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A new McCall Smith "novel" complete in this blog!
Published: 4/10/2012 1:28 PM
Last Modified: 4/10/2012 1:28 PM

I spent a portion of Tuesday morning talking with Alexander McCall Smith, in advance of his coming to Tulsa next week as part of Tulsa Reads.

He mentioned that he was going to spend the rest of the day finishing two novels – the latest in his “Sunday Philosophy Club” series featuring Isabel Dalhousie, and the final 10 installments of the latest segment of his on-going serial novel “44 Scotland Street,” which is published each weekday in the Scotsman newspaper.

What he didn't mention was that, about an hour or so after our conversation, was the he would also complete two episodes of his latest creation – the adventures of a dour Swedish detective named Varg Ulf.

Or is that “Ulf Varg”? Actually the character started out as Varg Ulf, but the most recent tales have the names reversed. Either way, it’s the same – both halves of the name are words for “wolf” (Varg is Swedish, Ulf is Danish).

Haven’t come across these tales in your perusals of the local bookstore or library shelves? Not surprising. The adventures of Varg Ulf/Ulf Varg appear only on McCall Smith’s Twitter feed.

They began Feb. 7, with the following post: “Good name for a character in a Scandinavian crime novel: Varg Ulf (Wolf in Swedish followed by Wolf in Danish). Swedish pa, Danish ma.”

Over the next few days, McCall Smith posted that Varg Ulf was with the Malmo CID, and married to Susi Wilk (the Finnish and Polish words for “wolf”), who had left him to find “happiness in the abstract” – namely with an abstract painter.

“New Swedish crime novel: Varg Ulf, Malmo CID, finds body of missing person. Body goes missing too. Varg Ulf goes missing. Winter comes.”

It’s an obvious jibe at the popularity of the dour Scandinavian crime stories that have become a cottage industry in mystery publishing, thanks to the success of Henning Mankell’s Wallander novels and the global phenomenon of Stieg Larssen’s “Millennium” trilogy, with its dragon-tattooed heroine.

And these posts give readers additional insight into McCall Smith’s active imagination and impish sense of humor.

As for the “novel” he wrote in the wake of our conversation, here it is in its entirety:

“Ulf Varg was called to attend a very unusual crime. The victim was stabbed several times at knee-level. Survived, but saw nothing.

“Varg asked his assistant for a map of the area. “Look at this,” he said, pointing to nearby Malmo Home for Those of Short Stature.

“They went to this home. Only one dwarf in residence. Varg bent down and arrested him.

“Suspect confessed. ‘But how did you know it was me?’ he asked. ‘Elimination,’ answered Varg. End.”



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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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