The Fourth Man is an entertaining if somewhat workmanlike thriller set in a wet and snowy Oslo. Positioned close to the point where Henning Mankell’s sober diligence meets Jo Nesbo’s intricate chaos, The Fourth Man also has much in common with classic, hard-boiled US noir.

At the beginning of the novel Inspector Frank Frolich embarks on an intense, erotically charged affair with a woman he encounters during a botched police operation. She turns out to be the sister of a known gangster wanted for a string of armed robberies under investigation by Frolich. By the time she disappears, immediately after providing a convenient alibi for her brother, Frolich is not only obsessed but severely compromised. Frolich is taken off the case by his grizzly but fair boss, Gunnarstranda, and in true crime fiction style, refuses to let it lie.

There is much here that will be familiar even to casual students of the genre. Anyone with a passing knowledge will see the “twist” coming from about about page 49 and the final ten page explanation is straight out of Agatha Christie or a 70s TV show. And of course, cherchez la femme. However, the journey to the denouement is enjoyable enough. Dahl has a brisk, descriptive style (if on occasion a tad florid) and Oslo plays its part well – as much as a grey landscape of the mind as a tawdry backdrop to the story.

In the end The Fourth Man is enjoyable enough but doesn’t quite hint at greatness to come. I suspect I’ll read the next F&G installment when it comes out later this year – after all Henning Mankell did not hit the ground running – but without, perhaps, any great sense of anticipation. Solid.

The Fourth Man is the UK debut of Inspector Frolich and Chief Gunnarstranda but the fifth in the series.

Bookmark to