscing, and thoughts-often prefaced by "Later on, when I thought about it again"-distracted from the story, which sounded very interesting-a train crash in a lonely mountain area, with the passengers holed up in a hotel while a fierce winter storm (are there really winter hurricanes in Norway? In the mountains? Or is the translation faulty and it's meant to be "a nor'easter"? I'll have to look it up) rages. There's a shooting and a mysterious person upstairs, guarded by armed guards. Holt throws in a doctor who's a dwarf (apparently, political correctness hasn't quite made it to Norway yet); a poorly dressed teenage boy with an attitude who has beautiful handwriting; some kind of TV personality who is trying to split the passengers into two groups to protect themselves from the murderer; and a Kurdish couple who aren't what they seem to be. Sounds interesting, huh? I gamely kept plowing on, trying to suppress my irritation with the constant deviation to Hanne's tangential thoughts, but finally gave up when a fresh shipment of books I'd ordered from the library arrived. I didn't even skip to the end to see how it turned out-if the hotel collapsed on itself and took out the train passengers, I couldn't care less.
August 17, 2012
I love a good locked room mystery and this book has a great premise - 269 passengers from a derailed train are forced to seek shelter in a snowbound hotel in Norway during a blizzard of biblical proportions. I loved the descriptions of the storm, the use of the Beaufort scale at the start of each chapter, and the claustrophobic feeling of the snow piling higher than the windows as the tension mounts inside.
Fortunately for these folks, retired investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen is one of the passengers and when the dead bodies start appearing, she reluctantly starts to engage in the who-done-it. Hanne is in a wheel-chair (adding even more to that feeling of being trapped and restricted in this book) and struggles with human interaction, preferring to be left alone and making that quite clear to those around her. But she is an intelligent narrator and one that I found engaging enough to guide me through this story. It turns out that this is part of a series and I'm not sure I'd be up for spending that much time with Hanne but I was fine for these 350 pages.
Ultimately, the mystery's resolution felt a little bland and doesn't really live up to the promise of this great setting and cast of characters.
Fortunately for these folks, retired investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen is one of the passengers and when the dead bodies start appearing, she reluctantly starts to engage in the who-done-it. Hanne is in a wheel-chair (adding even more to that feeling of being trapped and restricted in this book) and struggles with human interaction, preferring to be left alone and making that quite clear to those around her. But she is an intelligent narrator and one that I found engaging enough to guide me through this story. It turns out that this is part of a series and I'm not sure I'd be up for spending that much time with Hanne but I was fine for these 350 pages.
Ultimately, the mystery's resolution felt a little bland and doesn't really live up to the promise of this great setting and cast of characters.
June 30, 2016
A mystery more typical of Agatha Christie than most Scandinavian authors. In fact, Ms. Christie is mention several times and I think this novel is meant as an homage to her. It is a “closed room” mystery—although the surroundings are a hotel by a train station. The train has derailed and the passengers are rescued, all during a howling blizzard. The severity of the blizzard keeps everyone in place and inside. One by one, their numbers decrease, sometimes through natural causes, but also through unnatural events, i.e. murder.
The main character, Hanne, is a former policewoman. She is dependent on her wheelchair, she is curmudgeonly, she is a lesbian, and I liked her a lot.
Very enjoyable, even reading one-eyed with unfamiliar reading glasses! I seem to have started at novel number 8 of the series, but I could definitely be convinced to try more of Anne Holt’s work.
The main character, Hanne, is a former policewoman. She is dependent on her wheelchair, she is curmudgeonly, she is a lesbian, and I liked her a lot.
Very enjoyable, even reading one-eyed with unfamiliar reading glasses! I seem to have started at novel number 8 of the series, but I could definitely be convinced to try more of Anne Holt’s work.
May 29, 2018
The writer Deb Caletti said, “When you go looking for rescue, you end up trapped in your own weakness.”
For me, this captured the theme of Anne Holt’s “1222“the story that started on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 when train # 601, travelling from Oslo to Bergen derailed in the midst of a hurricane named “Olga.” Of the 269 people on board, only one perished as a result of the accident, the train conductor Einar Holter.
