Painting Over The Cracks by Sophie Buchaillard

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Painting Over The Cracks by Sophie Buchaillard. What a lovely treat to have a collection of poetry to review. You'll all know I love my crime fiction but you may not know that poetry is my second love, although I don't tend to review it very often. So it was wonderful to have some to look over, and the publisher was kind enough to send me a physical copy together with a gorgeous wee notebook for my thoughts. Thanks also to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part. 

The Blurb

Painting Over the Cracks is novelist Sophie Buchaillard’s poetry debut. Inspired by her life and a series of workshops she ran with survivors of abuse, this collection explores the relationship between unspoken shame and fraying family ties, and the healing power of expression, friendship, and community in overcoming trauma. Split into four chronological sections, the collection travels from the anxieties of a single mother to memories of buried traumas that lurk in corners of the mind, colouring every interaction to articulating the unspoken, strong from new friendships and rediscovered communities.

My Review

The collection is split into four sections - 1. Nuclear. Family., 2. Remembrance, 3. To words we can finally speak and 4. To seeing the other.  There are some big topics covered in these poems - motherhood, love, grief, trauma, illness and identity. I don't know how many were based on the personal experience of the author, and how many were inspired by people she has come across during her life but it feels like a very personal collection. 

Some of the poems touched me more than others, and some I didn't connect with at all. And that's OK. I don't expect to like every poem I read but I do always find them interesting. And I found on my second reading some of the poems spoke to me differently from during the first read through, and I'm sure I'll get more when I pick this book up again. 

Poems that really stood out for me included the opening poem that gives its name to the collection, 'Painting Over The Cracks' which talks about the end of a relationship, and 'Because being a mother is', because I am one, and I haven't always got it right. 'Black and blue (i) & (ii)' hit hard. As a child of aging, ailing parents both 'Residential home, final visit' and 'She brings my grief in her suitcase' moved me. I enjoyed the love letter to Wales in 'Wales' as I've spent many a lovely holiday in its beautiful countryside. As someone who has never moved from her home country, unless you count from England to Scotland, I was very interested to read the content on migration, not belonging, being different, particularly 'The silence of translated lives'. But I think my absolute favourite poem in the collection was 'Trust' - I felt that one! 

Painting Over The Cracks a is a great collection. Not all of it   is an easy read but it is well worth an investment of time and quietness. Lots to enjoy, lots to contemplate. 

The Author

Sophie Buchaillard is a Franco-British novelist, essayist and poet, and the author of Assimilation (Honno), a novel exploring identity, migration and belonging in the 21st century. Her debut novel This Is Not Who We Are (Seren) was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year 2023 and focused on the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Sophie writes about identity, culture, migration, belonging and our relationship to travel. Her short stories and essays have appeared in a wide range of magazines. She is also a contributor to the travel writing collection An Open Door: New Travel Writing for a Precarious Century, edited by Steven Lovatt (Parthian). She teaches creative writing in university and community settings.

Got You by Erik Therme

Today I'm helping to open the blog tour for Got You by Erik Therme. It's been a while since I'd read one of his books but have always enjoyed them. If you search the blog you'll find reviews of several. I'd actually missed the email from him about this book so was happy to jump onto the tour. Big thanks to Zoé O'Farrell at Zooloo's Book Tours for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy. 

The Blurb

Sisterhood can be fatal.

Leah has never been close to her younger half-sister, but she’s not surprised to get a frantic phone call late at night, asking for a ride. Amanda’s life has always been a snarled mess of bad choices and boyfriends, and it’s common for her to resurface mid-crisis.

But this time is different. Amanda is adamant about getting to the neighbouring town of Belmont but won’t say why—only that her five-year-old son is in danger. But Amanda doesn’t have any kids.

Before Leah can get answers, Amanda runs into the road and is killed by a passing car.

In the days that follow, Leah convinces herself that Amanda was confused that night, especially after the coroner finds hallucinogenic drugs in her bloodstream. But that doesn’t explain the nameless boy at Amanda’s visitation. Or the middle of the night phone calls with no one on the other end. Or the unshakable feeling of being watched.

Someone blames Leah for Amanda’s death.

And that someone wants Leah dead.

