‘Her best, boldest work to date: a mystery both merciless and compassionate, subtly eerie yet flat-out frightening, featuring a detective as complicated as Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole. This is virtuoso suspense writing’ ‘Chilling and addictive, with a completely unexpected twist … I loved it’ ‘Another beautifully written novel from one of the rising stars of Nordic Noir’ _________________ 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… ___________________ ‘A creepily compelling Icelandic mystery that had me hooked from page one. will make you want to sleep with the lights on’ ‘I loved everything about this book: the characters, the setting, the storyline, an intricately woven cast … this book had me utterly gripped!’ ‘With the third release in the Forbidden Iceland series, Eva Björg establishes herself as not just one of the brightest names in Icelandic crime fiction, but in crime fiction full stop. is an absolute must-read!’ ‘One of the most compelling contemporary writers of crime fiction and psychological suspense’ ‘Fans of Nordic Noir will love this’ ‘Elma is a fantastic heroine’ ‘Complex, gripping and moving’ ‘An exciting and harrowing tale’ ‘Eerie and chilling. I loved every word!’ ‘Not only a full-fat mystery, but also a chilling demonstration of how monsters are made’ ‘Beautifully written, spine-tingling and disturbing … a thrilling new voice in Icelandic crime fiction’ ‘As chilling and atmospheric as an Icelandic winter’ ‘An unsettling and exciting read with a couple of neat red herrings to throw the reader off the scent’ ‘Elma is a memorably complex character’ ‘The twist comes out of the blue … enthralling’