Shortly after the accident, the passengers were rescued, whisked off to a nearby mountain lodge, a place they were forced to remain in until the storm passed. Among the passengers is Hanne Wilhelmsen, a retired Oslo police officer, now retired and confined to a wheelchair after she was shot in the back and paralyzed from the waist down since December of 2002.
The “Finse Disaster,” the name eventually tagged to the derailment, occurred near the train station that is located 1222 meters above sea level.
There are a few recurring themes throughout the story, one, the storm is getting worse, two, there is unexplained loss of life, most likely murder, and three, perhaps the most ominous of all, is the passengers themselves. This is how Anne Holt described them:
“Self-confident young people in horrendously expensive clothes…stressed businessmen with top-of-the-range laptops, desperately trying to get an internet connection, screaming kids and middle aged women, a handball team of fourteen year old girls completely incapable of grasping the point of showing some consideration for others…”
This was the mainstream of the passengers, then there were others:
The mysterious and unseen occupants of a special train car, protected by armed guards, a low key, quiet couple, assumed by Wilhelmsen to be Kurdish, who at a moment of apparent danger, both draw handguns, then quickly stashed them once the danger passed, and an erratic, moody television personality named Kari Thue, who seemed determined to seize control, foisting her haphazard agenda on the group.
As the story progresses, we see the subtle ways that people become impatient, both with the confinement and with each other. As the storm becomes worse, and the term of confinement increases, we read about some of the darkest aspects of human nature.
A quote by Aristotle fits well here:
“The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.”
Amidst the chaos, confusion, violence and deviousness, there are characters whose personal integrity aligns with Aristotle’s standard.
It is this showdown of wills, played out against the backdrop of Mother Nature’s fiercest squall, that made this novel a pleasure to read.
For me, this captured the theme of Anne Holt’s “1222“the story that started on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 when train # 601, travelling from Oslo to Bergen derailed in the midst of a hurricane named “Olga.” Of the 269 people on board, only one perished as a result of the accident, the train conductor Einar Holter.
Shortly after the accident, the passengers were rescued, whisked off to a nearby mountain lodge, a place they were forced to remain in until the storm passed. Among the passengers is Hanne Wilhelmsen, a retired Oslo police officer, now retired and confined to a wheelchair after she was shot in the back and paralyzed from the waist down since December of 2002.
The “Finse Disaster,” the name eventually tagged to the derailment, occurred near the train station that is located 1222 meters above sea level.
There are a few recurring themes throughout the story, one, the storm is getting worse, two, there is unexplained loss of life, most likely murder, and three, perhaps the most ominous of all, is the passengers themselves. This is how Anne Holt described them:
“Self-confident young people in horrendously expensive clothes…stressed businessmen with top-of-the-range laptops, desperately trying to get an internet connection, screaming kids and middle aged women, a handball team of fourteen year old girls completely incapable of grasping the point of showing some consideration for others…”
This was the mainstream of the passengers, then there were others:
The mysterious and unseen occupants of a special train car, protected by armed guards, a low key, quiet couple, assumed by Wilhelmsen to be Kurdish, who at a moment of apparent danger, both draw handguns, then quickly stashed them once the danger passed, and an erratic, moody television personality named Kari Thue, who seemed determined to seize control, foisting her haphazard agenda on the group.
As the story progresses, we see the subtle ways that people become impatient, both with the confinement and with each other. As the storm becomes worse, and the term of confinement increases, we read about some of the darkest aspects of human nature.
A quote by Aristotle fits well here:
“The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.”
Amidst the chaos, confusion, violence and deviousness, there are characters whose personal integrity aligns with Aristotle’s standard.
It is this showdown of wills, played out against the backdrop of Mother Nature’s fiercest squall, that made this novel a pleasure to read.
