The Last Days and Death of a Scribe

Håkan Nesser

Gunnar Barbarotti is back in the seventh instalment of the million-copy bestselling ‘Barbarotti’ series.

‘A writer’s last days and death’ is the title of a unfinished short manuscript by the almost successful author Franz J Lunde. The text appears to be an eerie description of Lunde’s own experiences during the autumn of 2019, and after making the rounds, the manuscript lands on Gunnar Barbarotti’s table.

Strange things seem to be happening in the world of publishing. Against his will, Barbarotti is drawn in to the drama, but shouldn’t he be spending his time doing more important things? As the global pandemic hits in 2020, Gunnar Barbarotti is feeling as though concentrating on this minor case is like playing a game of chess while the world is erupting in a volcano outburst, but the darkness and the mystery of the case keeps drawing him in.

Before The Left-Handed League (2018) six years had past since we last read about Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti. Now he’s back again in the seventh instalment of the series.

The ‘Barbarotti’ series follows Detective Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti, and originally consisted of five instalments published between 2006 and 2012. The celebrated Barbarotti books has sold 2,5 million copies in Sweden, and more than five million copies internationally.