Heidi Amsinck – My Name Is Jensen

‘My Name Is Jensen’ by Heidi Amsinck is the first book in a new Nordic noir series. Nordic Noir is a genre I have found over the last few years and it has become a favourite of mine.

We meet Viggo Jensen, she has returned to Copenhagen after her job of foreign correspondent in London for the newspaper Dagbladet was cut. She spent fifteen years in London and now home leaves her feeling out of place and lacking enthusiasm for writing. On her way to work she finds a body, she horrifyingly recognises the corpse as a man that she saw sitting on the pavement the day before. An overwhelming sense of guilt for not stopping when she saw him and not trying to find him a place to stay then, causes her to try to discover his identity and find his murderer. She is determined to find out why, the last time she saw him alive he was holding a piece of cardboard with the word ‘GUILTY’ on it.

A new author for Nordic Noir and her debut is a compelling read. A slow burner that has a plot that’s complex with plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading. Jensen is a character who is a feisty, loyal and determined. She is excellent at her job but a woman whose personal life is almost falling apart. That makes for a complex character and interesting reading too! She finds herself paired up with an intern in the shape of her bosses nephew and they have the makings of a great team.

The author has dealt with big issues in this book, homelessness being the first. She doesn’t shy away from tackling mental health either. Big subjects that she has skillfully woven into the story and dealt with sensitively too. I love books that take me to countries I have never visited and make me feel like I want to go myself. This is what Heidi Amsinck has done and I loved the extra touch of the map too!

A story that has characters full of depth and a plot that immersed me immediately this is a brilliant debut and I hope to see Jensen again in the future.

Thank you to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Muswell Press for my gifted copy of the book.