1222 is a Hanne Wilhelmsen novel by Anne Holt, the godmother of Norwegian crime fiction (according to Jo Nesbo). Her novels have been called a Scandinavian phenomenon, which is what the call every translated series now.
1222 has some of my favourite tropes for a mystery: several characters introduced on a train trip to the Northern reaches of Norway, and others as they are trapped in an isolated mountain hotel after the train derails in spectacular fashion in an oncoming blizzard. I'm always interested when people are stuck together in adverse conditions, and to top it off, there is a murderer lose on the premises.
Anne Holt has created a gay ex-police woman character named Hanne Wilhelmsen. 1222 takes place in the middle of the series, so in earlier novels she might have been more active. After a case in which a bullet lodged in her spine, she is now paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. After the massive derailment, the passengers are removed to the nearby hotel where they camp out in the lobby. Magnus Streng is a doctor who treats Hanne's injuries, a dwarf who is a curmudgeon like Hanne, and they quickly unite to analyze the situation.
With everyone trapped at the hotel and no communication in the storm (which becomes known as the Finse Disaster) nerves become frayed, factions are formed, and that night a priest is murdered. There are several people present who knew him, and many scenarios which could be the answer to who-done-it. As they investigate, another murder takes place. At the last station they stopped at, another car was added to the train, with unknown travellers or cargo aboard and protected by private security. Could this be involved?
Hanne is reluctantly pulled into the investigations. Being in a wheelchair, she has a different outlook on people. Often ignored or literally talked over, it's easy to disappear into the background and she is one of the most irritated and forthright detectives I've come across lately. Her curmudgeon attitude was refreshing combined with Magnus Streng, who can relate to her position being a sort of outsider himself. Both very intelligent and observant, they make a great team.
Interspersed throughout the novel are great details of being trapped in the hotel, like the snow covered windows cracking under the pressure, someone trying to escape the hotel by an upstairs window only to immediately freeze in the blizzard, and even the chapter headings of the Beaufort Scale, measuring the wind speed and severity of the blizzard, which adds an increasing sense of dread and claustrophobia.
Anne Holt was a journalist, police woman, lawyer and also Norway's Minister of Justice in the 90's. With her gay detective Hanne, she's created an original character who is tough, compassionate, surly, and observant - a great addition to crime novels I think. I liked 1222 enough to want to read earlier in the series to learn more about the character. It seemed liked the other novels would be more in the gritty, police procedural style. 1222 was involving and non-violent, the crime novel on holiday. For me, the setting of 1222 was a perfect introduction to Anne Holt.
If you are looking for a new detective, check out the Hanne Wilhelmsen crime series.
2011 / Hardcover / 313 pages
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