The NUMBER-ONE bestselling, multi-award-winning gothic mystery/police procedural
First in a series and based on true events off the coast of Sweden.

YULE ISLAND
JOHANA GUSTAWSSON
TRANSLATED BY DAVID WARRINER

Book blurb

Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she’s asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found.

Emma must work alone, and with the Gussman family apparently avoiding her, she sees virtually no one in the house. Do they have something to hide? As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover the secrets of the house and its occupants.

When the lifeless body of another young woman is found in the icy waters surrounding the island, Detective Karl Rosén arrives to investigate, and memories of his failure to solve the first case come rushing back. Could this young woman’s tragic death somehow hold the key?

Battling her own demons, Emma joins forces with Karl to embark upon a chilling investigation, plunging them into horrifying secrets from the past – Viking rites and tainted love – and Scandinavia’s deepest, darkest winter…

WINNER of the Cultura’s Best Fiction Book of 2023 (France’s biggest book chain), plus Crime Fiction Book of the Year at seven different festivals

NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER in France with seven hardback reprints and counting…

Johana has been shortlisted for the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger

FIRST in a new series set in Sweden – The Lidingö Mysteries

PUBLICATION DATE: 7 November 2024 PAPERBACK | £9.99 | ORENDA BOOKS

‘Johana Gustawsson brilliantly illuminates the depths of the human heart’

Le Figaro

My thoughts

I read Yule Island for the hardback release in November last year. It was a really terrific read and I summed up my thoughts with this comment –

Johana Gustawasson writes impeccably bringing a story of murder, Viking ritual, loss and guilt. Layer upon layer of mystery, darkness and mind blowing twist upon twist shocking and agonising in what they reveal. 
The characters are captivating, the story is darkly complex and quite brilliant in its execution. It was a really great read, this book is simply a-maz-ing! I highly recommend it.

Janet – LoveBooksReadBooks

Yule Island – My thoughts (Hardback release)

Need to know more? Then check out the BlogTour dates below.

BlogTour

‘Remember her name. Novel after novel, Johana Gustawsson has become a leading figure in French crime fiction … impossible to put down before the last page’

Le Monde

I’m delighted to be able to join in with this BlogTour for the paperback publication of Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson. My thanks to Anne (Random Things Tours) for the invitation and to the publisher Orenda Books for originally providing an eARC in order to read and share my thoughts on.

Thanks also to Orenda Books for bringing this wonderfully well written and translated book to English readers and to David Warriner for his terrific translation. You can follow David on Twitter @givemeawave and on his website: wtranslation.ca.

Why not check out these wonderful blogs to read more about Yule Island and then visit Orenda Books to buy your very own copy.

Buy: Orenda Books

‘The pace steadily accelerates as Gustawsson orchestrates her plot with breathless ingenuity. A successful page-turner from a rising star’

Financial Times

Author

Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press, and television.

Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in 23 countries. A TV adaptation is currently under way in a French, Swedish and UK co-production.

The Bleeding was a number-one bestseller in France, receiving critical acclaim across the globe, and Yule Island has won multiple awards, including Book of the Year with France’s biggest retailer, Cultura, and has been optioned for the screen.

Johana lives in Sweden with her Swedish husband and their three sons.

Follow Johana:  @JoGustawsson | @johanagustawsson | Johana Gustawsson | Orenda author page: Johana Gustawsson| Amazon author page: Johana Gustawsson

Books

Block 46 | The Keeper | Blood Song | The Bleeding | Yule Island