American By Day: A Novel

Derek B. Miller

Apr 2018 · HarperCollins

About this ebook

A gripping and timely novel that follows Sigrid—the dry-witted detective from Derek B. Miller’s best-selling debut Norwegian by Night—from Oslo to the United States on a quest to find her missing brother.

She knew it was a weird place. She’d heard the stories, seen the movies, read the books. But now police Chief Inspector Sigrid Ødegård has to leave her native Norway and actually go there; to that land across the Atlantic where her missing brother is implicated in the mysterious death of a prominent African American academic—America.

Sigrid is plunged into a United States where race and identity, politics and promise, reverberate in every aspect of daily life. Working with—or, if necessary, against—the police, she must negotiate the local political minefields and navigate the backwoods of the Adirondacks to uncover the truth before events escalate further.

Refreshingly funny, slyly perceptive, American by Day is “a superb novel on all levels” (Times, UK).

“Ingenious. Humorous. Wonderful.”—Lee Child

Ratings and reviews

punfest, snark-fest, mystery, murder-investigation, twisty ----- *She is foreign, he can't place the accent though. The three most common foreign accents up here in upstate New York are French Canadian, Mexican, and Brooklyn, and she doesn't sound like any of the three. * That should give a clue about the humor! The mystery itself is quite well done, the suspense is fueled by red herrings, and plot twists, and each of the characters certainly are. The publisher's blurb gives hints and there is no need for spoilers, but the humor and godawful puns will keep you chortling long after the read is finished! I received a free copy in a Goodreads Giveaway. PS. We are Norsk.

About the author

Derek B. Miller is an American novelist, who worked in international affairs before turning to writing full-time. He is the author of five previous novels, all highly acclaimed: Norwegian by Night, The Girl in Green, American by Day, Radio Life and Quiet Time (an Audible Original). His work has been shortlisted for many awards, with Norwegian by Night winning the CWA John Creasey Dagger Award for best first crime novel, an eDunnit Award and the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award. How to Find Your Way in the Dark was a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award and a New York Times best mystery of 2021. 

Derek B. Miller is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College (BA), Georgetown (MA) and he earned his Ph.D. summa cum laude in international relations from The Graduate Institute in Geneva with post-graduate work at Oxford. He is currently connected to numerous peace and security research and policy centers in North America, Europe and Africa, and he worked with the United Nations for over a decade. He has lived abroad for over twenty-five years in Israel, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway and Spain.