Most Recommended Books

Track reading, wishlists & new-book alerts

Get
Skip to content
Share:

Jørn Lier Horst Books in Order

Explore crime novels by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger in order, with book lists, plot summaries, series background and suggestions on the best reading path.

Last updated: 5 new books added

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).

View

Jørn Lier Horst books in publication order

Sort:

13 books

Dregs

by Jørn Lier Horst

2010

Severed feet begin washing ashore near Stavern, leaving William Wisting with bodies to identify and no clear explanation. As he searches missing-person records, his daughter Line pursues a story that may touch the same troubling past.

Closed for Winter

by Jørn Lier Horst

2011

A burglarized holiday cottage and a battered corpse interrupt the quiet autumn along Norway’s coast. William Wisting investigates a growing series of deaths while worrying about his daughter Line, who has moved into a nearby cabin.

The Hunting Dogs

by Jørn Lier Horst

2012

Evidence tampering in an old murder case brings William Wisting’s career under scrutiny and leads to his suspension. With a conviction in doubt, he and his journalist daughter Line revisit the investigation before another killer can strike.

The Caveman

by Jørn Lier Horst

2013

A neighbour’s body lies unnoticed for months, prompting Line Wisting to investigate his lonely life. Meanwhile, her father William follows another death into an investigation involving an American serial killer and visiting FBI agents.

Ordeal

by Jørn Lier Horst

2015

Sofie Lund finds a gun inside a safe in her late grandfather’s house and takes it to the police. The discovery unsettles two investigations, pushing William Wisting to question conclusions his colleagues consider settled.

Six of Crows

by Jørn Lier Horst

2015

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker assembles six outcasts for a dangerous heist that could make them rich. Crossing from Ketterdam into hostile territory, the crew must overcome rivalries and distrust to complete a mission few expect them to survive.

When It Grows Dark

by Jørn Lier Horst

2016

In 1983, young constable William Wisting is raising twins and finding his place in the police. A bullet-riddled car hidden in an old barn gives him an investigation that reaches into a much older mystery.

The Katharina Code

by Jørn Lier Horst

2017

For twenty-four years, William Wisting has revisited Katharina Haugen’s disappearance and her unexplained written code. When her husband also vanishes, a second missing woman draws the detective toward questions he can no longer treat as routine.

The Cabin

by Jørn Lier Horst

2018

Millions in unexplained cash turn up in a dead politician's coastal cabin, drawing William Wisting toward a disappearance fifteen years earlier. To connect the cases, he must work with an adversary and confront dangers uncomfortably close to home.

The Inner Darkness

by Jørn Lier Horst

2019

A convicted serial killer escapes while leading police to a victim's grave, forcing William Wisting into an urgent manhunt. Another recent murder bears the same signature, raising the possibility that the fugitive has a dangerous accomplice.

A Question of Guilt

by Jørn Lier Horst

2020

Twenty years after a teenager's murder, William Wisting receives a letter suggesting her convicted boyfriend was innocent. Tracking its sender and unraveling its clues could expose the real killer before another life is lost to a concealed injustice.

The Night Man

by Jørn Lier Horst

2021

A severed head and a body in a lake shatter Larvik's quiet, and further deaths spread panic. William Wisting follows the trail into a criminal network whose elusive leader may threaten both the town and its investigator.

The Lake

by Jørn Lier Horst

2025

Draining Farris Lake exposes remains and belongings connected to two disappearances years apart. Convinced the cases share a hidden link, William Wisting must reconstruct what happened before the lake surrendered the secrets someone hoped it would keep.

