Blog Tour: Boys Who Hurt – Eva Björg Ægisdottir, translated by Victoria Cribb

Fresh from maternity leave, Detective Elma finds herself confronted with a complex case, when a man is found murdered in a holiday cottage in the depths of the Icelandic countryside – the victim of a frenzied knife attack, with a shocking message scrawled on the wall above him.

At home with their baby daughter, Sævar is finding it hard to let go of work, until the chance discovery in a discarded box provides him with a distraction. Could the diary of a young boy, detailing the events of a long-ago summer have a bearing on Elma’s case?

Once again, the team at West Iceland CID have to contend with local secrets in the small town of Akranes, where someone has a vested interest in preventing the truth from coming to light. And Sævar has secrets of his own that threaten to destroy his and Elma’s newfound happiness.

Tense, twisty and shocking, Boys Who Hurt is the next, addictive installment in the award-winning Forbidden Iceland series, as dark events from the past endanger everything…

Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva moved to Trondheim, Norway to study for an 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 book went on to win the Blackbird Award and became an Icelandic bestseller. Eva now lives with her husband and three children in ReykjavÍk.

Victoria Cribb studied and worked in Iceland for many years. She has translated more than 25 novels from the Icelandic and, in 2017, she received the OrðstÍr honourary translation award for services to Icelandic literature.

My thoughts: returning to Iceland’s dark side as Elma returns to work after maternity leave, with a man’s body in a holiday cottage, a violent murder that at first seems to make no sense. The victim doesn’t have any enemies, or close friends. His mother happens to be Elma’s rather odd neighbour, and stuck on paternity leave Sævar has been watching her, curious about her behaviour.

A box found in the attic of Elma’s old place, that has moved with them, contains a diary from the 90s, and possibly an answer to Elma’s case.

I really like this series, the cases have been so clever and twisty  – and this is no different. Elma’s case is all about secrets and a terrible tragedy from years before, some people never forget and never forgive. The writing is so good, I was totally gripped and couldn’t put it down.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.