Scandinavian literature summaries - 2023

Short summary - London
Jo Nesbø

Plane, flight New York - London, business class. In the adjacent chairs is a man who flies for work and will be in London for only an hour, and a woman in trousers and a jumper that do not match very well. She cries and whispers that her husband Robert is cheating on her with her friend Melissa.

She wants to die so as not to be a hindrance to them. Suddenly, the woman begins to argue that the presence of children in business class is unacceptable. People may want to rest, and children will disturb them with their whims or crying. So she draws him into the conversation, they get to know each other. The man introduces himself as a psychologist who flies to give a consultation. The woman's name is Maria. She stops crying and orders a drink. The smell of her perfume causes a man to associate with the image of another, already deceased.

Maria reveals that she has contracted with the firm to kill herself, which will look like suicide or accidental death. She will be killed within three weeks. This is a solid firm, whose office is located in Manhattan in a law office. But you can't tell anyone about it.

Suddenly, Maria offers to make love in the end. She says that she will be waiting for him in the toilet. While everyone on the plane is asleep, no one will notice them, especially since she flies to Reykjavik an hour after landing in London. Then he changes his mind and offers to stay for a day in London. She comes alive. Both are discussing the plan for this event, when she suddenly realizes that he is the one who will kill her.

The man does not deny. He also entered into a non-disclosure agreement and cannot fail to fulfill the order - the punishment will be severe. Meanwhile, a spark of love flies between them. They again ask the stewardess to bring them strong drinks and begin to make escape plans.

He proposes to disappear in France, from there to follow to Cape Town to cover his tracks. The woman gets tired and falls asleep. The man again remembers his beloved, who died. He slipped poison into Mary's drink, and she dies in her sleep. Everything will look like a heart attack. He'll see to it that he's pronounced dead in his sleep and fly back home to New York.