My Review

Leah has always had a tricky relationship with her half-sister Amanda because of what her existence meant for the family. But she doesn't ignore Amanda when she gets a late night call asking for help. Turning up, Leah sees Amanda is drunk and possibly high and she doesn't seem to be making any sense at all before she storms off and staggers in front of a car in a terrible accident. Leah tries to convince herself that Amanda was talking nonsense on the night she died but then she can't reach their dad and strange things start happening, and it all starts to feel a bit frightening..

Erik Therme's books are always very character driven and Got You is no exception. I couldn't help but feel for Leah, caught in the middle of a wild situation she never wanted to be in. She has great support from best friend and flatmate Em, who I loved because she doesn't really give a hoot what people think, but she could also be a bit mean, particularly to the building maintenance men. I loved Parker too, who seemed like such a pure soul. Actually, for the  majority of the book it is quite to dislike anyone because  actions can be explained. And even when everything does become clear, it's more sad than anything. 

Got You delivers a cracking twisty turny tale with rising tension, touching on big themes such as love, family and grief. As mentioned above, the denouement, whilst taut and exciting, is quite heart breaking. A quick and enjoyable read.

The Author

Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering on his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his oldest. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty-eight places in the world that UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature. Join Erik’s mailing list to be notified of new releases and author giveaways: http://eepurl.com/cD1F8L


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Three Years on Fire: The Destruction of Ukraine by Andrey Kurkov

Something very different for my second post today. I don't tend to read a lot of non fiction but I thought this would be an interesting, informative and important book to read. And I was right. Three Years on Fire: The Destruction of Ukraine by Andrey Kurkov is published in the UK by Open Borders Press, an imprint of Orenda Books and came out last Thursday. My thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy.

The Blurb

In this third volume of Andrey Kurkov’s war diaries, Ukraine’s greatest living writer chronicles the third year of the full-scale invasion from his home in Kyiv and from journeys all over the country – capturing moments of horror, resilience, absurdity and grace with unmatched clarity.

Children on a contested border wear hooded bulletproof vests to school; soldiers write haiku; professional clowns go to war; and the mother of a young soldier killed in battle uses his compensation money to create a rehabilitation centre for veterans. Roses bloom across Ukraine in quiet tribute to a florist and soldier killed in Avdiivka, remembered by those who once bought his flowers.

The Dnipro River seems to slow when the first missiles fall, as though nature itself had paused in shock. In Pokrovsk, 7,500 residents refuse to leave a city that no longer exists – their homes obliterated but their will unbroken. A general’s seventeen-year-old pet toad becomes an iconic symbol of defiance. And buried beneath a cherry tree, a murdered writer’s final diary is recovered, a haunting echo of a silenced voice.

From the home front to the trenches, Kurkov captures the rhythms of survival – the quiet rituals, unlikely joys, unexpected humour and appalling costs – in an intimate and astonishing record of national endurance. Three Years on Fire is a luminous act of remembrance, rich with unforgettable detail and human spirit, from a writer whose voice stands witness to everything Ukraine has lost – and everything it refuses to give up.

My Review

I was not aware of this author before reading this book but see he has, at least, one book translated into English, and has also written two previous war diaries, which I would be interested to read. Three Years on Fire covers April 2024 to April 2025, and is presented as you would expect a diary to be. The entries are beautifully written, each discussing a couple of topics or events which are on the author's mind, as his country is being destroyed around him. Andrey Kurkov lives in Kyiv, which hadn't been too badly affected (relatively) by the war but started to get more attacks this year. 

This book is so interesting. My only real knowledge of Ukraine and the situation there is from what I've seen on the news, so to read a true account from somebody living with the war as a backdrop has been educational and enlightening. And it's particularly interesting to hear a civilian account - how life is, three years into a war. A war in which thousands have died, millions of homes have been destroyed and millions of Ukrainians have been internally displaced, or have left Ukraine completely. 

