Indiana Brown Reviews Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner

Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner

   Imagine this tableau – a frozen Finnish lake in a perfectly still landscape. A few figures posed as if at random, all looking at the protagonist, a young police officer mourning the death of his wife through a harrowing illness. The viewer is aware of, but can’t see, the psychotic murderer who is killing people in their sleep. This psychological thriller is as elegant as an andante movement in a composition by Sibelius.  

Jan Costin Wagner, the German author who sets his books in this cold landscape in the North, has, for someone so young, a remarkable insight into the complexities of the pain of mourning. He does not once shy away from exploring complicated human emotions and deliberately takes his time developing the psychological journey of Joentaa, his main protagonist.

The pain of mourning has enabled Joentaa, the young police officer, to instinctively identify with the murderer. This creates an uneasy parallel process: Joentaa’s coming to terms with the loss of his wife and his tracking of the murderer. 

Ice Moon is the first of Wagner’s books to be translated into English, and if merit carries the day, it won’t be the last. Long after you’ve finished reading the book and forgotten all about the murderer, motive or plot, you will be left with glimpses of the still Finnish Lake and memory of a tableau which reveals so delicately the fragility of the human condition.