Nordic Noir

Review: Death on the Island by Eliza Reid

~ megs14malloy

Death on the IslandDeath on the Island by Eliza Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Death on the Island, we follow an eclectic group of characters who come together in a tiny island community off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic event.

We have the mayor of the town, an Ambassador from Canada and his wife, a local high-profile chef, an artist with ties to the island, and others. They all come together for a special dinner to open up their talks and hopefully create good spirits amongst the group.

It’s supposed to be a joyous occasion, and it does seem to start out that way. That is until one of the guests ends up dead of unknown causes, but what everyone quickly assumes to be poison consumption.

Making matters worse, a brutal storm is bearing down on them. It’s clear no one is going to be leaving the island. All the better to catch a killer, but in the meantime, doesn’t that mean they’re trapped with one?

I had a blast reading Death on the Island. I went into it with zero expectations. I hadn’t heard of this author, or any buzz for the book, but the title screamed, READ ME!!!

I’m so glad I made the time for it. I was completely engaged from the start. It actually turns out this is the author’s debut novel, and I’m so excited for more.

I appreciated how quickly Reid gets us into the action. I was drawn into the story so fast. I liked that we were following political figures, such as ambassadors and mayors. I haven’t read one like that in a while, so it was a nice change of pace.

I enjoyed how the author formatted the story as well. You get the reveal of the death, and then you go back in time and track through the events leading up to that death. It was done in a countdown-style that I feel added a level of tension to it that might not have been there otherwise.

Learning about this cast of characters, as well as their relationships to one another and potential motivations for why someone would take out anyone at this dinner party, was very entertaining. There was certainly plenty of drama to oh-and-ah over.

With this being said, I’ll admit there’s a lot of moving parts and it was a little hard to track in the beginning. For a minute, I started to feel overwhelmed, but I tried to just relax into it, not worry too much about the details, and to just let Reid do her thing.

Ultimately, Reid pulled it off. This had me so invested, I had no longstanding issues tracking the various characters, or their interpersonal dramas.

Overall, I loved the atmospheric-island setting, which was done so well in my humble island-dweller opinion. I also really enjoyed the use of an inclement weather element to help build out that tense atmosphere, as well as the interesting cast of characters.

It was so gripping trying to solve this murder mystery, my head was all over the place. I did Buddy Read it with a friend, and definitely recommend that. It was so fun trying to guess the killer together, and their reasons behind it.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me a copy to read and review.

I loved how this kept me guessing, and I’m looking forward to more from Eliza Reid!!!

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Review: Under the Storm (Hallandssviten #1) by Christoffer Carlsson

~ megs14malloy

Under the Storm (Hallandssviten, #1)Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

💛💕💛💕💛💕💛💕💛💕💛

Under the Storm is listed as the 1st-book in Christoffer Carlsson’s Hallandssviten Adult Mystery series.

Oddly enough, the 2nd-book listed in that series, Blaze Me a Sun, was translated into English first, in early-January 2023. I read it last year and really enjoyed it. It was a gritty crime story that successfully captured my attention throughout.

I found this one to be equally entertaining, but I gotta say, between the two, my timelines may be a little muddled since I read the 2nd-book first? I’m not really sure why they chose to release the translations that way…

Both are set in the same area of rural Sweden and contain the character Vidar, who sometimes appears when he is young, but mostly when he is an adult and he has become a cop. There may be other similar characters, but none that have as presently stuck in my mind as Vidar.

The primary event in this novel that gets the ball rolling is a fire in a farmhouse. In the aftermath, a young woman’s body is found in the remains–murdered. This was a huge event for this small town, the young woman was known by many and loved. It’s an unforgettable tragedy.

For 10-year old, Isak, that event is a pivotal moment in his young life, irrevocably changing his family dynamic forever.

The first suspect for the police is Edvard, the murdered woman’s boyfriend and Isak’s beloved Uncle. The investigation is quick. The people want a resolution. Edvard is tried and found guilty. He’s sentenced to life in prison.

Vidar is a rookie officer at the time of the fire and the first to respond to the scene. Initially, he feels proud of the work done. It’s certainly a defining moment in his career, but maybe not for the reasons he expects.

Years later, Edvard’s guilt comes into question and forces Vidar to consider aspects of the case he hadn’t before. Isak has always wondered about Edvard’s guilt versus innocence. Will he ever be delivered the truth?

Under the Storm is another very solid Crime Thriller from Christoffer Carlsson. I hope that these continue to be translated into English. There are currently 3-novels in the series already released, with a 4th expected next year.

I would be very excited to have the opportunity to continue on. I love this author’s writing. It feels lush, layered and poignant. The settings are well-developed and the characters evoke a real sense of empathy.

In this story, I truly felt for Isak. I loved following his story. Everything he was going through after the arrest of his Uncle. The emotional turmoil he felt over that. His anxiety over whether or not, if his Uncle really was a violent man capable of murder, was he just like him.

