Look out for these! – Settings in Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Peterborough with Part Three of The Killing Trilogy, the sixth Thora Gudmundsdottir book and the first in a new series featuring the Hate Crimes Unit in Peterborough

I’m really excited at this month’s choices, a great mix of established and new authors and a mix of settings.  If you’re wondering about Peterborough, which certainly isn’t anything like Copenhagen or Reykjavik, I can assure you that Long Way Home is one of these books where the setting doesn’t matter, because…well, just read on and you’ll see why.  

The Killing (3) by David Hewson – The third case for Sarah Lund starts with a gruesome search for body parts in a scrapyard, and soon sweeps into an attempted assassination of the Prime Minister and the kidnapping of billionaire Robert Zeuthen’s nine year old daughter..   The investigation finds links to a young girl’s murder some years before but with the election in full swing, it looks like politics is bound to get in the way of finding the truth.  I started to read the first page and was genuinely hooked – Hewson definitely has the touch of turning an exciting screenplay into a gripping novel that works on its own merits!

The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardottir – During a filthy night at Reykjavik harbour a luxury yacht hoves to and the police discover that the family who should be aboard are missing.  The only clue is the family’s daughter waiting at the quay with her grandparents, who tells them that all her family are dead.   Thora Gudmundsdottir is hired to investigate the disappearance and find out where the family have gone.  Not long after a body is washed up on the shore and Thora has to work out whether this provides the answer to why the family are missing.  I’ve found Sigurdardottir’s novels are easy to read, but they have a sense of excitement, anticipation and often menace that keep me reading until the end.  This is no exception.

Long Way Home by Eva Dolan – This book starts with a migrant worker burnt alive in a garden shed, the houseowners seemingly oblivious to the fire as well as the fact that a man was living in their shed.  DI Zigic and DS Ferreira from the Peterborough Hate Crimes Unit investigate the murder against a backdrop of community mistrust of the police, racial tension and rising violence.  Don’t let the Peterborough setting put you off, as Dolan brings people, place and contemporary issues together in a perfect mix for this crime novel.  You might find it hard to believe this is a first novel, but after a couple of chapters, it’s obvious why Dolan is a CWA Debut Dagger shortlisted author. 

That’s it for my recommendations this month.  Please do keep an eye out on the blog for more detailed reviews of books I’ve read and lots more.  Happy reading!

Romancrimeblogger