AshehougAgency

Original Sin

When District Judge Ingvild Sunde is found brutally murdered in a car park, it immediately catches the full attention of the news media. Sunde had been the judge in a trafficking court case with ramifications to international crime organizations, and suspicion is led partly in this direction, partly towards her husband Axel Hammer, also a judge. What the police doesn’t know is that the victim had a hidden past, and that she shortly before her death had decided to reveal her secret.

Axel Hammer wants the lawyer Vera L. Cappelen to be his defence counsel. Opening her own investigation on Hammer’s request, she discovers evidence leading to South Africa.

ORIGINAL SIN is a frightening and worryingly topical suspense story about trafficking, about daring to testify in court – and about regretting that bitterly. It is also the story about a defence counsel who never gives up, even if the threats toward her get more alarming and aggressive the further into the case she gets.

Praise for ORIGINAL SIN:

“Convincing … Deeply authentic from law circles … the elegant and smooth writing makes you want to continue reading. You won’t put it down.”
(Recommended in TV2s God Morgen Norge by Terje Stemland)

”A shocking story …deeply authentic about court cases and the court system”
(Aftenposten)

”Groth shows her strength in a solidly constructed crime story, where the element of chance is kept at an acceptable level, and her own experience as a lawyer provides credibility … Groth succeeds in saying a lot about the perhaps worst form of crime, the inhuman slave trade in women, in this case from Eastern Europe.”
(VG)

“Interesting crime dealing with a serious topic … Lots of suspects, lots of hints and a mystery that is gradually uncovered, just the way we like it … Vibecke Groth lands very well with her latest crime novel. The writing is sharp, and we look forward to more good books in the years to come.”
(Bokavisen)

" Original Sin belongs to the category 'impossible to put down'."
(Advokatbladet, a magazine for Norwegian lawyers)

“A real page-turner.”
( Emeralddream.pointblog.no)

First published: 2009, Aschehoug
Vibecke Groth: Biography and bibliography