Devil's Fjord by David Hewson

 

                        Book Description

A remote island. An isolated community. A terrible secret.

If the new District Sheriff, Tristan Haraldsen, thought moving to a remote village on the island of Vagar would be the chance for a peaceful life with his wife Elsebeth, his first few weeks in office swiftly correct him of that notion.

Provoked into taking part in the village’s whale hunt against his will, Haraldsen blunders badly, and in the ensuing chaos two local boys go missing. Blaming himself, Haraldsen dives into the investigation and soon learns that the boys are not the first to have gone missing on Vagar.

As Tristan and Elsebeth become increasingly ensnared by the island’s past, they realise its wild beauty hides an altogether uglier and sinister truth.

                          My Thoughts

I do have a soft spot for Scandi Noir, I must say. Crime fiction set in Denmark, Norway, Iceland etc always seems just that little bit darker. Well, with Devil's Fjord I can now add The Faroe Islands to that list.

With the new District Sheriff moving to a quiet village for a more peaceful life (Hahaha, these people, they never learn) he soon finds himself neck deep in tradition, whale hunting and missing boys. The deeper he digs the more sinister it gets.

 I think what really set this novel apart for me was the setting. I know of The Faroe Islands but not much about them but the author made them feel real (and certainly somewhere I'd love to visit one day) and the community felt very insular which you would expect of island life I guess. It's the not aways knowing if people behave in certain ways because they ARE sinister or just because that's how they've always behaved. The bond between the Sheriff and his wife worked as a good juxtaposition to the general feeling of isolation.

 I would highly recommend this novel (I'll certainly be reading it again when the nights get darker) and have no qualms about giving it the full 5*

HOWEVER!!!

 With the whaling scenes I understand this may not be to everybody's taste so please be aware that these can be somewhat graphic.

Thank you, as always, to Anne Cater for inviting me onto this tour. Please, if you can, have a look at the posts by the other bloggers on this tour (below)