Introducing Aud Torvingen

Bruce Von Stiers

Aud Torvingen lives in the Atlanta area. She used to be a cop but is now a security expert and sometime private investigator. Aud is on a late night run when she literally runs into a woman coming in her direction. Seconds after the collision, a house behind Aud explodes.

This is the beginning of The Blue Place. Originally published in 1998, it is the first novel in a trilogy featuring Aud. It was written by Nicola Griffith. Labeled more than once as ‘90's noir, the novel has garnered praise from writers such as Dennis Lehane, Robert Crais and Lee Childs. And Nicola's writing has been compared to both Andrew Vacchs and James Lee Burke. Known as a multi-genre author, Nicola was also recently named as the Grandmaster of the 2024 Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards.

Aud can't help but try to find out what caused the explosion. What happened and who was the man who died in it? But, before getting any answers, she's confronted by the woman she ran into.

It seems that the woman, Julia Lyons-Bennet, is suspicious of Aud. She thinks that maybe Aud had something to do with the explosion, which killed a friend of hers.

An uneasy alliance finds Julia hiring Aud to investigate a possible fake painting. Julia thinks that a painting she's shipping off to Europe might be a fake, despite its stellar provenance.

Aud views the world with a stark realism. I can see how Nicola writes about what Aud observes and thinks about things draws a comparison to Andrew Vacchs' character Burke.

The more things move along, Aud and Julia begin to develop a relationship.

One of the more interesting things about the novel is Aud's family dynamic. She is both Norwegian and American. Her father was a Chicago businessman and her mother a Norwegian diplomat. Aud spent her youth living in either Norway or London, where her mother was stationed. She hasn't seen her father in years and rarely speaks or visits with the mother.

One of the other interesting things about the novel is its LGBT elements. Early on, the reader learns that Aud is a lesbian. There is one segment early in the novel where Aud picks up another woman for a one-night stand. The sex scene is spelled out with some intensity, but without being overly graphic or lewd. Steamier than the Spenser novels but not as graphic as many modern detective noir tales.

The investigation and subsequent relationship between Aud and Julia take them from Atlanta to London. And then accompanying Julia to Oslo, Norway, the two of them are going to take a vacation. But circumstances lead Aud to do a solo trek in the Norwegian fjords. Nicola's descriptions of the lush and sometimes dangerous fjord terrain are probably why there are comparisons to James Lee Burke, with his details of New Iberia, Louisiana and surrounding areas. Aud also seems to be great at woodworking and Nicola adds some interesting tidbits about that craft. Aud is a martial arts expert, so some of those elements are sprinkled throughout the novel, including her instructing a class of police officers.

A series of missteps and miscalculations lead to a precarious and possibly deadly confrontation between Aud and a team of hired killers.

The Blue Place is a really good novel. It's not exactly a hard-boiled detective novel but has some of those elements. Aud is a badass, who has built up walls to isolate herself. But the budding relationship with Julia could possibly break down those walls. If danger and betrayal doesn't get in the way.

Earlier I mentioned that The Blue Place is the first novel in a trilogy. It, along with the other two novels in the trilogy, Stay and Always, have now been re-released and published by Picodor. They are available at most major book outlets.

To learn more about this novel and its author, visit https://nicolagriffith.com/

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© 2025 Bruce E Von Stiers