‘Devil’s Fjord’ by David Hewson is a story reminiscent of Scandi-Noir stories from other authors, but this one is set in the Faroe Islands, located between Denmark and Iceland. Not an area many people have heard of, but I happen to have a friend who is in the Faroe Islands, so I was already interested as soon as I read the synopsis.
A remote island. An isolated community. A terrible secret.
If the new District Sheriff, Tristan Haraldsen, thought moving to a remote village on the island of Vagar would be the chance for a peaceful life with his wife Elsebeth, his first few weeks in office swiftly correct him of that notion.
Provoked into taking part in the village’s whale hunt against his will, Haraldsen blunders badly, and in the ensuing chaos, two local boys go missing. Blaming himself, Haraldsen dives into the investigation and soon learns that the boys are not the first to have gone missing on Vagar.
As Tristan and Elsebeth become increasingly ensnared by the island’s past, they realise its wild beauty hides an altogether uglier and sinister truth.
David Hewson has successfully drawn a picture of a stark and hostile environment that is Vagar, along with the brutality of the Grind as the infamous whale hunt of the Faroe Islands is known. I really don’t fancy visiting there, especially after reading this book.
The research he has done to create a story that is so clear in detail and so balanced a view on the whale hunt there must have kept him busy for a while. I felt like I was there with Tristan and Elsebeth as they adapted to life on the Faroe’s.
A well-paced story in which we follow Tristan’s investigation as he attempts to find out what happened to the Mikkelsen brothers. We see him be treated with suspicion by the locals whichever direction he tries to turn. He soon discovers there are dark secrets among the community that he needs to unravel.
A story that I thoroughly enjoyed and another author I have found! So, more books for my teetering pile.
Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Canongate Books for my gifted copy.
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