Where to start with Jørn Lier Horst

Begin the English sequence: Dregs → Closed for Winter → The Hunting Dogs
For Wisting’s early career: When It Grows Dark
For cold cases: The Katharina Code → The Cabin → The Inner Darkness → A Question of Guilt

Jørn Lier Horst sub-series and character series

Cold Case Quartet books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "The Katharina Code"

    The Katharina Code

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2017Cold Case Quartet, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "The Cabin"

    The Cabin

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2018
  3. Book cover for "The Inner Darkness"

    The Inner Darkness

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2019
  4. Book cover for "A Question of Guilt"

    A Question of Guilt

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2020

William Wisting books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Dregs"

    Dregs

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2010William Wisting, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Closed for Winter"

    Closed for Winter

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2011William Wisting, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "The Hunting Dogs"

    The Hunting Dogs

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2012William Wisting, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "The Caveman"

    The Caveman

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2013William Wisting, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Ordeal"

    Ordeal

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2015William Wisting, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "When It Grows Dark"

    When It Grows Dark

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2016William Wisting, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "The Katharina Code"

    The Katharina Code

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2017Cold Case Quartet, Book 1
  8. Book cover for "The Cabin"

    The Cabin

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2018
  9. Book cover for "The Inner Darkness"

    The Inner Darkness

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2019
  10. Book cover for "A Question of Guilt"

    A Question of Guilt

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2020
  11. Book cover for "The Night Man"

    The Night Man

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2021
  12. Book cover for "The Lake"

    The Lake

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2025

Standalone Jørn Lier Horst books

  1. Book cover for "Six of Crows"

    Six of Crows

    by Jørn Lier Horst

    2015Dregs, Book 1

Author bio

Jørn Lier Horst is a Norwegian crime writer whose years in the police helped shape the William Wisting novels. Born on 27 February 1970, he grew up in Bamble in southern Norway. His stories often return to the coastal communities around Larvik and Stavern, places he came to know through his work as an investigator.

Reading came before writing. As a boy, Horst enjoyed the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Enid Blyton's Famous Five, then discovered the more frightening possibilities of suspense through Stephen King's Cujo. He has also recalled writing stories at school and receiving encouragement from teachers, even though his later school studies focused on business and accounting.

He joined the police in Larvik in 1995 and eventually became a head of investigations in Vestfold. Interviews with victims, bereaved families and suspects gave him a close view of how serious crime changes lives. Those encounters inform the grief, anger and uncertainty in his fiction, alongside the practical details of collecting evidence and following leads.

His first novel, Nøkkelvitnet, appeared in 2004 and drew on an unsolved real murder case.

That debut introduced William Wisting, a detective Horst deliberately made decent and conscientious. In an interview, he explained that he wanted a policeman closer to the colleagues he knew, with concern for other people at the centre of his work. Henning Mankell's Faceless Killers, which Horst read while studying at the police academy, influenced both the kind of writer and the kind of investigator he wanted to become.

English readers can meet Wisting in Dregs and Closed for Winter, then follow him through cases such as The Hunting Dogs and The Caveman. His journalist daughter, Line, provides another way into the investigations, sometimes pursuing questions that overlap with her father's work. Cold cases are a recurring interest, and The Katharina Code opens a sequence that returns to crimes whose consequences have survived for years.

Horst left the police in 2013 to write full time.

His books also reach younger readers through the CLUE mysteries and Detective Agency No. 2, created with illustrator Hans Jørgen Sandnes. Writing for children gives him a different pace and a more direct style, while preserving the pleasure of clues and discovery. In a 2024 interview, he described suspense as the curiosity that grows around an unanswered question, with weather and places helping to deepen the atmosphere before a mystery is resolved.

Recognition for his adult fiction includes the Norwegian Booksellers' Prize for Closed for Winter, and the Riverton Prize and Glass Key for The Hunting Dogs. His work has expanded through collaborations with Thomas Enger and Jan-Erik Fjell, as well as screen adaptations of Wisting and his children's mysteries. Across those different forms, he continues to draw on two experiences that run through his career: the reader's desire to understand a mystery and the investigator's responsibility to consider the people caught inside it.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shape MRB and its growth.

Comments

Did we miss something? Have feedback?

Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts

We only use your email to notify you about replies.

All comments are moderated.

Discover and track your reading on the go

Track your reading, manage wishlists, and get notified when new books are added.