Gunnar Staalesen Books In Order

Publication Order of Varg Veum Books

Publication Order of Dumbo og Maskefjes Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Gunnar Staalesen is one of the noteworthy authors from Norway, who likes to write his books based on the murder mystery, historical fiction, and crime fiction genres. He is particularly well known for writing the Varg Veum series. Author Gunner was born and brought up in Bergen, Norway. He became a published novelist in the year 1969 with the publication of his debut book titled Uskyldstider. The first work of author Gunner that was released in English is known as At Night All Wolves Are Gray. It was published in 1986. This book provided the first chance for the English speaking readers to get acquainted with the character of Varg Veum. After three years, it was released in the Norwegian language. Even though author Gunner has only a few books to his name in English so far, he is regarded as one of the prolific authors of his native language. Altogether, he has written around 20 crime books as well as several other books in his writing career. When the debut book of Gunner was published, he was just 22 years old. In the later years, he gained more popularity with the development of the character of Varg Veum as a private investigator from Bergen. The books based on this character have been translated into more than 12 foreign languages. Also, as many as 12 movies have been adapted in Norways based on the novels of the series, which have been released between the years 2007 and 2012. All the films feature Trond Espen Seim in the lead role as Varg Veum.

Author Gunner was born on October 19, 1947, in Bergen. He says that he had a pretty normal childhood living at Nordnes, Bergen. His father came from Haugesund while his mother hailed from Fredrikstad. In his early days, author Gunner used to do ordinary things like playing soccer, cowboys and Indians, etc. It was at the age of 11 that he discovered he had an interest in writing. From then on, he began creating poems, stories, cartoons, and other stuffs in his free time. When in high school, he started writing manuscripts, but was not able to get anything published until 1969. Author Gunner studied in three different schools and finally graduated from high school in the year 1966. After this, he joined the Bergen University and earned his cand. Philol. degree in the year 1976. When he was still a student, he used to work as a freelance cultural journalist and film critic. On two occasions, he has even worked as the National Theatre’s information secretary. For the second time, he worked for a period of 11 years. After that, he began working as a full time author. He says that he gets the inspiration for writing his crime books from the newspaper articles, television news, other books, films, etc. But, the major portion of the plots come from his imagination. All through his life, he has maintained the habit of reading books, which has helped him greatly in the long run as an author. The other activities that he indulges himself in include running, jogging, and participating in marathons.

Many people keep asking author Gunner whether there is any similarity between him and Varg Veum’s character. To this, he says that he has a very different background and family from him. However, there are some similarities in the attitudes of both of them. In other words, Varg Veum is a close acquaintance of author Gunner and after writing the books about him for so many years, he has started to think like him. When asked about why he chose to write crime novels, author Gunner says that he has always loved to read crime books and has been fascinated by such stories every time he hears them. Gunner feels that the crime books fit very well to the acts of the present situation of the society that we live in. They also resemble the conflicts and problems of the people. And while developing such books, author Gunner tries to make the books appear entertaining as well as intriguing. Most of his books are set in Bergen, where he has spent most of his life. In order to write about the latest criminal activities, author Gunner takes the references from the news and newspapers, as well as the crime reports in his city.

The Varg Veum series written by Gunner Staalesen is comprised of a total of 20 books which were released between the years 1977 and 2016. All the books of this series feature the main character as Varg Veum, who is described as a private investigator living in Bergen, Norway. One of the earliest books written and released in the series is titled as ‘Yours Until Death’. The Arcadia Books publication released this book in the year 1979. At the beginning of the plot, author Gunner has introduced Varg Veum as encountering a deadly and pathetic gang in the nearby pine woods. He discovers their torture chamber inside a hut, which had all the evidences of the gang’s brutal ferocity. An Eight year old boy named Roar and lost his bicycle and no one could retrieve it. But, when Varg begins to look for the bicycle after Roar’s parents, Wenche and Jonas Andresen, inform him about the bicycle, he comes across the Joker’s deadly gang. Varg tries to break up the thug gang with the help of a local leader of a youth club. But, his attempts go in vain. Then, he learns about the dead body of a man with a knife at his back lying in Andresen’s flat. This makes the case even more suspenseful, but Varg’s determination leads him to solve the case successfully.

Another popular book written by author Gunner in the series is titled as ‘The Writing on the Wall’. It was also released by the Arcadia Books in the year 1995. The plot of this book opens up by showing the teenage and young girls from the city coming from the cosseted background get drawn into the prostitution ring. Some of them join it for fun while others do it to earn money for trendy clothes and drugs. The matter becomes worse when the local magistrate is found in a hotel, wearing women’s lingerie and almost dead. Soon after, a couple of anxious parents approach Varg Veum to look for their daughter which goes missing. When he begins to search for the girl, her dead body is discovered from the dump in an isolated place. Whatever clues that Varg comes across point towards the underworld of Bergen. Varg decides to begin the inquiry about their various operations in order to find out whether they are the real ones running the prostitution ring and killing young girls who wished to leave.