About the Book:
The small community of Akranes is devastated when a young man dies in a
mysterious house fire, and when Detective Elma and her colleagues from
West Iceland CID discover the fire was arson, they become embroiled in an
increasingly perplexing case involving multiple suspects. What’s more, the
dead man’s final online search raises fears that they could be investigating
not one murder, but two.
A few months before the fire, a young Dutch woman takes a job as an au pair
in Iceland, desperate to make a new life for herself after the death of her
father. But the seemingly perfect family who employs her turns out to have
problems of its own and she soon discovers she is running out of people to
turn to.
As the police begin to home in on the truth, Elma, already struggling to
come to terms with a life-changing event, finds herself in mortal danger as it
becomes clear that someone has secrets they’ll do anything to hide…
My Thoughts:
Well here we are at book three in the Forbidden Iceland series, a series that goes from strength to strength as Eva and Orenda Books continue their partnership. A series worth diving into if you haven’t already/
The quality of the writing is top notch and paints a perfect picture of the chilling atmosphere of this story and bleakness of Icelandic scenery. This book throws up five suspects, all who have motive for the crime(s) and the investigation is well plotted and carried out by Elma and her team. Suspects abound but who is the guilty party? You will need to invest in a copy, read it and find out. You will not be disappointed.
This is a slow burn of a book with a pace of which Icelandic life to be. There is no bright lights and intrusive technology getting in the way of the narrative. It is very stripped back and at times cold and bleak but nevertheless superb for all that.
As I said earlier, a superb narrative, superb series with quality writing and well rounded characters. A series of books I encourage all readers of quality Scandi Noir to invest in. Highly recommended.
The Author:
Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva moved to Trondheim, Norway to study my
MSc in Globalisation when she was 25. After moving back home having
completed her MSc, she knew it was time to start working on her novel.
Eva has wanted to write books since she was 15 years old, having won a
short story contest in Iceland.
Eva worked as a stewardess to make ends meet while she wrote her first
novel, The Creak on the Stairs. The book went on to win the CWA Debut
Dagger, the Blackbird Award, was shortlisted (twice) for the Capital Crime
Readers’ Awards, and became a number one bestseller in Iceland. The
critically acclaimed Girls Who Lie (book two in the Forbidden Iceland
series) soon followed, with Night Shadows (book three) following suit in
July 2022. Eva lives with her husband and three children in Reykjavík.
bertyboy123 