The Last Tenant by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir #thelasttenant @evabjorgaegisdottir @orendabooks T. Victoria Cribb #forbiddeniceland #crimefiction #translatedcrime

 

Trust can be deadly…

When the skeletons of a young woman and a baby are uncovered on a long-abandoned farm in Hvalfjörður, it is clear they were buried years apart. West Iceland CID begins to investigate the disturbing discovery, aware that someone has gone to great lengths to keep the past hidden.

In Akranes, Karitas, a young single mother seeking a new start, settles in with her four-year-old son and rents a basement flat from an eccentric landlord. A cautious sense of happiness returns when she meets the boy next door.

But when news breaks that a local girl has been murdered, Karitas must decide who she can trust, knowing that one wrong choice could place her and her child in danger. Detective Elma is drawn into the case, forced to navigate long-hidden family secrets to understand a killer's motive, while trying to hold together her increasingly troubled relationship with Sævar.

Dark, atmospheric and rich with psychological suspense, The Last Tenant confirms Eva Björg Ægisdóttir as one of Iceland's finest crime writers, as a meticulous investigation and a series of unsettling discoveries draw a close-knit community towards a reckoning no one can escape…

The Last Tenant by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir was published on 10 September 2026 by Orenda Books and is Volume 6 in the Forbidden Iceland series. It is translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb.  My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Virtual Book Tour 

It was a great pleasure to discover the writing of Eva Björg Ægisdóttir. I adore the Forbidden Iceland series, and have also enjoyed her stand alone novel. However, there’s something really comforting about returning to a crime series that you’ve grown to love, even when the crimes themselves are anything but comforting!  I’m always genuinely excited when another book arrives, and The Last Tenant is another excellent addition to a series that, for me, just goes from strength to strength.

Whilst you would benefit from reading the complete series, this story can be read as a stand alone. The author cleverly fills in any back story, without overwhelming the reader with detail. 

When the remains of a young woman and a baby are discovered on a derelict farm in Hvalfjörður, Elma and her colleagues are faced with an incredibly sad and puzzling investigation. The remains were buried years apart and, as the team begin looking into the past, it soon becomes clear that there are secrets here that have been hidden for a very long time.

Alongside this, we meet Karitas, a young single mum who has moved to Akranes with her four-year-old son, hoping for a fresh start. I really felt for Karitas. There’s a vulnerability about her situation that made me want everything to work out for her, but from quite early on there’s that little niggle of unease that tells you all may not be quite as it seems.

This is what this author does so well. She doesn’t need constant shocks or dramatic cliffhangers to keep me reading. She quietly plants those tiny seeds of doubt until suddenly I’m suspicious of absolutely everybody. I changed my mind so many times!

It was also so really good to be back with Elma. She’s become such a familiar character now, and I love that she has a life beyond the crimes she investigates. Her relationship with Sævar continues to develop, not always easily, and those personal moments make me feel even more invested in her.

And then there’s Iceland itself. The landscape, the weather and those close-knit communities give these books such a distinctive atmosphere. I can almost feel the cold while I’m reading them.

Victoria Cribb’s translation is, as always, excellent. It reads beautifully and naturally while never losing that wonderful Icelandic sense of place.

Dark, unsettling and emotional, but also completely absorbing, The Last Tenant had everything I’ve come to love about this series. I finished it already looking forward to spending more time with Elma.

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir really does get better and better. Highly recommended 

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.