American by Day

She knew it was a weird place. She’d heard the stories, seen the moves, read the books. But now 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.

"Leavened throughout with Miller’s wry reflections on Norway’s “chronic sense of discontentment,” this incandescent exposé of European and American mores profoundly entertains and provokes disturbing questions about personal and societal values."

— Publishers Weekly, Starred Review, 2018

"We called Derek B. Miller's first novel, Norwegian by Night, "moving yet never sentimental, intricate yet effortless." His second novel, The Girl in Green, "crackles with heart, charm and dark honesty." In his third, American by Day, Miller revisits a character from Norwegian, Sigrid Ødegård, with his now-expected originality and humanity. [...] Miller dissects race, depression, politics and guns with a relevant, discerning eye. This is a novel to savor for its compassion, heart and  imagination."

— Shelf Awareness, 2018

 Longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. 

The Next Great American Crime Writer May Be Living in Norway, Bill Morris, The Millions, April 2018