by Johana Gustawsson (T. David Warner)
SYNOPSIS
Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she's asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden's wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found.
Emma must work alone, and the Gussman family apparently avoiding her, she sees virtually no one in the house. Do they have something to hide?
As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover the secrets of the house and its occupants.
When the lifeless body of another young woman is found in the icy waters surrounding the island, Detective Karl Rosén arrives to investigate, and memories his failure to solve the first case come rushing back. Could this young woman's tragic death somehow hold the key?
Battling her own demons, Emma joins forces with Karl to embark upon a chilling investigation, plunging them into horrifying secrets from the past – Viking rites and tainted love – and Scandinavia's deepest, darkest winter…
REVIEW
Yule Island was probably my most anticipated book this year. When I read The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson back in 2022 it was an easy choice as my favourite book of the year. The synopsis sounded amazing but at the same time I wasn’t sure if it would come close to how much I loved the previous book.
Unlike The Bleeding, which is a sweeping story split over different timelines and continents, Yule Island is much more insular. Based on a small archipelago off the coast of Stockholm which is very isolated and almost a world unto itself, there was a claustrophobia that comes from this type of closed-circle thriller.
Emma is invited to Storholmen to catalogue and appraise all the the artefacts at a manor house belonging to a rich Swedish family. She is still struggling to cope with the death of her sister years earlier and the mysterious stories about the house and events on Storholmen aren’t helping to settle her fragile state.
Meanwhile, Detective Karl Rosén is called to a crime scene where he finds the body of a young girl in very similar circumstances to a case he wasn’t able to solve nine years ago. The clues lead him to the island and link with some of the discoveries Emma has made while searching through the Gussman family’s belongings. Could these clues finally lead him to the murderer and allow him to finally close the case which has been haunting him all these years?
This story is beautifully written. It’s dark, troubled and scattered which in a way, reflects Emma’s trauma and the life she is now living, full of guilt and frustration. Her grief comes through so vividly in the story that it’s impossible not to feel a strong attachment to her which is exactly what you want with the main protagonist.
Johana Gustawsson is such a skilled writer that she manages to completely engross you into the main storyline, and while you are so gripped with what’s going on, you get totally blindsided with revelations you just never see coming.
Yule Island is centred around a really solid murder mystery and police investigation. However, the standout elements to me in this book were the references to Nordic Mythology. These additions were fascinating to read and learn about but the way that they were worked into the murders was just brilliant. The plotting and the way the story was structured around these myths created an exhilarating and powerful gothic thriller which is yet again a contender for my best book of the year!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding – a number one bestseller in France and the first in a new series – will be published in 2022. Johana lives in London with her Swedish husband and their three sons.
Follow Johana on Twitter @JoGustawsson
David Warner translates from French and nurtures a healthy passion for Franco, Nordic and British crime fiction. Growing up in deepest Yorkshire, he developed incurable Francophilia at an early age. Emerging from Oxford with a Modern Languages degree he narrowly escaped the graduate rat race by hopping on a plane to Canada – and never looked back. More than a decade into a high-powered commercial translation career, he listened to his heart and turned his hand to the delicate art of literary translation. David has lived in France and Quebec, and now calls beautiful British Columbia home.
Follow David on Twitter @givemeawave and on his website wtranslation.ca
Thanks to Anne Cater - @RandomTTours, Johana Gustawsson - @JoGustawsson, and Orenda Books - @OrendaBooks for the opportunity to read and review
Fiction: Nordic Noir / Horror Thriller / Gothic Thriller
Publisher: Orenda Books
ISBN: 978-1914585975
Pages: 256pp
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