Murder in cold and hostile places

The Clues in the Fjord by Satu Ramu, and translated by Kristian London, is a police procedural novel set on the bleak and sparsely populated west coast of Iceland. Its main character is Hildur, who is the only Police Detective working in this area. She is a strong woman who loves to surf, she is very fit and jogs every day whatever the weather. She is also intelligent and brilliant at her job but she has a past which haunts her which involves the disappearance of her two younger sisters when they were children.

Hildurr and her new trainee Jakob from Finland are sent to investigate a local man who is found in unusual circumstances with his throat slit. From then on the bodies keep appearing and things take a nasty turn affecting Hildur.

I read this book in a very short period of time and loved it. The writing is good and the author gives us lots of good information about Iceland without dumping facts on us. We understand the challenges and joys of working in such an extreme environment. This story doesn’t immediately resolve the disappearance of the children but it provides some clues as to what might have happened – that story is continued in the sequels as well as an overarching story about Jakob and his family.

The only quibble I have about this book is that there were no clues found in the fjord, none at all. I have no idea why the book has this title.

I have since read two of the next books in the series The Secrets from the Deep and The Grave in the Ice and, apart from noting that the titles of these books also bear no resemblance to the stories of the novels, I enjoyed them immensely and am eagerly awaiting the next instalment.