April 8, 2025
Ändå en helt ok deckare, typ 3,5 ⭐️ För mig som är en van deckartjej var det inte direkt en mind blowing läsning men tycker absolut att detta är en bra inkörsport för den som vill se om den tycker om deckare! Däremot ska sägas att jag blev irriterad över slutet (alltså literally sista sidan) vet inte om det var för att jag inte fattade eller om det faktiskt var ett öppet slut????
April 14, 2025
Ja asså den var helt okej. Tyckte faktiskt det var riktigt häftigt med den jättehemliga frakten av terroristen och den politiska sidan om att mörka sådana operationer, det var jättenice i slutet, men själva deckar-delen av berättelsen fångade mig inte.
January 2, 2012
The premise of 1222 interested me from the start. I wish I knew where I heard about this book. I thought the main character, Hanne Wilhelmsen, an ex-police woman, paralyzed by a bullet, living a bland life in her wheelchair, sounded intriguing. I didn't realize at the outset that it was the eighth in a series from Norwegian author Anne Holt but the first to be translated into English. It can easily be read as a stand-alone but you probably will want to know more about that bullet and some other things about Hanne's personal life.
1222 is also billed as a locked room mystery of which I am a great fan. I think it qualifies as such in a looser sense than some I've read. The story starts quickly with a the derailment of the Oslo-Bergen train, caused by a patch of ice outside of one of many tunnels. The science of this is nicely explained though I'm still not certain I quite understand it. Fortunately for the passengers, only the driver is killed. Also fortunate for all is that the accident happens close to the Finse Station and an excellent hotel where the remaining passengers, including Hanne are offloaded for shelter. Good fortune runs out and the killing begins! As all are "locked in" by a raging snowstorm with no chance for rescue until it abates, you've got all the suspects and through Hanne's eyes must decide the who, what, and why.
I really liked the character Hanne Wilhelmsen and some of the other players in this mystery. The best of these are 15 year old Adrian described as "a petty criminal, a little shit" and a height challenged doctor named Magnus Streng who originally treats Hanna's gory injury in the train wreck. I think the story could have moved more quickly after it's" hit the ground running start" but I hung in there. I was not completely satisfied with the ending as I couldn't have predicted the killer from the clues. I loved that the title is taken from the location of the Finse Station, 1222 meters above sea level. I also really liked the use of The Beaufort Scale for Wind, beginning with 0 for Calm and ending with12 for Hurricane, as chapter headings with the promise of the increasing speed of impending disaster. Very clever.
All in all a pleasant read with great descriptions of the cold, bleak locale and some interesting introspection by the main character. The first in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, Blind Goddess, comes to our shores June 2012. I just might pick this up.
1222 is also billed as a locked room mystery of which I am a great fan. I think it qualifies as such in a looser sense than some I've read. The story starts quickly with a the derailment of the Oslo-Bergen train, caused by a patch of ice outside of one of many tunnels. The science of this is nicely explained though I'm still not certain I quite understand it. Fortunately for the passengers, only the driver is killed. Also fortunate for all is that the accident happens close to the Finse Station and an excellent hotel where the remaining passengers, including Hanne are offloaded for shelter. Good fortune runs out and the killing begins! As all are "locked in" by a raging snowstorm with no chance for rescue until it abates, you've got all the suspects and through Hanne's eyes must decide the who, what, and why.
I really liked the character Hanne Wilhelmsen and some of the other players in this mystery. The best of these are 15 year old Adrian described as "a petty criminal, a little shit" and a height challenged doctor named Magnus Streng who originally treats Hanna's gory injury in the train wreck. I think the story could have moved more quickly after it's" hit the ground running start" but I hung in there. I was not completely satisfied with the ending as I couldn't have predicted the killer from the clues. I loved that the title is taken from the location of the Finse Station, 1222 meters above sea level. I also really liked the use of The Beaufort Scale for Wind, beginning with 0 for Calm and ending with12 for Hurricane, as chapter headings with the promise of the increasing speed of impending disaster. Very clever.
All in all a pleasant read with great descriptions of the cold, bleak locale and some interesting introspection by the main character. The first in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series, Blind Goddess, comes to our shores June 2012. I just might pick this up.
