Bitter Honey

The first detective story about Fredrik Drum—the owner of a small cozy restaurant “Kastrulka” in Oslo. Fredrik Drum, though, is hardly a detective at all. He loves good food, values excellent wine, and in his spare time is fascinated by the mysteries of ancient writing—yet somehow he keeps winding up in the thick of strange and incredible incidents. Fredrik Drum’s adventures begin when he goes to France, to the famous Saint-Émilion, to buy wine for his restaurant. But all around him, very strange things suddenly start happening: people disappear—or die under very odd circumstances—and it seems the Minian culture and the secret of linear script B… have something to do with it. The detective stories about Fredrik Drum by Norwegian writer Gert Nygaardshaug are a kind of alternative to the harsh Scandinavian noir. Here there is no existential gloom and no puddles of blood; instead, there’s a light adventure-detective tale that, by mood, is closer to Nero Wolfe novels than, say, to a Harry Hole series.