#nordicnoir

[fictionfromafar]

Murder Under the Midnight Sun By Stella Blómkvist

Murder Under the Midnight Sun

Stella Blómkvist

Translated by Quentin Bates

Corylus Books

Publication Date: 3 May 2024

Corylus Books have shown their commitment to bringing to an English audience the work of the mysterious author of Icelandic lawyer Stella Blómkvist with the publication last year of Murder At The Residence. Following quickly afterwards Murder Under the Midnight Son offers another compelling and multidimensional story. Whether you have read the earlier novel or not will in no way impact your enjoyment of this story and I must admit I have not investigated if these were originally consecutive stories in their original language.

After an initial meeting, the premise of Blómkvist's most next assignment is to solve the mystery of the fate of a young Scottish woman, who disappeared nearly a decade earlier. In a sparsely populated country like Iceland, the possible locations a body could be left are almost endless, yet the family seek closure.

Meanwhile a journalist friend of her's has excitedly told her about revelations that will not only create huge headlines in his newspaper but will also form the basis of a forthcoming expose book. However when his intent appears to be revealed, his predicament will also take some of Blómkvist's attention.

There are more components to the book. Intriguingly, there is a strong historical context to this story, particularly in respect of Iceland's role in the cold war, but also to the countries involvement following the more recent breakup of Yugoslavia. An additional layer of mystery is added when Blómkvist makes a gruesome discovery within a glacier which later appears to have a very distant origin. Given this book is just over two hundred pages long, a lot is packed into a relatively small number of pages.

There are several surprises ahead which I certainly did not guess. Personally I do feel that some elements of the story are more effective than others. Stella Blómkvist is shown to be self determined and headstrong in all aspects of her life and while this makes her a fascinating lead character for a crime novel, I did find that a particular personal relationship she developed appeared to me a little less plausible, particularly given the ethics the lawyers have to work to. Something supposedly spontaneous could also be viewed as exploitative. It will be interesting to see if this is a theme that endures in more of the author's novels and if our protagonist actually has some characteristics of the anti-hero.

These comments not withstanding, there is much more for the reader to get their teeth into with this book. While originally written 14 years ago, there is a timeliness which keeps the themes within the story very relevant. The distinctive touches featured in the narrative give the book quite a unique outlook which provided a welcome sidestep to some of the more downbeat viewpoints often featured in the Nordic subgenre. The story combines the isolation of the outdoors with the urban environment of Reykjavik, thus offering effective contrasts. The intertwined mysteries gradually unravel in a way which effectively keeps the readers' attention. If you've not yet picked up on Stella Stella Blómkvist, now is certainly the time to do so.

The blurb:

Murder Under the Midnight Sun by Stella Blómkvist What does a woman do when her husband's charged with the frenzied killing of her father and her best friend? She calls in Stella Blómkvist to investigate - however unwelcome the truth could turn out to be. Smart, ruthless and with a flexible moral code all of her own, razor-tongued lawyer Stella Blómkvist is also dealing with a desperate deathbed request to track down a young woman who vanished a decade ago. It looks like a dead end, but she agrees to pick up the stone-cold trail - and she never gives up, even if the police did a long time ago. Then there's the mystery behind the arm that emerges from an ice cap, with a mysterious ruby ring on one frozen finger? How does this connect to another unexplained disappearance, and why were the police at the time so keen to write it off as a tragic accident? Brutal present-day crimes have their roots in the past that some people would prefer to stay forgotten. As Stella pieces together the fragments, is she getting too close to the truth and making herself a target for ruthless men determined to conceal secret sins?

