The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf

In the hilarious new novel in the best-selling Detective Varg series, Ulf Varg will need to solve both a sensitive crime and his own delicate dilemma if he hopes to preserve the peace.

The Department of Sensitive Crimes is downsizing in light of a recent decrease in sensitive crime, and staff members are wondering who among them will be transferred elsewhere. As the bickering among colleagues intensifies, Detective Ulf Varg tries his best to stay above the fray. But when Anna, a longtime friend and coworker, appears to blame him for an old case that went sideways, it seems she may be putting her own job prospects above their friendship.

In the midst of all this, Ulf embarks on an important inquiry: a man’s cabin has mysteriously disappeared, and Ulf is tasked with finding out what happened. How exactly does one steal a house? And, more to the point, how does one track down a stolen house? Meanwhile, a promising treatment for deafness in dogs has been announced, and Ulf’s dog, Martin, might be the perfect patient.

This latest novel is another virtuoso, farcical installment in the series that defines the genre that Alexander McCall Smith is single-handedly championing: Scandi blanc.