Selected by NPR’s Maureen Corrigan as her favorite mystery of 2013 and one of the top ten mysteries of the year by The Wall Street Journal’s Tom Nolan, S.J. Gazan's debut novel The Dinosaur Feather is a classic of Scandinavian noir. With keenly observed and deeply flawed characters, this scintillating thriller uniquely employs one of the most controversial and fascinating areas of contemporary dinosaur and avian research in its diabolical twists. The Dinosaur Feather has been published in more than a dozen countries and won the Danish Crime Novel of the Decade Award. The Financial Times called it “a top-flight thriller—smart and outrageously entertaining. Biology postgraduate, PhD hopeful, and single mom Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from defending her thesis on the saurian origin of birds when her academic supervisor, the highly respected yet widely despised Dr. Lars Helland, is found dead in his office chair at the University of Copenhagen. The police discover a copy of Anna’s thesis in the dead man’s bloody lap. When the autopsy suggests that Helland was murdered in a fiendishly ingenious way, brilliant but tormented young Police Superintendent Søren Marhauge begins the daunting task of unraveling the knotted skeins of interpersonal and intellectual intrigue among the scientists at the university. Everyone involved with the investigation— from Anna Bella Nor to Helland’s numerous rivals to Marhauge’s own ex-wife, who is pregnant with her current husband’s child— has something to hide, complicating the investigation and presenting the detective with the greatest professional and personal challenge of his career.

The Dinosaur Feather

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Gazan, S.J.

Mystery

Quercus

Danish author S.J. Gazan established herself as an international talent to watch with her debut thriller novel, The Dinosaur Feather. In addition to being named “Crime Novel of the Decade” by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, NPR’s Maureen Corrigan called it her favorite mystery of 2013, and The Wall Street Journal’s Tom Nolan placed it in his year-end top ten list. Now, Gazan’s much-anticipated follow-up is here, bringing back maverick policeman Søren Marhauge. The Arc of the Swallow evokes such literary mystery masterpieces as John Le Carre’s The Constant Gardner and Peter Hoeg’s Smilla’s Sense of Snow, pitting a principled scientist against a profit-motivated conspiracy that leads to the upper reaches of corporations and government. Biology Ph.D. candidate Marie Skov is devastated when, on the same day as her mother’s death, her mentor Kristian Storm apparently kills himself. Storm had been facing academic dishonesty charges, as well as heated criticism of his research on a vaccine for African children—that suggested the vaccine was causing more harm than it was preventing. Skov is skeptical that the death was a suicide. She knows Storm’s research on the vaccine was sound, and learns that his on-site work in Guinea-Bissau was marred by intimidation, sabotaged data, and the suspicious death of another scientist. She also learns that in his final days, Storm felt he was being followed by a blue Ford with tinted windows. Soon afterwards, a blue Ford with tinted windows parks across from Skov’s home. The police have no interest in re-examining the official narrative. But Marhauge shares Skov’s desire for answers, and defies his superiors to help her investigate. They receive unlikely help from a Nobel Prize-winning rival of Storm’s, and find themselves on a perilous trail that leads to Big Pharma and the World Health Organization. Interwoven in this thrilling storyline are deeply-moving portraits of Skov’s troubled family and Marhauge’s tenuous relationship with his girlfriend, another biologist. The result is a complex page-turner that establishes S.J. Gazan (herself a biologist) as a world-class author at the beginning of a formidable career.

The Arc of the Swallow

Selected by NPR’s Maureen Corrigan as her favorite mystery of 2013 and one of the top ten mysteries of the year by The Wall Street Journal’s Tom Nolan, S.J. Gazan's debut novel The Dinosaur Feather is a classic of Scandinavian noir. With keenly observed and deeply flawed characters, this scintillating thriller uniquely employs one of the most controversial and fascinating areas of contemporary dinosaur and avian research in its diabolical twists. The Dinosaur Feather has been published in more than a dozen countries and won the Danish Crime Novel of the Decade Award. The Financial Times called it “a top-flight thriller—smart and outrageously entertaining. Biology postgraduate, PhD hopeful, and single mom Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from defending her thesis on the saurian origin of birds when her academic supervisor, the highly respected yet widely despised Dr. Lars Helland, is found dead in his office chair at the University of Copenhagen. The police discover a copy of Anna’s thesis in the dead man’s bloody lap. When the autopsy suggests that Helland was murdered in a fiendishly ingenious way, brilliant but tormented young Police Superintendent Søren Marhauge begins the daunting task of unraveling the knotted skeins of interpersonal and intellectual intrigue among the scientists at the university. Everyone involved with the investigation— from Anna Bella Nor to Helland’s numerous rivals to Marhauge’s own ex-wife, who is pregnant with her current husband’s child— has something to hide, complicating the investigation and presenting the detective with the greatest professional and personal challenge of his career. From the Hardcover edition.

"this excellent book's separate storylines draw tight" --The Wall Street Journal"Gazan skillfully introduces characters and cleverly resolves side stories as the action builds to a thrilling denouement" --Publishers Weekly, starred reviewMaverick investigator Søren Marhauge returns in a high-stakes case that reveals a profit-motivated conspiracy with roots that extend all the way from the upper reaches of Big Pharma to the national government. When controversial Professor Kristian Storm is found hanged in his office, his assistant Marie Skov refuses to believe that he has committed suicide. The late scientist had uncovered a shocking truth involving immunology programs in the developing world during a recent research trip to West Africa. Marie believes he was silenced before he could share what he had learned. With help from the unlikely source of a Nobel Prize-winning rival of Storm's, former police detective Søren Marhauge takes the case, determined to prove what really happened to the professor. Interwoven with the fast-moving investigation are moving portraits of Skov's troubled family and Marhauge's complicated relationship with his girlfriend, another biologist. Marhauge once again battles his own demons as he pursues a cabal determined to protect its secrets at any cost.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gazan, S.J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gazan, S.J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gazan, S.J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Dinosaur Feather

The Arc of the Swallow

The Dinosaur Feather

The Arc of the Swallow