May 29, 2013
"Life is beautiful. Until vodka freezes", a friend of mine, Witek, used to say. Most of the action in Anne Holt's thriller "1222" happens when the temperature outside is below freezing point of 80-proof vodka.
A train from Oslo to Bergen (Norway) crashes. All passengers, some 200 of them, luckily survive and find shelter in a nearby hotel. However, because of a monster winter storm combined with a hurricane of unprecedented magnitude, the hotel is totally snowed in and any rescue efforts from the outside world are doomed to fail. One of the passengers is found shot to death. And that's just the beginning of the ordeal. Hanne Wilhelmsen, a wheelchair-bound ex-police detective, helped by several other passengers and hotel staff is trying to solve the case. The scenario much resembles 1970's disaster movies, with a typical menagerie of disaster film characters. Unfortunately, to me, the quality of the book is on par with quality of these movies.
Readers who like books that are heavily plot-driven might rate "1222" quite highly. The plot does move fast, the tension keeps rising, and there are numerous surprises. The cliché phrase 'page turner' describes this book well. Alas, the novel is not written well. Many of the main characters, like Adrian, Magnus, Kari Thue, are caricatures rather than real people. To use the author's own phrase, they are 'paper dolls'. When I read well-written books I often get the feeling that I personally know the characters. None of this happens here. What's worse, I totally do not care about any of the characters, and least of all about Hanna.
Many aspects of Ms. Holt's prose are annoying. For instance, she uses a lame writing device: just about when a character is to divulge a major secret, there is some interruption, and then it is too late. The twelve chapters of the novel are prefaced by meteorological characterizations of each step in Beaufort scale; they read much better than Ms. Holt's descriptions. The author uses six sentences to describe how Magnus wipes his mouth of jam and cream (pages 243-244 of hardcover edition). Yet on pages 145-146 she provides non-trivial observations on the nature of religion. Accidental lapse into decent writing?
It may be a good thriller for many readers, just not for me.
One and a half stars.
A train from Oslo to Bergen (Norway) crashes. All passengers, some 200 of them, luckily survive and find shelter in a nearby hotel. However, because of a monster winter storm combined with a hurricane of unprecedented magnitude, the hotel is totally snowed in and any rescue efforts from the outside world are doomed to fail. One of the passengers is found shot to death. And that's just the beginning of the ordeal. Hanne Wilhelmsen, a wheelchair-bound ex-police detective, helped by several other passengers and hotel staff is trying to solve the case. The scenario much resembles 1970's disaster movies, with a typical menagerie of disaster film characters. Unfortunately, to me, the quality of the book is on par with quality of these movies.
Readers who like books that are heavily plot-driven might rate "1222" quite highly. The plot does move fast, the tension keeps rising, and there are numerous surprises. The cliché phrase 'page turner' describes this book well. Alas, the novel is not written well. Many of the main characters, like Adrian, Magnus, Kari Thue, are caricatures rather than real people. To use the author's own phrase, they are 'paper dolls'. When I read well-written books I often get the feeling that I personally know the characters. None of this happens here. What's worse, I totally do not care about any of the characters, and least of all about Hanna.
Many aspects of Ms. Holt's prose are annoying. For instance, she uses a lame writing device: just about when a character is to divulge a major secret, there is some interruption, and then it is too late. The twelve chapters of the novel are prefaced by meteorological characterizations of each step in Beaufort scale; they read much better than Ms. Holt's descriptions. The author uses six sentences to describe how Magnus wipes his mouth of jam and cream (pages 243-244 of hardcover edition). Yet on pages 145-146 she provides non-trivial observations on the nature of religion. Accidental lapse into decent writing?
It may be a good thriller for many readers, just not for me.
One and a half stars.