I made a ton of notes when reading this book, too many to cover all of them but I'll mention some of the things discussed. Some circus professions are deemed exempt from military service, which caused angry backlash on social media. Several well known clowns, however, are on the front line, whilst foreign clowns entertain children in their absence. The war has caused an increase in gambling, and Trump's election has caused an increase in drinking and a decrease in book sales, perhaps giving some indication of the emotions of Ukrainians. Tuareg music became a symbol of rebellion following the ambush of a private Russian military group by Tuareg rebels in Mali. The author recommends trying some Tuareg music - I did, and I would recommend it too. Ukrainians who are able to still to do things that being them joy, aware that those things, or they, might not be here tomorrow. Shopping (there was excitement at Zara reopening in Kyiv), eating out, theatre (there is a poignant story of two empty seats at a new year show in Kyiv), museums and art galleries. Through this I learned of Maria Primachenko, Ukraine's most well known artist in the 'naive' style - check her work out on Google - and I loved this comment by the author: 'Perhaps it is this seemingly naive stubbornness that lies at the heart of Ukrainian invincibility: the inexhaustible readiness to rise from yet another layer of ashes in a blaze of colour, like the paintings of Maria Primachencko'.

This war is costing Ukraine $100million dollars a day, and countless lives. There is growing disillusion about Trump's promise to end the war, anger as he humiliated Zelensky, and chummed up with Putin, and confusion over what he'll do next. Ukraine is a pawn between the two powers of the US and Russia. But it's clear from this book that one thing Ukraine won't do is lie down. They need more support from Europe, they are  are under resourced, tired, battered, bruised and far worse, but the indefatigable resilience of the people comes through loud and clear here, even though 'For all of us the future remains unstable, treacherous, broken. The new geopolitical reality deprives us of any vision of the future.' (written in September this year following the worst attack on Kyiv thus far). I'm really glad I read this book, just wish there was more I could do other than hope for a swift end to the war. 

The Author

Andrey Kurkov was born near Leningrad in 1961 and graduated from Kyiv Pedagogical Academy of Foreign Languages in 1983. After working as a prison guard in Odesa and as a journalist, he self-published his texts and found renown as a novelist. His novel Death and the Penguin, his first in English translation, became an international bestseller, translated into more than 43 languages, and has been in print since its publication in 2001. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the author has published unrivalled reports from his wartorn country in newspapers and magazines all over the world. He has been a regular presence on radio and television, including BBC Radio 4’s “Letter from Ukraine”, and travelled worldwide to lecture on the perilous state of his country. He has, in the process, become a crucial voice for the people of Ukraine. Of his war journals, Diary of an Invasion was published in 2022 and Our Daily War in 2024.

Scars of Silence by Johana Gustawsson (translated by David Warriner)

In the first of two blog tour stops today, I'm looking at Scars of Silence by Johana  Gustawsson and translated into English by David Warriner. Johana is one of my favourite writers, one of my favourite people, really, and I've been super excited for the release of this book. If you search her name on the blog you'll be able to find reviews of several of her books, including of the first of the Lidingō mysteries, Yule Island. Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy. I just need to get myself a hardback copy with spredges (see picture below)! 

The Blurb

Twenty-three years ago, a young woman was murdered on the Swedish island of Lidingö.
The island has kept its silence.
Until now…

As autumn deepens into darkness in Lidingö, on the Stockholm archipelago, the island is plunged into chaos: in the space of a week, two teenaged boys are murdered. Their bodies are left deep in the forest, dressed in white tunics with crowns of candles on their heads, like offerings to Saint Lucia.

Maïa Rehn has fled Paris for Lidingö after a family tragedy. But when the murders shake the island community, the former police commissioner is drawn into the heart of the investigation, joining Commissioner Aleksander Storm to unravel a mystery as chilling as the Nordic winter.

As they dig deeper, it becomes clear that a wind of vengeance is blowing through the archipelago, unearthing secrets that are as scandalous as they are inhuman.

But what if the victims weren’t who they seemed? What if those long silenced have finally found a way to strike back?

How far would they go to make their tormentors pay?

And you – how far would you go?

My Review

As I mentioned in my intro, I've been looking forward to this book as I loved everything I've read by Johana Gustawsson. She writes about dark stuff but always with emotion, and very real characters. 

Scars of Silence opens with a bang. It's a shocking scene, and one for which we have no immediate context, but it's a scene that immediately drew me in. French former police commissioner Maïa is on a leave of absence following a tragedy, and staying in her husband's family home in Lidingö. She is drawn in to the investigation after the murder of a young man, who is found dressed as St Lucia, who is celebrated with a festival in mid December. The murder is very similar to one that happened more than two decades earlier, except the victim then was a young woman. When a second young man is murdered the investigation ratchets up a notch, and Maïa works alongside local commissioner Aleksander. What they discover is chilling and sad, as long held secrets break free. 

