CBR17 Book 2: "Hildur (The Clues in the Fjord)" by Satu Rämö

Page count: 353 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Nowhere Books 2025 Bingo: A book in translation

Hildur Rúnarsdóttir is a police investigator on Iceland's harsh and rather sparsely populated west coast. When she was only a child, her two younger sisters disappeared without a trace, and now she's the head of the division for missing children in her part of the country. Her only remaining relative is her aunt, who she eats dinner with every Monday. Her aunt raised her after her parents died in a car accident about a year after her sisters went missing. Hildur surfs in the cold Atlantic Ocean to clear her mind of worries. She has a 'friends with benefits' relationship with one of her neighbours, but neither wants to make it anything official. 

Jakob Johanson is a police trainee from Finland, who always wanted to visit Iceland and has therefore decided to complete his mandatory training period there. In Norway, he has a five-year-old son that his ex-wife refuses to let him have any contact with. He knits to relieve stress and loves the chance to design knitting projects with unusual Icelandic yarns. He and Hildur complement each other well as partners, but Jakob is frustrated that there are parts of the job he has difficulties with since he can't speak Icelandic yet and not all of the locals speak English. 

Murders are rare in Iceland, so when Hildur and Jakob find themselves investigating the murder of an elderly local pedophile, they are surprised to find that it may be connected to the murder of a wealthy lawyer in Reykjavik. The two men seem to have absolutely nothing in common, but there is a strange calling card left with both of the bodies. The body of the old man was found in the ruins of a cabin crushed by an avalanche, while the security cameras in the parking garage where the lawyer was repeatedly run over by his own car were offline at the time of the murder. The killer seems to be meticulous and careful to not leave any traces. Then there is a third murder, and this time, the victim is someone with a direct connection to Hildur herself.

I put myself on the waiting list at my local library for this book, after reading this article about the author in the Guardian. It turns out that only the first novel of her bestselling series is available in Norwegian so far, with no clear sign of when the next books will be translated. In English, this book is called The Clues in the Fjord (which is a strange title, as there are absolutely no clues to any of the murders found in or around any of Iceland's many fjords. I guess it makes it more authentically Icelandic to use the word fjord in the title?) and books 2 and 3 should be out in English throughout 2025. So if I can't read them in Norwegian, I can always check out the English translations.

I don't think I've read any books set in Iceland since I studied various Norse sagas for my Master's thesis at University more than 25 years ago. These books are apparently massive bestsellers in the author's native Finland (she has lived in Iceland for more than 20 years, the books are set close to where she lives). The publishing rights have been sold to more than 17 countries, and I doubt I would have heard of her if it wasn't for the Guardian article. 

Apparently, these books fit into a genre called "Nordic blue", which differs from the already popular "Nordic noir" in that the books focus not only on the crimes committed and the whys and wherefores but also on the lives and worries of the people investigating the crimes. It's as concerned with the social aspects of the crimes as the psychological. 

I used to love reading crime novels, especially by several prominent Norwegian authors (although not Jo Nesbø, those never worked for me). As a teenager, I absolutely devoured everything I could find by Agatha Christie. For the last twenty years or so, though, I have hardly ever read mysteries, with the exception of some historical series featuring strong-minded Victorian lady sleuths, and they are a lot closer to cosies than the gritty psychological crime dramas of Nordic noir writers. I did read the original Lisbeth Salander trilogy by Stieg Larsson (I refuse to acknowledge any of the cash-grab fan fic sequels published after his death), but I found them mostly unpleasant. So much violence, especially towards women.

So this was a nice change of pace for me. Without spoiling anything, it is clear that the disappearance of Hildur's six and eight-year-old sisters twenty-five years in the past is going to play an important role in the series going forward. Since I have become completely incapable of tolerating violence or harm happening to children since I had my own child, I hope there won't be explorations of anything too graphic, or I'm going to freak out. But I am very interested in reading future books. 

Judging a book by its cover: The cover is fairly neutral, showing partially snow-clad hills in a striking landscape. The little red dots are nevertheless a hint that this is a crime novel, as my soon-to-be seven-year-old exclaimed: "That looks like blood, Mama." He's not wrong, it looks like blood spatter and gives you some idea of what you'll find in these pages.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

CBR15 Book 31: "Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries" by Heather Fawcett

Page count: 320 pages

Rating: 4.5 stars

CBR15 Bingo: History (set in an alternate history, in the Victorian era)

15-word review: Introverted lady scholar goes to fictional Iceland to research faeries, followed by her handsome colleague.

Official book description (because I finished this at the start of May):

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.

Ok, first of all, anyone who picked this up because they thought it was going to be a romance was probably very disappointed. Yes, Bambleby is interested in Emily, but she's so busy trying to do her academic research and figure out what all the f*ckery that keeps happening to the local populace is caused by (well, obviously local faeries - but which ones, and why?) so she hardly notices him, except to be exasperated by his presence.

Early reviews I read for this suggested that it's set in a fictional historical Norway. While in this alternate history, the area that Emily visits may count as part of fictional Norway, it's clearly a fictional historical Iceland. Since the vast majority of readers who pick up this book probably have no idea what differentiates Norway and Iceland, or any of the Nordic countries really, it's a very silly thing to get annoyed by, but nevertheless, I want it clearly stated that the various character and place names described to us by Emily (the entire book is written as her journal, or letters to or from her) are Icelandic, because, to someone from my part of the world, it is very obvious.

With some books, I reduce my rating by the time I get around to reviewing them, but in this case, I've actually added half a star to my original rating, because this is one of those books I keep thinking about, even months after finishing it. Emily and Bambleby are both excellent characters and I loved reading about them, their banter, and their adventures in a strange culture from their own. Emily is a bit of a curmudgeon, prefers solitude and while it is never stated, is probably autistic (this is set in an alternate Victorian era so that diagnosis would not be known yet), she is a very devoted scholar and has been working on her encyclopedia for years. Bambleby is pretty much her exact opposite. He's outgoing, charming, gregarious, and makes friends easily (all of these qualities are among the things Emily seems to find extremely annoying about him. Of course, Bambleby is also Emily's only friend and just seems amused by her anti-social behaviour. 

As a consequence of being so different, the two scholars very much complement each other and make an excellent team, especially once Emily admits to herself that Bambleby's assistance may in fact be beneficial to her stay in Hrafnsvik. As I mentioned earlier, there are hints of romance here, so slow burn as to nearly be treacle in the cold, but I suspect the next book (which isn't out until January 24, boo!) will do more to develop the romantic relationship that is gently introduced in the last third or so of this book. As a huge fan of Bambleby and romance, I would have liked there to be quite a bit more of this subplot, but it would also not be in Emily's character to fall head over heels either. 

I found this whole book delightful and especially liked the various touches of folklore explored (I'm a sucker for folklore, be it actual or fictional). I can't wait to read the sequel and see where Emily and Bambleby's adventures take them next. 

Judging a book by its cover: With some books, the UK and US versions aren't too dissimilar and it's clear that the publishers have gone for a similar feel. With this book, they almost couldn't be more different. The UK cover is creamy off-white with delicate illustrations of flowers and mushrooms, looking very inviting. The US cover is black and full of spooky details like bones and creepy vines. Both strangely capture some of the vibes of the book, but I wonder at the publishers choosing such different approaches to represent the book. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.