The Human Flies

Afterword

When working on this historical crime novel, I have used my background and experience as a historian, and have tried as far as possible to be true to context in terms of events both in 1968 and the Second World War. But it is nonetheless the literary author Hans Olav Lahlum, and not the better-known historian of the same name, who wrote this novel. And I too have taken the artistic liberty that authors so often use. The place names and streets names used in the novel are authentic, but most of the actual buildings are a product of my imagination. Thus the particularly keen reader will be able to find both Krebs’ Street and Erling Skjalgsson’s Street, but not the house numbers or buildings that are described in this novel. Similarly, it is not possible to find a police station in Sälen with the same topographical surroundings or architecture as that described in Chapter Nine.

A couple of the minor characters were directly inspired by historical figures. All the main characters, on the other hand, including the murder victim Harald Olesen, are entirely the product of the author’s imagination and are not based on any historical figure from either 1968 or the Second World War. And for those few minor characters inspired by historical figures, it must be emphasized that the literary depiction is not based on any historical involvement with a criminal investigation.

The Feldmann case, which is mentioned briefly, was a widely discussed court case from 1946 to 1947 in which two former border guides were acquitted of the murder of a Jewish couple during the war on the grounds of self-defence. This has been used as historical background in the novel, but has no direct parallel with the plot or any of the characters. However, several of the characters were inspired fully or in part by people I know today – including myself.

The head of fiction at Cappelen Damm, Anne Fløtaker, has been my most important adviser in terms of both the content and writing of this novel. I have also received useful feedback from the publisher, Anders Heger, and editor, Marius Wulfsberg. I would also like to give two thousand thanks to a group of personal advisers who read all or parts of the manuscript and gave me constructive comments about the content and/or language. This includes my sister, Ida Lahlum, and my good friends Ingrid Baukhol, Mina Finstad Berg, Ingrid Busterud, Anne Lise Fredlund, Kathrine Næss Hald, Hilde Harbo, Kristin Hatledal, Bjarte Leer-Salvesen, Torstein Lerhol, Espen Lie, Ellisiv Reppen, Jane Iren Solbrekken-Nygård, Karen Thue, Arne Tjølsen and Katrine Tjølsen. Ellisiv and also Mina both deserve a special mention for their continued interest in this project and for their practical help in connection with the final rounds of proofing and editing the manuscript.

Only time will tell whether my first crime novel will also be my last or if it will be the start of a historical crime series. However, I can only hope that The Human Flies will be as exciting for some readers as it has been for the author. Readers who have any comments or questions for the author can quite simply email them to hansolahlum@gmail.com or post them on the book’s Facebook page.

Gjøvik, 27 June 2010

Hans Olav Lahlum