Stella Blómkvist has been a bestselling series in Iceland since the first book appeared in the 1990s and has attracted an international audience since the TV series starring Heiða Reed aired. The books have been published under a pseudonym that still hasn’t been cracked. The question of Stella Blómkvist’s identity is one that crops up regularly, but it looks like it’s going to remain a mystery…

Quentin Bates has personal and professional roots in Iceland that go very deep. He is an author of series of nine crime novels and novellas featuring the Reykjavik detective Gunnhildur (Gunna) Gísladóttir. In addition to his own fiction, he has translated many works of Iceland’s coolest writers into English, including books by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Guðlaugur Arason, Einar Kárason, Óskar Guðmundsson, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Jónína Leosdottir and Ragnar Jónasson. Quentin was instrumental in launching Iceland Noir in 2013, the crime fiction festival in Reykjavik.

Paperback and eBook publication date: 3rd May 2024ISBN: 978-1-7392989-4-4 Price 9.99 (3.59 Kindle edition)https://corylusbooks.com/ Twitter: @CorylusB @graskeggur https://www.facebook.com/CorylusBookshttps://www.facebook.com/graskeggur https://www.facebook.com/stella.blomkvist

Many thanks to Corylus Books for an advance copy of this book and to Ewa Sherman for inclusion in the blog tour. Please check out the other reviews of this book as shown on the above tour poster.

[tidvis-games]

Steam Summer sale!

Hi everyone! The Widow's Boutique is now 55% off for the Steam Summer sale :D

Get your copy today! And please consider leaving a review :D

🌟✨ Discover "The Widow's Boutique" ✨🌟

Immerse yourself in a Nordic noir Visual Novel where drama, dresses, and danger await! Step into the shoes of Mrs. Sem, a recent widow in Christiania, navigating prejudice and tough times while running her inherited drapery business. Inspired by history, this game offers a thrilling blend of smuggling, espionage, and romantic pursuits.

Your choices shape the story with 15 unique endings, so choose wisely and be prepared for shady deals and social intrigue. Will you triumph or fall victim to the consequences?

[rosemariecawkwell]

Review: Pursued By Death, by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett

Description When Varg Veum reads the newspaper headline ‘YOUNG MAN MISSING’, he realises he’s seen the youth just a few days earlier – at a crossroads in the countryside, with his two friends. It turns out that the three were on their way to a demonstration against a commercial fish-farming facility in the tiny village of Solvik, north of Bergen. Varg heads to Solvik, initially out of…

[idagyllensten]

[marypicken]

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen  by Jenny Lund Madsen  translated by  Megan E. Turney @JennyLundMadsen @OrendaBooks @meganeturney @RandomTTours

Thirty Days of Darkness is a terrific read, full of wit and yet beautifully dark and atmospheric. I thoroughly enjoyed this sparkling debut.

Source: Review copyPublication: Paperback – May 9th from Orenda BooksPP: 300ISBN-13: 978-1914585616 A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then the first body appears… Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical…

[miriamvowen]

Stigma by Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst #Norway

#Blogtour Stigma by Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst @EngerThomas @LierHorst @OrendaBooks @annecater #RandomThingsTours #BlixAndRamm #NordicNoir

[starkylovehun-blog]

Couldn’t resist taking this classic shot on my way home today. . . . . . . . #woodlandcemetery #gunnarasplund #sigurdlewerentz #architecture #monochrome #nordicnoir https://www.instagram.com/p/CqVSwTcMXdL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[fredhandbag]

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Day! Blaze Me a Sun is Nordic Noir from Christoffer Carlsson. "A call comes into the police station. A man claims to have attacked his first victim ans says he will do it again. Officer Sven Jorgensson arrives at the crime scene as the victim takes her last breath.. He becomes obsessed with the case even as two more fall victim. He retires before he can solve it and stays haunted by the victims. Years later a novelist returns home and begins looking into the case. Sven's son helps him revisit old evidence and interviews. What they find shows how far a town will go to protect their own..." There is a melancholy to characters in Nordic crime fiction - an almost fatalistic view of the world. Maybe it's because the day lasts for a couple of hours in the winter. This book is not a police procedural but looks more at how a crime can affect law enforcement and the people of a town. The story starts with the assassination of Palme, the Swedish Prime Minister on the same night as the first attack. Then it slows down as Sven tries to make headway on the killer. It's not traditional police work - just Sven trying to work things out. The story picks up as the novelist digs into some of the inconsistencies that no one ever followed up on. The ending is tragic and one you will not guess. Fans of Scandinavian fiction will enjoy this book from Carlsson. Are you a fan of Nordic Noir? #blazemeasun #christoffercarlsson #nordicnoir #crimebythebook #hogarth #randomhouse #scandinaviancrimefiction #bookstagram #bookshelves #booknerd #readinglife #bookphotography #bookcommunity #bookblogger #sodacityreads #suspensebook #bookhaul #literarycrimefiction #homelibrary #thrillerbooks #domesticthriller #crimefiction #thriller #characterdrivenbooks #mysterythriller #bookrecs https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmoc3dZrhm4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[calturnerreviews]

