'Daybreak' is the third stand-alone novel by the Icelandic author,
and reveals his considerable versatility.
Goose hunters are being shot in different parts of rural island.
Detectives Gunnar and Birkir are part of a team from Reykjavik
police department who are investigating.Initial enquiries lead
nowhere until the police receive a letter purportedly from the
killer,who then proceeds to set the police questions which they
must answer within a set time,otherwise he will kill again.
This novel has all the ingredients that make for fine crime fiction.
An innovative plot that keeps one guessing,interesting fully drawn
characters,and a vivid sense of place. Very enjoyable.

This is the fifth novel featuring the personable Reykjavik lawyer,
Thora Gudmundsdottir.
Josteinn is a manipulative sociopath who resides in a secure psychiatric
unit,having been convicted of sexual offences against children.With his
inheritence money he instructs Thora to investigate,with a view to
overturning,the conviction of a fellow inmate Jakob. Jakob is a young
male with Down's syndrome who has been found guilty of burning down his
care home ,killing five people.
The ever persistent Thora's investigations are hampered by some of the
witnesses having severe disablilities,including one with locked-in
syndrome,and also by the lies,half-truths,and cover-ups from people
with their own interests to protect.
A brave unusual and thoughtful thriller.

This well-paced highly readable thriller is the sixth novel
featuring the investigative journalist,Annika Bengtzon.
When a popular police officer is found murdered at his home,
and his four-year old son missing,his wife is suspected,and
her conviction seen as a foregone conclusion.Bengtzon,however,
has other ideas,and painstakingly,and at some risk to herself,
undertakes her own investigation.
The thriller aspect of the novel is set aside the portrayal of the
turmoil in the life of the troubled Annika.Her marriage is over,
and some suspect her of having set fire to her own home.
The author displays a Sweden where the police, justice ,and
government are rather too prone to look after their own interests,
rather than serving justice itself.
Marklund at her best. Highly recommended.

This is a brick of a book(at 603 pages),and is not for the
over sensitive,as it concerns itself with violent teenaged
gangs with often sociopathic members who engage in acts of
extreme brutality.
A suburb of southern Stockholm is a haven for teenage gangs,
where older teenagers use youngsters,below the age for
legal responsibility to assist in their activities of drug
dealing,extortion ,arson and assorted violence.18 year old,
Leon, the most powerful gang leader, is in prison organising
further activities via his blood brother,Gabriel.
Following his violent escape from prison,DCI Ewert Grens is
asked to investigate,and comes to realise he has a past
connection with Leon.How the nature of what the obsessive
cantankerous Grens discovers affects him ,is very well conveyed.
An intersting ,if somewhat harrowing read,where the authors are
pointing to the circumstances which give rise to young people
who engage in injuring others.

This tense thriller is the highly regarded Swedish author's first novel
to be published in English.
Daniel's life in Stockholm is not fulfilling,when he agrees to a request
from his identical twin brother-Max,to visit him in Switzerland ,where
he is recovering in a secluded private psychiatric clinic. Shortly after
Daniel's arrival,Max convinces him to swop places while he goes away for
a few days to sort out his financial affairs. However,Max does not return,
and Daniel becomes trapped in a gruesome Kafkaesque psychiatric clinic,
that is far from what he first thought it was.
A well written,harrowing, interesting tale.

This is the fourth historical thriller featuring Alexander Seaton,university teacher
and soon to be a pastor,and set in Aberdeen of the 1630's.
A well-connected student of Alexander goes missing immediately after having met in a
tavern, recruiters for soldiers for the Thirty Years War.His friend returns bloodied
and dazed and becomes a suspect.As Alexander investigates ,the plot thickens,leading
to further felonies.
The author uses her historical knowledge of the period to skilfully evoke the morality
and atmosphere of the time,as we learn about the horrors of the Thirty Years War,with
Scottish soldiers fighting for both sides. Additionally the character of Alexander
Seaton is complex as he struggles with his past misdemeanours,and with the rigid mores
of the kirk of which he is a leading member.

This gripping psychological thriller represents a departure for its author.
His first three novels were set on the Swedish island of Oland.'The Asylum'
is based on the mainland and features Jan,a male in his late twenties,with
an extremely troubled past,and a desire to make children's lives better.
He is a pre-school carer,and obtains a temporary job in a pre-school attached
to a secure psychiatric hospital housing some dangerous criminal patients.
Jan thinks that an ex-singer he met in his childhood,and is obsessed with,
is in the asylum,and he is intent on navigating the secret passages and breaching
the security in order to speak with her.
The novel takes us to and fro from the present situation and Jan's disturbing past,
as it builds up the suspense and works towards its denouement.
This is a brave ,sometimes troubling,skillfully written thriller.

This excellent novel displays Fred Vargas at her quirky creative best.
The idiosyncratic Commissaire Adamsberg,whilst working on local cases,
is drawn from Paris to a village in rural Normandy, to investigate the
disappearance of an unpopular inhabitant.Many of the villagers fear
that the disappearance is the re-enacting of an old superstition,and will
inevitably lead to murders.
As we become delightfully involved in local anxieties and disputes,Adamsberg
is joined by other members of his team,each with their own singular
peculiarities.
A witty, fully engaging ,original read.

This promising debut novel is written in the first person by
Jessica Mayhew,a Cardiff based psychotherapist.Her domestic
life is in turmoil,as her husband has admitted to being
unfaithful on a business trip abroad,and her 16 year old
daughter is causing difficulties.
During this time she sees a new client,Gwydion Morgan,a
handsome young actor,and the son of a famous theatre director,
ostensibly for a phobia of buttons.Gradually Jessica is drawn
into investigating the Morgan family secret,involving the
drowning of the family au pair girl,when Gwydion was a child.
Whilst this is a readable and engaging mystery,the main character,
Jessica,is not altogether likeable.She is too certain of her own
rectitude,and willing to disregard her professional code of conduct
when it suits her. This novel is also a story of the dangers of
hubris.

This is an excellent pocket guide to Nordic Noir .
It covers not only Nordic crime fiction,but also
film(eg 'The Killing'and even 'Borgen').
The author knows what he is writing about ,and most
items in the genre are included.Yet what gives this
book its edge is that he has interviewed many of the
authors and directors,and their comments are often most
enlightening.
A very useful,and good value guide,for anyone with any
interest in the genre.