Johana Gustawsson always presents us with such whole, three dimensional characters. Maïa is instantly likeable and relatable, as she struggles with getting on with life following a personal tragedy. She's reluctant to mix and socialise any more than she needs to but is encouraged by good friend Christian. The young man's murder, and the request of local resident Sophia, actually give Maïa a focus. She is lucky that Commissioner Storm is willing to be so open with her, and the two develop a good working relationship and a tentative friendship. Perhaps aided by the fact that Aleksander is also dealing with some personal stuff for a large part of the book. Again, a reflection of real life. 

The investigation is detailed, and whilst it is not full of peril, it is no less tense as Maïa and Aleks search for the truth. They uncover secrets and lies aplenty, and the truth they discover is sad and shocking and grubby. And the ramifications of historical events are wide ranging, horrifying and painful. 

Before I conclude I want to give a shout out to David Warriner, the translator. For me, translators are unsung heroes. Because of them, I have been able to enjoy so many fabulous foreign language novels, of which this is the latest, that I wouldn't have been able to read otherwise. So thank you, translators! And particularly to David for his brilliant work on this. 

As well as giving us a cracking thriller, Scars of Silence touches on family, love, death, grief, consent and entitlement. The author has never shied away from dealing with difficult issues and she does so very well. I loved the central characters, how real they were and the emotional depth they had. And the storyline delivers a punch. Highly recommend it! Now, I'm off to find some spredges...

The Author

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 won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d'Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in 23 countries. A TV adaptation is currently under way in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding was a number-one bestseller in France receiving critical acclaim across the globe, and Yule Island won multiple awards including Book of the Year with France’s biggest retailer Cultura and has been optioned for the screen. In 2025 Johana teamed up with Norwegian crime writer Thomas Enger to write the international bestselling mystery SON to immense critical acclaim. Johana is regarded as France’s most prestigious, successful female crime writer and she lives in Sweden with her Swedish husband and their three sons.

The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen (translated by David Hackston)

I'm so pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for the new book from one of my favourites. The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen and translated into English by David Hackston is published by Orenda Books and came out on 23rd October this year. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy. I will be buying my own paper copy.

 

The Blurb

Helsinki, 1982. Recently divorced postal worker Ilmari Nieminen has promised his daughter a piano for Christmas, but with six days to go – and no money – he’s desperate.

A last-minute job offers a solution: transport a valuable antique sofa to Kilpisjärvi, the northernmost town in Finland.With the sofa secured in the back of his van, Ilmari stops at a gas station, and an old friend turns up, offering to fix his faulty wipers, on the condition that he tags along. Soon after, a persistent Saab 96 appears in the rearview mirror. And then a bright-yellow Lada.

That’s when Ilmari realises that he is transporting something truly special.

And that’s when Ilmari realises he might be in serious trouble…

My Review

One of the things I love about Antti Tuomainen 's books is that he takes ordinary people and puts them into extraordinary situations. Situations which are often perilous but also darkly funny - at least for the lucky reader, if not for the ptotagonist.

Ilmari Nieminen is just a postman but he's a postman who wants to buy his daughter the perfect Christmas present. Unfortunately, that's a piano. And he's broke. And Christmas is a week away. The long distance delivery job he's offered is perfect - he'll be back in time for Christmas Eve with enough money for the piano. But the job turns out to be anything but simple...

There's a lot of fun to be had in this crime novel. Eccentric characters, distinctive vehicles, a frozen landscape, a desperate determined main character and a very special sofa make for a great story. For Ilmari, noting matters except his daughter getting the piano for Christmas, and it's that thought that keeps him going in the darker moments of his trip. I loved his reacquaintance with Antero as the two get to know each other again and try to suss out of they can trust each other. From the other characters, I loved Otto. Well, loved is possibly the wrong word because he's a pretty unlovable man, but I found him very entertaining - I'm not sure how he's feel about that. He also has a very particular way of looking at people and places - some of his comparisons worked for me, some didn't. All the characters are fleshed out, all have their own reasons for being interested in the sofa.