#BlogTour – #BookReview of #Victim by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst @EngerThomas @LierHorst @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #NordicNoir #BlixandRamm #RandomThingsTours

#BlogTour - #BookReview of outstanding thriller #Victim by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst #BlixandRamm #RandomThingsTours - Thanks to @orendabooks.bsky.social and @annerandomthings.bsky.social #NordicNoir #bookreviewer #bookblogger #bookrec 💙📚

I’m excited to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for excellent thriller Victim (Blix and Ramm 5) by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst. Thank you to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for giving me the opportunity to read this outstanding book. About the book: Two years ago, Alexander Blix was the lead investigator in a missing person’s case where a young mother, Elisabeth Eie, was…

[fictionophile]

"Victim" by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst - Book Review @OrendaBooks #Victim #BlixAndRamm @LierHorst @EngerThomas #NordicNoir @RandomTTours #BlogTour #BookReview

translated from the Norwegian by Megan Turney This police procedural, set in Oslo, Norway, is the fifth to feature policeman Alexander Blix and blogger/journalist Emma Ramm. Blix is in his late forties and was a Detective Chief Inspector of the Homicide division of the Oslo police. Shortly after his career began he was involved in a fatal shooting that has now become part of the police academy’s…

[fictionfromafar]

Back From The Dead by Heidi Amsinck

Back From The Dead

Heidi Amsinck

Muswell Press

Publication Date: 18 April 2024

It was shortly after the Covid Lockdown when I first picked up My Name is Jensen, the first of Heidi Amsinck's novels that would become the first in the Jensen Thriller series. While many of the Nordic Noir novels that I read are written by authors living in their respective countries which are then translated into English, this novel stood out as Amsinck is a Dane living in London and writing her novel in English. The story was a standout in other ways too, portraying the difficulties encountered by journalist Jensen (she has forbidden use of her first name) as she investigates the death of several homeless men on the return to her home city of Copenhagen. Creating not simply a complex main protagonist, but also a supporting cast including Jensen's on - off married lover Detective Inspector Henrik Jungersen, the novel was primed to become a series. Pleasingly Heidi Amsinck's debut became a success not just in the UK, but also in Denmark and since in several other European countries.

Somehow I appeared to miss the follow up story, 2022's The Girl in the Photo yet I do feel that this offers me a chance to opine on the strength of Back From The Dead as a standalone novel as well as part of a series. Although the story does recall events and reintroduce characters from the earlier books gradually from outset, I do believe that many readers would soon adapt to Jensen without further background information. As we encounter Jensen in Back From The Dead she appears to be reasonably settled by her own standards, in a new relationship and while there are cost cutting measures occurring at her newspaper, Jensen appears to be in favour. By contrast Jungersen's marriage is on shaky ground and while a planned trip to Italy offers the chance to spend some well earned time with his family, the discovery of a headless corpse in Copenhagen's harbour could potentially put that at risk - but equally might the detective's own reoccurring thoughts of Jensen.

In contrast to the snowy conditions of her debut, Copenhagen is experiencing a June heatwave when Jensen hears some concerning news about a friend of her's who has apparently disappeared. When her initial investigations reach a dead end she reluctantly contacts Henrik Jungersen for help. It soon appears more than likely that his body could well be that of her friend. Yet far more is at play than either of them realise and the repercussions of their involvement will deeply impact each of the main characters' professional and personal lives.

