by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (T. Victoria Cribb)
SYNOPSIS
Fresh from maternity leave, Detective Elma finds herself confronted with a complex case, when a man is found murdered in a holiday cottage in the depths of the Icelandic countryside – the victim of a frenzied knife attack, with a shocking message scrawled on the wall above him.
At home with their baby daughter, Sævar is finding it hard to let go of work, until the chance discovery in a discarded box provides him with a distraction. Could the diary of a young boy, detailing the events of a long-ago summer have a bearing on Elma’s case?
Once again, the team at West Iceland CID have to contend with local secrets in the small town of Akranes, where someone has a vested interest in preventing the truth from coming to light. And Sævar has secrets of his own that threaten to destroy his and Elma’s newfound happiness.
Tense, twisty and shocking, Boys Who Hurt is the next, addictive instalment in the award-winning Forbidden Iceland series, as dark events from the past endanger everything…
REVIEW
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of the Forbidden Iceland series and I have a particular love of Icelandic Crime Fiction but I honestly think that Boys Who Hurt has now secured Eva Björg Ægisdóttir the top spot! What I love about this series is that the author and translator have managed to create a totally authentic Icelandic crime novel which celebrates the Icelandic language and people, but it’s also a story that is still incredibly readable. They have chosen to keep very traditional Icelandic names and locations rather than tone them down for English audiences which I feel is really important.
It was so exciting to be back following Elma after a shift in the previous story, and this time we get to see so much character development as she tries to navigate her return to the police force after a period of maternity leave. It was interesting to see a different side to her and how her new role as a mother and general family life has impacted her work life as a detective.
As I have come to expect, Boys Who Hurt featured yet another harrowing and violent case. The religious element in the murder investigation gave it a slightly different twist and was something I really enjoyed. The police procedural aspect of the novel was just as detailed as in the previous stories, and the relationship between Elma and her colleagues is the real backbone of this whole series. They have such great chemistry and this provides some necessary lighter moments in a chilling and twisty murder mystery.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir moved to Trondheim, Norway to study her MSc in Globalisation when she was 25. After moving back home having completed her MSc, she knew it was time to start working on her novel. Eva has wanted to write books since she was 15 years old, having won a short story contest in Iceland. Eva worked as a stewardess to make ends meet while she wrote her first novel, The Creak on the Stairs. The book went on to win the CWA Debut Dagger, the Blackbird Award, was shortlisted (twice) for the Capital Crime Readers' Awards, and became a number one bestseller in Iceland. The critically acclaimed Girls Who Lie (book two in the Forbidden Iceland series) soon followed, with Night Shadows (book three) following suit in July 2022. Eva lives with her husband and three children in Reykjavík.
Thanks to Anne Cater - @RandomTTours, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir @evaaegisdottir and Orenda Books - @OrendaBooks for the opportunity to read and review.
Fiction: Crime Fiction / Translated Crime Fiction / Nordic Noir / Icelandic Noir
Publisher: Orenda Books
ISBN: 978-1916788206
Pages: 276pp
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