Oh, my goodness. I absolutely and totally loved this book. As much as I enjoyed the first two novels in this outstanding and compelling series, Night Shadows is more convincing proof that Eva Björg Ægisdóttir only gets better and better with each book. This one is the best so far, with twists and turns that leave us feeling we’ve suffered whiplash and keep us guessing until the very end.

“Instead of letting her colleagues know when she was going to see people, she [Elma] had the tendency to act spontaneously on her hunches. More than once Sævar had to remind her that she wasn’t in a TV programme or crime novel: the guidelines were there to ensure their safety.”

Feisty protagonist, Icelandic detective Elma, her colleague Sævar and the rest of the West Iceland CID team investigate a suspicious death when firefighters find a body inside a house someone set on fire. Elma is as gutsy as they come, but also impetuous and her habit of often acting impulsively on her instincts in total disregard of police guidelines lands her in a life-threatening situation this time around.

Elma’s natural curiosity and drive make her an exceptional detective, and a likeable and engaging character lead. It’s this passion that quickly draws others, including her colleague Sævar and her boss Hörður into her orbit, as well as some other beautifully rendered fascinating second-tier characters. Elma is just a little too reckless with her own safety, a behavior that certainly contributes to making Night Shadows a high suspense roller coaster ride.

“Raindrops slid vertically down the window as the bus drove past endless bare fields that were hardly visible in the gloom. It turned out February evenings were pitch black in Iceland, and Lise felt silly to have expected any different.”

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s confident evocation of Iceland’s picturesque yet wild and rugged terrain gives us a strong sense of place. The sense of isolation and almost claustrophobic tension of the realities of small town living where everyone knows everything about everyone else’s business engenders a pressure-cooker atmosphere reminiscent of Ragnar Jónasson’s writing.

Besides two related crimes to solve and an impressive cast of potential suspects to sort out, Elma also faces a personal issue that adds breadth to the story and even more layers to one of the most fascinating lead characters in crime fiction. Elam seems more settled in her hometown of Akranes and a more mature detective in this book.

Night Shadows is a well-paced, breath-taking read that leaves the reader astonished and feeling a little worse for wear after Eva Björg Ægisdóttir capably builds the tension with one gut-punching revelation after another. This is a page-turning must-read for fans of crime thrillers and especially Icelandic crime fiction.

Book rating: ★★★★★