Night Shadows by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (t. Victoria Cribb) BLOG TOUR #NighShadows @evaaegisdottir @OrendaBooks #ForbiddenIceland

The small community of Akranes is devastated when a young man dies in a mysterious house fire, and when Detective Elma and her colleagues from West Iceland CID discover the fire was arson, they become embroiled in an increasingly perplexing case involving multiple suspects. What’s more, the dead man’s final online search raises fears that they could be investigating not one murder, but two.

A few months before the fire, a young Dutch woman takes a job as an au pair in Iceland, desperate to make a new life for herself after the death of her father. But the seemingly perfect family who employs her turns out to have problems of its own and she soon discovers she is running out of people to turn to.

As the police begin to home in on the truth, Elma, already struggling to come to terms with a life-changing event, finds herself in mortal danger as it becomes clear that someone has secrets they’ll do anything to hide…

Night Shadows by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir is number three in the Forbidden Iceland series and was published on 21 July 2022 by Orenda Books. It is translated by Victoria Cribb. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour 

Night Shadows is the third instalment in Eva Bjórg Ægisdóttir's critically acclaimed Forbidden Iceland series. I am a huge fan of this extraordinarily gifted author, and her detective Elma has become one of my favourite police characters of all time. 

Whilst it's not essential to have read the previous two books in the series, as the author cleverly details past events, without getting bogged down in detail, I would encourage anyone who hasn't yet read them to give them a go. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. 

The plot of Night Shadows centres around a house fire in the small town of Akranes, the body of a young man is discovered inside and there are shockwaves throughout the community when it becomes clear that this was no accident, it was arson. 

And so, Elma and her team take on the investigation to find out why this seemingly happy and popular young man was killed. As with most cases, nothing is clear cut and internet searches reveal truths that are worrying and close-knit friendship groups are fairly hard to connect with. 

This author excels in delving deep into the human psyche, and ensuring that nothing is quite as it seems. Coupled with some beautifully developed prose, and the evocative background of a small Icelandic town, this really is the perfect read for fans of Nordic Noir. The story is paced so well, with reveals that take the reader by surprise, and some dark and important issues dealt with with a sure and expert hand. 

This series gets better with every instalment, Elma's personal life is expanded upon, along with others from her team, and the reader cannot help but become more and more involved in the whole setting.

Dark, chilling and tense. Another fabulous read from one of the best crime authors out there. 

Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva moved to Trondheim, Norway to study her MSc in Globalisation when she was 25. 

After moving back home having completed her MSc, she knew it was time to start working on her novel. 

Eva has wanted to write books since she was 15 years old, having won a short story contest in Iceland. 

Eva worked as a stewardess to make ends meet while she wrote her first novel, The Creak on the Stairs. 

The book went on to win the CWA Debut Dagger, the Blackbird Award, was shortlisted (twice) for the Capital Crime Readers' Awards, and became a number one bestseller in Iceland. 

The critically acclaimed Girls Who Lie (book two in the Forbidden Iceland series) soon followed, with Night Shadows (book three) following suit in July 2022. 

Eva lives with her husband and three children in Reykjavík.

Twitter @evaaegisdottir