Frolich is involved in a raid of a small shop where illicit activities are presumed to be occurring. The sting has been carefully orchestrated such that the shop should be empty of customers lest innocent bystanders be injured. However, there is one youngish woman in the establishment at the time. Frolich essentially tackles the woman to prevent her from being inadvertently shot.

Frolich notices the woman is surreptitiously stuffing packs of cigarettes into her backpack. Though petty crime is not the object of this police search, he warns the young woman that he is a police officer and she might want to replace the cigarettes. Frolich doesn’t think she is involved in the criminal activities taking place in the store but she will be a witness to the sting.

The woman, whose name is Elizabeth, is intriguing to Frank. Even though he knows better he lets himself get personally involved with her. His regret deepens when he learns that Elizabeth is the sister of a man with a long and extensive criminal record. He begins to realize the Elizabeth has arranged their affair, but by then, his emotional and hormonal attraction to her cannot be denied. When Frank’s supervisor learns of Frank’s affair he demands that Frank take a leave of absence from duty. He is angry, ashamed, but determined to get to the bottom of this tangled state of affairs, not an easy task since he has become persona non grata.

Of late there have been numerous Scandinavian mystery authors whose novels have been translated into English. Because they have first been published in their native languages, their countrymen have vetted them for English readers. We are lucky to have the privilege of having the best efforts translated first though we have to wait longer to get them. K.O. Dahl has been favorably compared to Henning Mankell, and, though both authors are capable writers, their style and emphasis is different. Dahl’s story depends on a careful choreography of movements of characters which plays out in a highly sophisticated crime.

For those readers unfamiliar with Oslo and its surrounding environs, it is necessary to pay close attention to the topography, as well as the climate of the region. There are maps at the beginning of the book, but many of the places that figure prominently in the action are not indicated on the map. The names do not roll comfortably off the English speaker’s tongue, but the positioning of the key players in the novel is important so it is wise to develop some formula to deal with this problem.

Don Bartlett, the translator has done an admirable job of rendering the author’s words into workable English. Mr. Bartlett appears to be British, however, so U.S. readers will have to figure out that a snow catcher is a snow shovel, and a dummy is a baby’s pacifier. Whether we English readers have Mr. Bartlett or Mr. Dahl to thank for the vivid descriptions of the landscape, I know not, but as a reader I was transported to the wilds of Norway effortlessly.

The reader gets a taste of the author’s wry sense of humor. He makes an offhand comment on the Oslo Stock Exchange and its questionable honesty that can be appreciated even in translation. In addition, there is a subplot which involves the theft of a work of art. A bit of information about identifying painters by their work serves to educate the reader in this area.

Although The Fourth Man requires some effort on the reader’s part to understand the geography of Oslo and its environs, the novel rewards the reader with a carefully developed puzzle that has no loose ends and makes perfect sense.

--Andy Plonka