I loved how the author explored those ideas. It’s a side of crime we really don’t see considered that much in fiction. By that I mean, the fallout for the families of individuals accused and convicted of violent crimes.

I also really enjoy Vidar as a central character. He’s not perfect. His personal life is tumultuous and I like that. Despite his respected position at work, he is just a man, one who makes mistakes and has struggles of his own.

He is dedicated in his work though and does have a strong moral compass in that regard. I liked how determined he seemed to be about helping Isak get the truth he needed.

There were some time shifts in this that were a little unexpected. While at certain times I had to remind myself where we were in the timeline, how old Isak, or Vidar, may have been at the time I was reading, overall, I enjoyed the somewhat unconventional storytelling style.

I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys Crime Fiction, particularly with strong character-focused narratives and small town settings.

I would also recommend the audiobooks should you have that option available to you. The narration by Peter Noble could not be more perfect. He has such a classic storyteller voice, it really brought these stories to life for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Hogarth, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Please translate the rest of this series into English! Pretty, pretty please!

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Review: Ghost Island (Jessica Niemi #4) by Max Seeck

~ megs14malloy

Ghost Island (Ghosts of the Past, #4)Ghost Island by Max Seeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Ghost Island is the 4th-installment in Max Seeck’s Jessica Niemi series, also known as the Ghosts of the Past series.

These Nordic Crime novels follow MC, Jessica Niemi, who is a Helsinki Police Detective. Admittedly, this is the first novel that I have picked up in this series, and personally, I feel it worked well as a standalone.

With this being said though, I enjoyed it so much that I intend to go back and read the previous 3-books. I’ve already got the 1st-book, The Witch Hunter, on loan from my library and am excited to start it soon.

I found Jessica to be a very compelling protagonist, and she did refer to some things in her past that I am interested in learning more about. Most specifically, her relationship with an apparent mentor who has since passed away.

In this installment, at the very beginning of the story, Jessica gets in a bit of trouble while leaving a therapy appointment. She gets in an altercation with a belligerent man, who goes so far as to put his hands on her.

Defending herself, Jessica fights back, although in hindsight, she may have taken it a little too far. When video of the incident spreads, Jessica’s supervisor suggests she take some leave to get her head on straight. The Department doesn’t need this type of negative publicity.

Jessica travels to a remote island in the Åland archipelago, where she rents a room at a historic seaside inn. She doesn’t tell anyone in her life where she is going.

Hoping for solitude, Jessica is a bit rattled when a group of elderly travelers arrive, one of them begrudged that Jessica is inhabiting the room she usually stays in.

Jessica learns this group is the last of the ‘birds of spring’, former refugees who fled Finland as children during World War II and lived together for a few months in an orphanage on the island. They return every year, for a reunion of sorts.

The orphanage has been abandoned for years, but the building still exists and local legend has it that one of the orphans, a girl named Maija, who went missing decades before, still haunts the island.

Maija is said to appear, in her signature blue coat, late at night at the end the pier, the last place she was ever seen.

When one of the ‘birds of spring’ is found dead, drowned by the pier, Jessica suspects foul play. She begins to dig into the past of the orphanage and discovers two other deaths that suggest a copycat killer may be on the island.

With inclement weather closing in, making travel an impossibility, Jessica must get to the bottom of this and quickly, before more people end up dead.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. As mentioned, I hadn’t read the other books and wasn’t sure if that would damper my enjoyment or not.

Nevertheless, this synopsis was intriguing enough for me to want to take the risk and I’m so glad that I did. I was invested in this very early on, as I found Jessica’s character extremely compelling.

I was surprised that this turned out to be a dual timeline, with us getting a huge chunk of the story told via Maija’s perspective, set in the mid-1940s, at the time when she resided at the orphanage.

I am not a big Historical Fiction Reader, but it seemed well done here. Maija’s perspective did manage to keep me engaged and wanting to discover the connections to the present and Jessica’s stay at the property.

This brings me to the setting. I loved it. As someone who lives on a small island, that is remote and difficult to get to, I love island-set stories. It makes it so easy for me to picture just the overall feel of that landscape.

This was made infinitely better by the inclement weather that descends just as the plot is heating up. It brought a claustrophobic feel, as you realize that there is literally no escape for these characters. Someone is dead, and they are stuck. There’s a killer amongst them, but who?

I am an atmosphere girl, first and foremost, and this transported me. I felt like I was there alongside Jessica. I could feel the cold, the wind, the isolation. It was gripping.

My only slight criticism would be, once we got to the big reveal, I felt like the end dragged on a little two long for my tastes. Perhaps, if I had read the earlier books and had more backstory on Jessica I wouldn’t have felt that way, IDK.

Either way, I cannot wait to read the other books in this series and I hope there are more coming. Jessica definitely has a lot of room to grow as character. I feel like there are big things ahead for her.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me a copy to read and review. You’ve hooked me. I’m looking forward to more Jessica Niemi!

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