As someone who enjoys the Icelandic, Danish and other Scandinavian dramas, a genre apparently called Nordic Noir, I picked up this book a while back and have finally found time to review it.

I love this story. It has a lot of twists and turns—being someone who reads a lot of crime fiction, I really appreciate it when the author can keep me guessing for a while. I did figure out parts of it, but not the complete solution. I also like that each section had the day of the week at the beginning of those sections. It helped keep the reader oriented to the time passing in the investigation and upped the stakes on how long the boy was gone.

The story starts when a young man disappears on his way home from school. He lives in Copenhagen and has two siblings and some very odd parents. The reactions of his parents when he goes missing are strange and immediately make the reader suspicious. But there is no shortage of suspects in this story. The parents are a small part of the suspicion here. A murder occurs and more layers are added to the story. There are a lot of characters to sink ones teeth into. The ending of the investigation is superbly done.

The two detectives in the story are richly drawn with flaws as well as talents. Having fully fleshed out protagonists is always appreciated. The reader can really get behind these characters as they move forward in not only the investigation but in their personal lives.

The flow of the story is well done, clues are dropped and twists happen at a good pace.

If you’re a fan of detective stories with intriguing premises and interesting crimes and criminals, this is one to pick up.