July 27, 2012
So I tried another Scandanavian mystery, this one by Norwegian writer Anne Holt and featuring a wheelchair-bound former policewoman named Hanne Wilhelmsen, the first of this series (I believe) to be translated into English. I liked what I read, though I'm not much into "closed room" mysteries. Granted that murders can occur in a setting like the one described in the novel, where a trainload of people are trapped inside a mountain hotel during a violent snowstorm; the set piece denouement, where the detective/retired policeman/private eye calls everyone into one room and makes a speech, during which the murderer either goes for his gun or confesses, is just too contrived and unreal for my tastes. But that is the genre, and Anne Holt does it well. The setting of this story, the snowed-in mountain hotel, is particularly memorable, and Holt delivers a strong taste of Norway. You will find yourself, as I did, pining for the fjords.
February 17, 2018
Esta es la octava novela de la serie Hanne Wilhelmsen. Aunque es un libro que se puede leer por separado porque nos explican detalles de la vida de Hanne, quiero leer toda la saga porque no todos los días te encuentras a una detective lesbiana y que además se encuentra retirada porque sufrió una lesión.
Esta novela es narrada en primera persona por la detective y empieza con un accidente de tren, que dejó una única víctima, qué los obliga a permanecer en Finse 1222 a todos los pasajeros de tren, además, una fuerte tormenta los hace permanecer encerrados, y hasta aquí todo parece normal pero luego aparece asesinado un hombre y las cosas se empiezan a complicar en el hotel cuando los demás notan la ausencia de ese pasajero.
Esta es una novela en la que de principio a fin me sentí leyendo con gusto y que no notaba cuan rápido iba pasando las páginas. El personaje principal es fenomenal, me encanta todas las aristas que se nos muestra, una mujer que se le dificulta socializar y que puede parecer grosera pero a la vez una mujer que es amor y preocupación por los demás. Un personaje discapacitado pero que se agradece porque es intrépida, inteligente y especialmente su discapacidad pasa a segundo plano porque eso no la hace más ni menos.
Me gustó la novela y la manera en que se resuelve el crimen y debo decir que también lo sabía.
Esta novela es narrada en primera persona por la detective y empieza con un accidente de tren, que dejó una única víctima, qué los obliga a permanecer en Finse 1222 a todos los pasajeros de tren, además, una fuerte tormenta los hace permanecer encerrados, y hasta aquí todo parece normal pero luego aparece asesinado un hombre y las cosas se empiezan a complicar en el hotel cuando los demás notan la ausencia de ese pasajero.
Esta es una novela en la que de principio a fin me sentí leyendo con gusto y que no notaba cuan rápido iba pasando las páginas. El personaje principal es fenomenal, me encanta todas las aristas que se nos muestra, una mujer que se le dificulta socializar y que puede parecer grosera pero a la vez una mujer que es amor y preocupación por los demás. Un personaje discapacitado pero que se agradece porque es intrépida, inteligente y especialmente su discapacidad pasa a segundo plano porque eso no la hace más ni menos.
Me gustó la novela y la manera en que se resuelve el crimen y debo decir que también lo sabía.
July 31, 2020
A real page turner to be sure. Caught the tv show Modus on late night TV, based on this authors books, and found it just the thing for an insomniac night. This one is rich with character detail and a compelling situation; what if the mountain train you’re on gets derailed in a blizzard? Luckily there’s a disabled ex-detective around to try and solve the murders that start occurring in the hotel refuge the survivors seek out. The mystery is satisfactorily resolved, but there’s a secondary reveal of a different mystery (the intersection of divergent agendas is a big part of the story) that left me confused. Does she really see that character so briefly glimpsed through binoculars? He’s only described, not named. It seems far from probable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2024
Ordentlig god gammeldags krimroman! Fikk påskestemning på måten deg lignet Agatha Christie (?) og påskekrimmen på TV. Endte med mange fine tvister, og bra skrevet med hint så du faktisk også kunne tenke (og ta feil) til hvem som var morderen.
February 21, 2012
1222 metres above sea level the train travelling from Oslo to Bergen derails during the start of the worst snow storm in Norwegian history. With the snow and freezing temperatures getting steadily worse, the 269 passengers have no hope of a quick rescue and no choice but to take refuge in centuries old mountain hotel close to the crash site.