Part road trip, part cat and mouse chase, the chaos mounts up as the journey and the story progress. There are some perilous moments and there are also plenty of moments that will make you smile. Yes, it's a crime novel, but it's one that says a lot about love, family and friendship. And keeping promises. Loved it.


The Author

Finnish Antti Tuomainen was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. In 2011, Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for Best Finnish Crime Novel and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. In 2013, the Finnish press crowned Tuomainen the ‘King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. Tuomainen was one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime-genre formula, and his poignant, dark and hilarious The Man Who Died became an international bestseller, shortlisting for the Petrona and Last Laugh Awards. Palm Beach, Finland (2018) was an immense success, with The Times calling Tuomainen ‘the funniest writer in Europe’, and Little Siberia (2019) was shortlisted for the Capital Crime/Amazon Publishing Readers Awards, the Last Laugh Award and the CWA International Dagger, and won the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel. It was released as a Netflix film in 2025. The Rabbit Factor, the first book in a trilogy that includes The Moose Paradox and The Beaver
Theory, is now in production for TV with Amazon Studios, starring Steve Carell. The Moose Paradox was a Literary Review and Guardian Book of the Year and shortlisted for CrimeFest’s Last Laugh Award. The trilogy was followed in 2024 by The Burning Stones. Antti lives in Helsinki with his wife.

Aye Write, Glasgow's Book Festival

I'm delighted to be opening this tour to celebrate Aye Write, Glasgow's Book Festival, which is taking place in Glasgow between 6th and 16th November this year. Big thanks to Tim Donald at Brownlee Donald Associates for asking me. Usually, the book festivals I attend focus on crime fiction, my favourite genre, but the great thing about Aye Write is it includes all genres and a huge range of topics. I'm delighted to see such a packed programme again after a couple of years with a smaller number of events. The link to the whole programme is further down the page.

I was asked to choose two events that I am really looking forward to. I thought it would be easy but, goodness, I looked through the programme and found no less than 30 events I'd like to see across the ten days! Narrowing it down to just two to highlight was hard!

The Winter Job and Black as Death: Antti Tuomainen and Lilja Sigurdardottir with Neil McKay
Sunday 9th Nov 2025,12:45pm,
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, The Green Room
£9.50

On Sunday 9th two of my favourite authors, and two of my favourite people, really, are appearing together at the Concert Hall. Antti Tuomainen and Lilja Sigurðardóttir will be talking about their new books - The Winter Job and Black as Death respectively. I've just read The Winter Job and will be reviewing it on the blog tomorrow. A sofa delivery goes awry - dark, funny and a great read. I reviewed Black as Death on 16th of this month. The final instalment in the An Áróra Investigation series brings the five book story arc to a conclusion but includes its own mystery for Áróra to investigate. I know it's going to be a fun session as the two chat with Neil McKay.

You can buy tickets for their event here:
https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/the-winter-job-and-black-as-death-antti-tuomainen-and-lilja-sigurdardottir-with-neil-mckay

Poyums Annaw: Len Pennie with Lindsay Johnstone
Sunday 9th Nov 2025, 7:45pm
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Strathclyde Suite
£12.70

Later on Sunday poet Len Pennie will be talking to Lindsay Johnstone about her new poetry collection, Poyums Annaw. You may know Len from her Scots Word of the Day on Instagram. She's a fierce champion of the Scots language and her poems cover a range of hard hitting subjects. She's always thought provoking and interesting, and I love her poetry - check out her debut collection, Poyums - and I'm excited for her session. 

You can buy tickets for Len's event here:
https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/poyums-annaw-len-pennie-with-lindsay-johnstone


There were several other sessions from the ones I fancied that particularly caught my eye. I'll just put the brief details below. I haven't included any more crime fiction ones because I want to try to give an idea of the different subjects covered but, fear not, there are plenty of crime fiction ones too. Anyway, other highlights for me include:

• Hold Fast: Catherine Simpson & Nina Mega with Gabriella Bennett - mother and daughter Catherine & Nina talk about their life and relationship as Nina was growing up with autism.

• How to Have a Magnificent Midlife Crisis: Kate Muir with Vicky Allan - this just sounds like a splendid idea!

• Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim: Julie Nimmo and Greg Hemphill with Bryan Burnett - the book that accompanies their TV series.