With short chapters often alternating between the two key characters, the book compels you to continue reading and there are some twists along the way, some of which I found more surprising than others. Back From The Dead will certainly find appeal with many crime fiction readers and also features some traits of Scandinavian crime fiction which many will feel comfortable with - successful capitalists are rarely good people, to name a familiar one. I found this a strong addition to the Jensen Thriller series, although the one aspect I might have liked more of would have been a greater flavour of the city of Copenhagen; which I did feel was more strongly felt in the debut. I do have to concede though that this is may well not be so much a factor for other crime readers. The ending leaves little doubt that the series will continue and I look forward to future developments in Jensen's story.

Many thanks to Muswell Press for an advance copy of Back From The Dead and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inclusion on the blog tour. Look out for other reviews of this novel on the blog tour poster as shown below:

A Missing person … a headless corpse … Jensen is on the case. June, and as Copenhagen swelters under record temperatures, a headless corpse surfaces in the murky harbour, landing a new case on the desk of DI Henrik Jungersen, just as his holiday is about to start. Elsewhere in the city, Syrian refugee Aziz Almasi, driver to Esben Nørregaard MP has vanished. Fearing a link to shady contacts from his past, Nørregaard appeals to crime reporter Jensen to investigate. Could the body in the harbour be Aziz? Jensen turns to former lover Henrik for help. As events spiral dangerously out of control, they are thrown together once more in the pursuit of evil, in a case more twisted and, more dangerous than they could ever have imagined.

Heidi Amsinck won the Danish Criminal Academy's Debut Award for My Name is Jensen (2021), the first book in a new series featuring Copenhagen reporter sleuth Jensen and her motley crew of helpers. She published her second Jensen novel, The Girl in Photo, in July 2022, with the third due out in February 2024. A journalist by background, Heidi spent many years covering Britain for the Danish press, including a spell as London Correspondent for the broadsheet daily Jyllands-Posten. She has written numerous short stories for BBC Radio 4, such as the three-story sets Danish Noir, Copenhagen Confidential and Copenhagen Curios, all produced by Sweet Talk and featuring in her collection Last Train to Helsingør (2018). Heidi's work has been translated from the original English into Danish, German and Czech.

[bwitzenhausen]

NetGalley #BookReview Death at the Sanatorium, A Mystery by Ragnar Jónasson #NordicNoir #GoldenAgeDetectives

Death at the Sanatorium by Ragnar Jonasson Release date: September 10th, 2024   🌟🌟🌟🌟 (3.5 rounded up) I received a complimentary ARC copy of Outside by Ragnar Jonasson from��Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press /Minotaur Books in order to read and give an honest review.   …It seemed to have had it all from the creepy atmosphere to the quirky cast of characters and plenty of tension… Death at…

[rosemariecawkwell]

Book Review: Thirty Days of Darkness, by Jenny Lund Madsen

PUBLICATION DATE: 9 MAY 2024PAPERBACK ORIGINAL | £16.99 | ORENDA BOOKS A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novelin thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration,and then the first body appears… Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community andher novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actuallyreads them,…

[idagyllensten]

<3 UK Alert <3 I am in an incredible Nordic Noir called "End of Summer" now showing on BBC4

[marypicken]

Mirror Image by Gunnar Staalesen trs Don Bartlett  @Orenda Books

Mirror Image is a beautifully constructed story, steeped in atmosphere, full of layers and all underpinned with Veum’s charm and intelligence.

Source: Review copyPublication: 31 August 2023 from Orenda BooksPP: 300ISBN-13: 978-1-914585-94-4 As Bergen PI Varg Veum investigates two different cases, it becomes clear that they are uncannily similar to harrowing events that took place thirty-six years earlier… A gripping instalment of the award-winning Varg Veum series, by one of the fathers of Nordic Noir. Bergen Private Investigator Varg…