– Liberating to say goodbye to Department Q.
– I had decided from the very beginning that there would be ten books in the series, says the Danish author that there will be no more books about Carl Mörck and life in the Danish special unit.
Sodium chloridebook nine in the crime series about Department Q, will be launched according to Aschehoug in Norwegian on 1 June.
– It will be liberating to say goodbye to Department Q. I have spent 15 years with this story, says the author.
Juss Adler-Olsen (71)
is a former publishing director, editor-in-chief and film composer. The books about Carl Mørck and Department Q have sold over 20 million copies worldwide and have been published in 42 countries. In addition, the Copenhagen-based author has written three independent novels.
– Where I write in the future, I do not know. I have so much else I want to spend my time on: family, friends and music, he says. And can the fact rejoice that the books about Mörck and co. has found readers across large parts of the world. They have also been the subject of film adaptation in Denmark – and soon the filming of an American TV series, which will consist of one season, one per book, will begin.
The plot is then moved to England for the occasion, and the script is written by Scott Frank, who, among other things, has been involved in writing series and films such as “Godless”, “Minority Report” and “The Queen’s Gambit”.
– I’m looking forward to this. In a TV series, you can go deeper into the characters, says Adler-Olsen.
Sold the rights
In Denmark, Mörck has been wasted by acquaintances such as Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Ulrich Thomsen in a number of films, but the authors have not had much to do with these films.
– I did not interfere in it, I sold the rights. The films could probably have been made in a different way, but I did not have the time or desire to go into it, he quickly beats.
In the new book, «Sodium Chloride», Mörck & co. to find the person or persons who have been behind a series of bestial murders. At the same time, something that happened in one of the earlier books has reappeared, with major consequences for Mörck.
How this ends we first find out in book number ten, says the author.
Current topics
– I started with the project in 2005, when I knew that there would be ten novels, and that they would be connected, says the author. And adds that the broad lines were clear in his head when he tackled the story.
But each book has nevertheless been given a current theme, such as the refugee crisis and the covid-19 pandemic.
– I could not just ignore the pandemic, but I did not want to wear out people with details, so I made it deal with the idiotic thing that the police had to interrogate suspects over the phone.
For someone who is used to writing so much, and always has a plot going on, it may well be that it will be difficult to remove the fiction completely. In any case, Adler-Olsen says that after book ten about Mörck, he has plans for another new book – this time with the plot set in China.
– I have come up with the ultimate chamber crime, says the author wisely.