The hotel has withstood anything nature could throw at it for hundreds of years and is well stocked so the passengers should be safe from the elements and in no risk of food or water shortages. The safe-haven feels less save after the first night in the hotel though when one of the passengers is found just outside the hotel, murdered.
Among the passengers is former police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen. Retired from the police force since she ended up with a bullet lodged in her spine during her last case which left her paralysed from the waist down, Hanne has been leading an almost reclusive life. And when she’s asked to use the knowledge and training from her old career to investigate the murder she is very reluctant.
But with tension growing among the passengers, the storm outside showing no sign of lessening and no where to hide from the people around her, Hanne soon finds she’s looking into what exactly is going on around her, almost despite herself.
And the murder is only one of the mysteries Hanne is faced with. What exactly was the reason for the extra carriage added on to the train, why was it so heavily guarded and who exactly are the people hiding on the top floor of the hotel?
There are more then enough unanswered questions to keep Hanne occupied and very frustrated, because there’s always a chance that the murderer will strike again.
This was a very nice modern day variation on the traditional manor house mysteries. Locked in the hotel with nobody being able to come or go, the murderer has to be one of the people there. For any readers not immediately recognising the classical set-up of the story there is a nice reference to “little grey cells” towards the end of the book, and the solution to the mystery is revealed during a group meeting with Hanne taking the role of the story-book detective taking their time to target various suspects before revealing the actual murderer and the reasons behind the crime. There is some of the conceit we often find in the classical mysteries here as well; the reader is not given all the clues the story detective has access to. In this book that is due to Hanne being easily distracted and a little hard of hearing. But whereas Hanne is able to remember what she thought she had forgotten or missed, the reader doesn’t have that benefit.
While I enjoyed the mystery and the setting, I wasn’t as charmed by the main character. For me Hanne was a bit too anti-social and selfish as well as inconsistent. Her need to be alone and uninvolved didn’t quite fit with the interest she took in some of her fellow passengers and her constant observing and (internal) questioning of those around her and their motives.
However, I did find this a quick read and once I started the book I found that I needed to keep on turning the pages in order to find out what exactly was going on. The issues that caused me minor irritations at times weren’t big enough to stop me racing towards the revelations at the end of the story.
The hotel has withstood anything nature could throw at it for hundreds of years and is well stocked so the passengers should be safe from the elements and in no risk of food or water shortages. The safe-haven feels less save after the first night in the hotel though when one of the passengers is found just outside the hotel, murdered.
Among the passengers is former police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen. Retired from the police force since she ended up with a bullet lodged in her spine during her last case which left her paralysed from the waist down, Hanne has been leading an almost reclusive life. And when she’s asked to use the knowledge and training from her old career to investigate the murder she is very reluctant.
But with tension growing among the passengers, the storm outside showing no sign of lessening and no where to hide from the people around her, Hanne soon finds she’s looking into what exactly is going on around her, almost despite herself.
And the murder is only one of the mysteries Hanne is faced with. What exactly was the reason for the extra carriage added on to the train, why was it so heavily guarded and who exactly are the people hiding on the top floor of the hotel?
There are more then enough unanswered questions to keep Hanne occupied and very frustrated, because there’s always a chance that the murderer will strike again.
This was a very nice modern day variation on the traditional manor house mysteries. Locked in the hotel with nobody being able to come or go, the murderer has to be one of the people there. For any readers not immediately recognising the classical set-up of the story there is a nice reference to “little grey cells” towards the end of the book, and the solution to the mystery is revealed during a group meeting with Hanne taking the role of the story-book detective taking their time to target various suspects before revealing the actual murderer and the reasons behind the crime. There is some of the conceit we often find in the classical mysteries here as well; the reader is not given all the clues the story detective has access to. In this book that is due to Hanne being easily distracted and a little hard of hearing. But whereas Hanne is able to remember what she thought she had forgotten or missed, the reader doesn’t have that benefit.
