Fatal Isles by Maria Adolfsson (translated by Agnes Broome)

Today it's my stop on the blog tour for Fatal Isles by Maria Adolfsson, the first book in the Doggerland series. My thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers for inviting me and to the publisher for providing my review copy. 

The Blurb:

A remote island. A brutal murder. A secret hidden in the past . . .

In the middle of the North Sea, between the UK and Denmark, lies the beautiful and rugged island nation of Doggerland.

Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby has returned to the main island, Heimö, after many years in London and has worked hard to become one of the few female police officers in Doggerland.

So, when she wakes up in a hotel room next to her boss, Jounas Smeed, she knows she's made a big mistake. But things are about to get worse: later that day, Jounas's ex-wife is found brutally murdered. And Karen is the only one who can give him an alibi.

The news sends shockwaves through the tight-knit island community, and with no leads and no obvious motive for the murder, Karen struggles to find the killer in a race against time.

Soon she starts to suspect that the truth might lie in Doggerland's history. And the deeper she digs, the clearer it becomes that even small islands can hide deadly secrets . . .

Fatal Isles was published by Zaffre on 18th February 2021. 

My Review:

DI Karen Ellen Hornby wakes up with a raging hangover the morning after the annual Oistra oyster festival. She's in a hotel bed next to her boss, who she detests. She hightails it out of the hotel and heads home to sleep off her hangover. However she is woken up and given a new case - the murder of Susanne Smeed, the ex-wife of said boss...To get to the bottom of the mystery she must explore Doggerland's past and uncover buried secrets. 

This is a hefty tome, coming in at just over 500 pages, and Susanne Smeed's body is discovered within the first of them. The remainder of the book deals with the investigation into her death but it never feels boring or slow. The further I got into the story the more I wanted to know. 

I really liked Karen. She's close to my age - not some slip of a thing - with trauma in her past that she has shut away. The moment she reveals the truth is heartbreaking. I liked that she isn't perfect, and can make bad decisions, such as sleeping with Jounas, who doesn't have one redeemable feature, I don't think! I loved her friends -they sound a heap of fun and I liked her relationship with partner Karl Björken, a solid dependable guy. 

The other stand out character for me was Sigrid. An angry and sad young woman from a broken home, no real relationship with either parent, and having to deal with more than any eighteen year old should have to. She is beautifully written. 

I enjoyed finding out about Doggerland, made up of one main island and two smaller ones, each with their own characteristics and reputations. Whilst this is a fictionalised version I was fascinated to discover (good ole Wikipedia!) that Doggerland did actually exist, until it submerged under the North Sea some 8000 years ago. Anyway, I felt the islands themselves, particularly Heimö, definitely have their part to play in this tale. 

The storyline itself delves deep into Doggerland's recent past, investigating closed communities, exploring family relationships, uncovering previously hidden truths and linking together the past with the present. I liked that we saw the highs and lows of the investigation, felt the frustrations of the police. The denouement is atmospheric, unexpected, violent, and sad. 

Overall I enjoyed Fatal Isles very much. It's a strong debut and I'm intrigued to read the further instalments in the Doggerland series, so I'm hoping that they will also be translated into English. 

The Author:

Maria Adolfsson (b. 1958) lives in Stockholm where she writes full-time. The Doggerland series has been translated to 18 languages to date and has sold over 260,000 copies in Sweden alone.