A remote island. A brutal murder. A secret hidden in the past.

Book blurb

In the middle of the North Sea, between the UK and Denmark, lies the beautiful and rugged island nation of Doggerland.

Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby has returned to the main island, Heimö, after many years in London and has worked hard to become one of the few female police officers in Doggerland.

So, when she wakes up in a hotel room next to her boss, Jounas Smeed, she knows she’s made a big mistake. But things are about to get worse: later that day, Jounas’s ex-wife is found brutally murdered. And Karen is the only one who can give him an alibi.

The news sends shockwaves through the tight-knit island community, and with no leads and no obvious motive for the murder, Karen struggles to find the killer in a race against time.

Soon she starts to suspect that the truth might lie in Doggerland’s history. And the deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes that even small islands can hide deadly secrets . . .

My thoughts

D I Karin Eiken Hornby is the lead detective on the investigation into who murdered Susanne her bosses ex! Jounas Smeed has been put on leave until the case is resolved. Complicated by what happened on the night of Oistra, the oyster festival that takes place every year in Dunker, between her and Jounas. Karin not only has to find the killer she has to demonstrate that Jounas Smeed did not kill Susanne without letting on about her role in it!

As each lead seems to go nowhere so Karin looks into Susanne’s past. Karin has questions especially when she finds out that Susanne had been contacted from someone connected to her past. Who is it and what did they speak about?

Having cleared Jounas he is allowed to return to work but cannot work on Karin’s investigation. This might have been awkward but another incident occurs which needs to be investigated urgently.

When a lead comes in about crimes with some similar patterns everyone sighs with relief, they have their man! The suspect is adamant that he has not committed a murder. Karin doesn’t think it’s right but there’s pressure from above to resolve the case and move on. Still, Karin wonders could someone from the dead victim’s past hold the key? Karin quietly continues to investigate, she could be wrong and then it would be disastrous for her career!

Set in Doggerland a fictional place in the North Sea is made up of three islands positioned between the U.K. and Denmark with the Netherlands to the south and Norway to the north. Maria Adolfsson gives the reader a real sense of place and really brings this fictional land to life.

Having to discreetly investigate her boss to prove his innocence before she could fully look into who actually committed the murder was a nice ploy and allowed the introduction of quite a cast of characters to get your head around but as the story progresses it becomes easier to navigate the characters and make sense of them and their role. It also provided some nice scenes to lighten the tone such as Karin’s visits to the local pub to catch up on past events and gossip.

The disdain that a murder – even with no actual evidence or proof – is not solved within days and the desire to get it solved quickly regardless of the facts to the point that an ‘innocent’ person is charged I did find a bit galling. So it was good to see Karin continuing to investigate.

Karin is tenacious and bright following her instincts as well as any evidence that did come in. She’s a terrific character not always likeable but she’s someone you would want on your side. It is simply because of her tenacity and sense of justice that the murder is solved, though not without some pain for Karin.

The final twist – did you see it coming? – even if you did it gave this engaging murder mystery (I’d call it a police procedural but Karin didn’t tend to follow many rules) a tense and thrilling end.

Overall I enjoyed Fatal Isles by Maria Adolfsson and may just check out the next book – or two – in the series .

Book: Purchased

The Virtual Crime Book Club

Fatal Isles by Maria Adolfsson was chosen as The Virtual Crime Book Club’s choice for our October read/November meeting.

Watch it on YouTube – but remember that there will be spoilers !

Sadly, I can’t make next month’s book club but it was good to be back after so long and I will definitely be returning for December’s read and January’s meeting.

Information

Published: Zaffre (18 Feb. 2021) | ASIN: B07YVBH44R | 507pp

Buy: AmazonSmileUK | Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Hive | Your local bookshop | Your local library

Author: Maria Adolfsson lives in Stockholm where she worked as a communications director and now writes full-time. The Doggerland series has been sold in to 18 languages to date, and has sold over 330,000 copies in Sweden alone.

Agent: Bonnier Rights

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