While I enjoyed the mystery and the setting, I wasn’t as charmed by the main character. For me Hanne was a bit too anti-social and selfish as well as inconsistent. Her need to be alone and uninvolved didn’t quite fit with the interest she took in some of her fellow passengers and her constant observing and (internal) questioning of those around her and their motives.
However, I did find this a quick read and once I started the book I found that I needed to keep on turning the pages in order to find out what exactly was going on. The issues that caused me minor irritations at times weren’t big enough to stop me racing towards the revelations at the end of the story.
October 25, 2012
The Short of It:
A mystery that will hold you captive. Preferably, under a blanket with a cup of something warm to keep you company.
The Rest of It:
During what is quite possibly the worst snowstorm ever, a train on its way to Bergen, Norway derails at a point about 1222 meters above sea level. The passengers are taken to a nearby hotel where they are given food and shelter but they find themselves trapped as the weather continues to worsen.
One of the passengers, Hanne Wilhelmsen, a retired police investigator notices something odd. That the passenger/s from the private rail car are nowhere to be seen. She hears from the other guests that they were taken to a different section of the hotel. Who are they? Why are they being kept separate from the other guests?
As if things could get any worse, a body is discovered. First one, then two. Since Hanne is the only person with any kind of investigative experience, she is enlisted to help solve the crime even though she has no desire to do so. Years ago she was paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet to the spine making it somewhat difficult to get around but her observation skills if anything improved, making her the perfect storyteller for this “locked door” mystery.
This is the 8th book in the Wilhelmsen series but the first for me and I never felt lost or out of the loop. Holt manages to give you just enough of a back story to feel comfortable,without rehashing Hanne’s entire life. The pacing is pretty good too considering its limited setting. The personal observations of Hanne were both critical as well as entertaining and often times funny.
This was an enjoyable read. I don’t read mystery or crime fiction too often but this one was especially fun. Mainly because of the “locked door” nature of the story. Being trapped in a hotel with a bunch of strangers, stuck in a wheelchair with a killer running about, makes for good reading. I can’t deny it.
I take comfort in knowing that there are seven other books in the series for me to dip into. Also, my other love (Jo Nesbo) calls Holt the “godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction.” I’d say that’s pretty impressive.
For more book reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.
A mystery that will hold you captive. Preferably, under a blanket with a cup of something warm to keep you company.
The Rest of It:
During what is quite possibly the worst snowstorm ever, a train on its way to Bergen, Norway derails at a point about 1222 meters above sea level. The passengers are taken to a nearby hotel where they are given food and shelter but they find themselves trapped as the weather continues to worsen.
One of the passengers, Hanne Wilhelmsen, a retired police investigator notices something odd. That the passenger/s from the private rail car are nowhere to be seen. She hears from the other guests that they were taken to a different section of the hotel. Who are they? Why are they being kept separate from the other guests?
As if things could get any worse, a body is discovered. First one, then two. Since Hanne is the only person with any kind of investigative experience, she is enlisted to help solve the crime even though she has no desire to do so. Years ago she was paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet to the spine making it somewhat difficult to get around but her observation skills if anything improved, making her the perfect storyteller for this “locked door” mystery.
This is the 8th book in the Wilhelmsen series but the first for me and I never felt lost or out of the loop. Holt manages to give you just enough of a back story to feel comfortable,without rehashing Hanne’s entire life. The pacing is pretty good too considering its limited setting. The personal observations of Hanne were both critical as well as entertaining and often times funny.
This was an enjoyable read. I don’t read mystery or crime fiction too often but this one was especially fun. Mainly because of the “locked door” nature of the story. Being trapped in a hotel with a bunch of strangers, stuck in a wheelchair with a killer running about, makes for good reading. I can’t deny it.
I take comfort in knowing that there are seven other books in the series for me to dip into. Also, my other love (Jo Nesbo) calls Holt the “godmother of modern Norwegian crime fiction.” I’d say that’s pretty impressive.
For more book reviews, visit my blog: Book Chatter.
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