It’s trademark Stella Blómkvist, a tightly-plotted triple-decker rollercoaster of murder, revenge, betrayal – and the unexpected.

Book blurb

The ruthless businessman left to drown by the risking tide at the dock by Reykjavik’s Grotta lighthouse had never been short of enemies. The police have their suspect, and he calls in Stella Blomkvist to fight his corner as he furiously protests his innocence. Yet this angry fisherman had more reason than many to bear the dead man a grudge.

It’s a busy summer for razor-tongued, no-nonsense lawyer Stella. A young woman looking for a long-lost parent finds more than she bargained for. An old adversary calls from prison, looking for Stella to broker a dangerous deal with the police to put one of the city’s untouchable crime lords behind bars at long last.

Is the mysterious medium right, warning that deep waters are waiting for Stella as well?

My thoughts

This is the third book in the series and it’s another wonderful read. In it Stella helps a young woman who, now her mother has died, is looking for answers as to who her father is. Stella is visited by a renowned medium who has had visions of a death but can give no other information. What can Stella do? Then she is retained by a fisherman who has been arrested after a body is found. The circumstances of which are eerily similar to that described by the medium. Is it coincidental or is it connected? So when she is given a warning, not the sort of mumbo jumbo Stella takes any heed of, it might just be something she comes to regret. The fisherman isn’t the only one needing Stella’s help on legal matters an old adversary who she has previously helped put behind bars asks her to take on his case.

Each of these tasks Stella takes in her stride but she’s about to face two situations that will threaten her reputation, her family and her life!

Talking of family Stella’s relationship with Rannveig is going strong and getting very settled. Sóley Árdís, Stella’s daughter, gets on well with Rannveig which Stella is very happy about. By the end of this story Stella makes a decision about where she wants the relationship to go but will she get the chance to talk to Rannveig about it?

In this book as in previous the stories there are some terrific supporting characters besides Sóley Árdís and Rannveig such as Stella’s assistant Lisa, Máki a news podcaster who has a nose for ferreting out information, her cousin Sissi the technology wizard and Raggi a police chief each of them in their own way help Stella to resolve the cases she works on but in the end it is Stella’s abilities and brain that are key.

I really enjoy that Stella is the one telling the story she’s a great character with a wry sense of humour, it allows the reader to get to know her, understand her reasoning and be as shocked as she is when something unexpected happens. It allows you to feel totally absorbed in Murder Tide making it a compelling and credible narrative that builds elegantly into a thrilling, engaging and thoroughly entertaining story.

The series goes from strength to strength and I for one can’t wait for the next episode of Stella’s story.

Highly recommended.

Thanks

Many thanks to Ewa Sherman for the invite to join this terrific BlogTour and to Corylus Books for an eCopy of Murder Tide by Stella Blómkvist.

BlogTour

Why not take a look at all of these lovely blogs and then pop on down to the links below to grab a copy of Murder Tide.

20 books of summer 2025

I have read Murder Tide as part of my 20 books of summer challenge.

My list of books being read for this challenge. 

20 books of summer has new hosts Emma of Words and Peace and you can read all about it on Annabel’s blog including all the rules and sign up. It’s a challenge I’ve always enjoyed and am sure I’ll continue to do so. 

The challenge takes place between 1 June and 31 August 2025

Information

Publishers: Corylus Books | 1 Aug 2025 | 220 pp |ISBN:9781917586016

Buy: Corylus Books links | Amazon | Hive | Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Your local library | Your local bookshop

Translator

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, Ragnar Jónasson and elusive Stella Blomkvist. Quentin was instrumental in launching Iceland Noir in 2013, the crime fiction festival in Reykjavik. You can find more information about him, his translations and his books on his website.

Author

Stella Blomkvist has been a bestseller in Iceland since the first books appeared in the 1990s, and has attracted an international audience since the TV series starring Heida Reed aired. The books feature unforgiving, razor-tongued, Reykjavik lawyer Stella Blomkvist, with her taste for neat whiskey, a liking for easy money and a moral compass all of her own and who is at home in the corridors of power as in the city’s darkest nightspots.

The books have been published under a pseudonym that still hasn’t been cracked. The question of Stella Blomkvist’s identity is one that crops up regularly, but it looks like it’s going to remain a mystery…

Who’s the mysterious Stella Blómkvist?

The author’s true identity remains a closely-guarded secret… But these books featuring the razor-tongued, Reykjavík lawyer with a nose for trouble and a taste for whiskey and easy money have been bestsellers in Iceland for more than twenty years – and are now, thanks to Corylus Books, making an appearance in English!

Books

Murder At The Residence | Murder Under the Midnight Sun