• Conversations with Tim Ingold: Anthropology, Education and Life with Hannah Whaley - talking about the big stuff.

• Muckle Flugga and In The Hide: Michael Pedersen and Gordon Buchanan with Nicola Meighan - mixing fact and fiction, both authors talk about how the natural world inspired their books.

• You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here: Benji Waterhouse with Sean McDonald - psychiatrist and stand up comedian Benny Waterhouse tells stories from his working life.

• Lost Boys and Hermit: James Bloodworth and Chris McQueer with Sean McDonald - looking at the darker side of the manosphere.

To find out more about all the sessions mentioned above, and others including politics, nature, and the countryside, relationships, lifestyle, music and musicians, cooking, crime, history, Scotland and more, click the link below to view the whole programme - there really is something for everyone. Hope to see you there!

https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/whats-on/aye-write

Black as Death by Lilja Sigurðardøttir (translated by Lorenza Garcia)

Today's my stop on the blog tour for Black as Death, The last in the An Áróra Investigation series, by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, translated into English by Lorenza Garcia. Because I wasn't organised enough to have written this early and scheduled the post, I'm writing this from a sun lounger in Tenerife! It's a hard life! Normal service will resume next week. Big thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy.

 

The Blurb

The haunting final chapter to an award-winning series…
And a final reckoning…

With the fate of her missing sister, Ísafold, finally uncovered, Áróra feels a fragile relief as the search that consumed her life draws to a close. But when Ísafold’s boyfriend – the prime suspect in her disappearance – is found dead at the same site where Ísafold’s body was discovered, Áróra’s grip on reality starts to unravel … and the mystery remains far from solved.

To distract herself, she dives headfirst into a money laundering case that her boyfriend Daníel is investigating. But she soon finds that there is more than meets the eye and, once again, all leads point towards Engihjalli, the street where Ísafold lived and died, and a series of shocking secrets that could both explain and endanger everything.

Black as Death is published in the UK by Orenda Books and will be out on 23rd October this year.

My Review

This is the last in the An Áróra Investigation series and the overarching storyline told across the books reaches its conclusion here. But whilst you'll have a richer reading experience if you've read the books in order, don't worry if you haven't as all the information you'll need is here. And this book has its own mystery for Áróra (with a little help from boyfriend Daniel) to get her teeth into.

Áróra is such an interesting character. It's taken her a while to feel.more settled in Iceland despite her Icelandic heritage via her father. She's dogged, determined and able to handle herself. Finding out that the case of her sister Ísafold isn't what she or the police had thought throws her off balance and she revisits people and places connected to Ísafold, despite Daniel's warnings. But he does distract her a little with the case he is investigating. Her speciality is financial crime, and there is definitely something afoot at coffeehouse chain Kaffikó.

Daniel is a lovely character, gentle and kind, and whilst he struggles sometimes to know where he is with Áróra, he provides the calm she needs. And I was delighted to see that Lady Gúgúlú, Daniel's former lodger, is back for a visit. Helena has a new trainee and all  these characters, and the more minor ones, are all really well written.

I must confess I wasn't entirely happy with the ending as I wanted something different for Áróra. But the ending Lilja has written totally fits her character - it's just mr.

Considering this is as much about do with financial crime as about Isafold's case it maybe surprising there is a fair bit of violence here. It's tense and exciting. Black as Death is a great story bringing to a conclusion a mystery spanning five books, as well as the one contained just in this novel. I will miss Áróra but excited to see what comes next from author Lilja Sigurðardóttir.

The Author

Icelandic crime writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the  of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written eleven crime novels, including Snare, Trap and Cage, making up the Reykjavík Noir trilogy, and her standalone thriller Betrayal, all of which have hit bestseller lists worldwide. Snare was longlisted for the CWA International Dagger, Cage won Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year and was a Guardian Book of the Year, and Betrayal was shortlisted for the prestigious Glass Key Award and won Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year. The film rights for the Reykjavík Noir trilogy have been bought by Glassriver. Cold as Hell, the first book in the An Áróra Investigation series, was published in the UK in 2021 and was followed by Red as Blood, White as Snow and Dark as Night. TV rights to the series have been bought by Studio Zentral in Germany. Lilja lives in Reykjavik with her partner and a brood of chickens.