Сиссель-Йо Газан: The Dinosaur Feather

Suspenseful and deeply human, The Dinosaur Feather is a classic of Scandinavian noir, from its richly imagined and deeply flawed characters to its scintillating exploration of one of the most fascinating aspects of contemporary dinosaur and avian research.

Biology postgraduate and hopeful PhD Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from defending her thesis on the origin of birds when her supervisor, the arrogant and widely despised Lars Helland, is found dead in his office chair at the University of Copenhagen. In the man’s bloody lap is his tongue as well as a copy of Anna’s thesis.

When the autopsy suggests that Helland may have been murdered in a fiendishly ingenious way, the brilliant but tormented young Police Superindendent Soren Marhauge begins the challenging task of unraveling the knotted skeins of personal and intellectual intrigue among the scientists at the university. Just as the case seems to be grinding to a halt, another of the scientists working with Helland is murdered. Unfortunately, everyone—from embittered single mom Anna Bella Nor to his own ex-wife, pregnant with her current husband’s child—has something to hide, presenting Marhauge with perhaps the most challenging case of his career.