Published December 7th, 2023 by Orenda Books
Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction, Hard-boiled Mystery, Noir Fiction, Political Thriller Translated Fiction
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the first book in an exciting new series. Thank you to Orenda for the proof copy and Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part in the tour.
********
SYNOPSIS:
When a celebrated government official is found dead after his surprise birthday party, a young police officer uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives. Icelandic politician Katrín Júlíusdóttir’s award-winning debut – first in a breathtaking series…
**Winner of the Blackbird Award for Best Icelandic Crime Debut**
‘A breathtaking political thriller from one of Iceland’s most exciting new voices’ Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
‘Katrín Júlíusdóttir skilfully weaves together intense family dynamics, dark pasts and criminal endeavours in this masterful narrative’ Lilja Sigurðardóttir
____________________
A murder is just the beginning…
When Óttar Karlsson, a wealthy and respected government official and businessman, is found murdered, after failing to turn up at his own surprise birthday party, the police are at a loss. It isn’t until young police officer Sigurdís finds a well-hidden safe in his impersonal luxury apartment that clues start emerging.
As Óttar’s shady business dealings become clear, a second, unexpected line of enquiry emerges, when Sigurdís finds a US phone number in the safe, along with papers showing regular money transfers to an American account. Following the trail to Minnesota, trauma rooted in Sigurdís’s own childhood threatens to resurface and the investigation strikes chillingly close to home…
Atmospheric, deeply unsettling and full of breakneck twists and turns, Dead Sweet is a startling debut thriller that uncovers a terrifying world of financial crime, sinister cults and disturbing secret lives, and kicks off an addictive, mind-blowing new series.
********
MY REVIEW:
“There’s a lesson to be learned: life’s not a game to be played.”
Unnerving, tense and twisty, Dead Sweet is a strong start to an exhilarating new Scandi Noir crime series. Debut author Katrín Júlíusdóttir takes us on a turbulent ride of buried secrets, double lives, criminal ventures and dark deeds that are finally uncovered. She introduces us to Sigurdis, a young police officer with a traumatic past, who is finally given the chance to sink her teeth into a major investigation when celebrated government official Óttar Karlsson is found murdered on the beach after failing to show up for his surprise 50th birthday party. The police are initially stumped as to who could have wanted to kill this well-liked man until Sigurdis discovers a safe hidden in Óttar’s luxury apartment that reveals he was not the man anyone thought he was. The signs all point to a financially motivated crime but Sigurdis isn’t convinced and her gut is telling her this was more personal. But can she prove it?
My love for everything Orenda publishes is no secret, and their translated crime fiction are some of my favourite books, so I was very excited about this one. I might not need yet another crime series on my TBR, but I knew it would be a mistake not to read this book. And once again they’ve struck gold. After reading this it’s easy to see why it was the winner of the Blackbird Award for Best Icelandic Crime Debut and Katrín Júlíusdóttir is undoubtedly an author to watch. Cleverly plotted, sharply observed, and skillfully written, she intricately weaves together a plethora of narrators and threads perfectly. She keeps you guessing, sporadically including old diary entries from an unknown narrator that add to the dark undertones already running through the pages. I was on a knife-edge from the first page right up until the surprising conclusion. I don’t mind admitting that I did not get this one right at all!
“Ottar seemed to have the psychopaths knack of adapting himself to the people from whom he wanted something, showing interest and understanding until his prey believed that they had found a soul mate and placed complete trust in him.”
I love the added apprehension multiple narrators can bring to a book and the different voices telling this story put the tension through the roof. Ms. Júlíusdóttir has packed this book with an array of realistic and compelling characters and while it did take me some time to fully connect with some of them, it was never confusing. I liked that it was always clear that Sigurdis is our central character and I thought she was a great protagonist. She’s likeable and easy to root for and has a dark, traumatic and heartbreaking backstory that only strengthened the bond I felt with her. While Sigurdis is probably our most frequent narrator, Óttar is only ever on the page as a memory or a victim, Júlíusdóttir manages to make him feel vivid and three dimensional. We feel his sinister presence polluting every page as his misdeeds haunt those he left behind and every time I thought I couldn’t like him any less there would be more revelations that made me dislike him even more. Júlíusdóttir writes these fractured and flawed characters with honesty and sensitivity, allowing us to understand some of their actions and comprehend the trauma and pain they are living with, while never allowing it to feel like their wrongdoings are excused. Her exploration of their dynamics also feels authentic and appreciated the accuracy and relatability with which she wrote these characters and storylines.
Intelligent, suspenseful and totally gripping, Dead Sweet is a must read for any thriller-lover.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
********
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Katrín is a Policy advisor and author. She received the Blackbird Award, an Icelandic crime-writing prize, for her first novel, Sykur (en: Sugar) in 2020. Her debut novel was reviewed well by critics and hit the best-selling lists in the first weeks after publication.
She was the Managing Director of Finance Iceland from 2016-2022. She has a political background and was a member of Parliament from 2003 until 2016. The Minister of industry, energy and tourism from 2009-2012 and Minister of finance and economy from 2012-2013. She served as the Social Democratic Alliance’s vice-chair from 2013-2016.
Before she was elected to Parliament, Katrín was an advisor and project manager at a tech company and a senior buyer and CEO in the retail sector, as well as the Managing Director of a student union during her uni years. She worked from a young age in the fishing industry, as a store clerk and took nighttime shifts at a pizza place. She studied Anthropology and has an MBA from Reykjavík University.
She was raised in Kópavogur, about 15 minutes’ drive from downtown Reykjavík. She now lives in the neighbouring town of Garðabær with her family. She is married to author Bjarni M. Bjarnason, who encouraged her to start writing. They have four boys.
********
MEET THE TRANSLATOR:
Quentin Bates escaped English suburbia as a teenager, jumping at the chance of a gap year working in Iceland. For a variety of reasons, the gap year stretched to become a gap decade, during which time he went native in the north of Iceland, acquiring a new language, a new profession as a seaman and a family, before decamping en masse for England. He worked as a truck driver, teacher, netmaker and trawlerman at various times before falling into journalism, largely by accident. He is the author of a series of crime novels set in present-day Iceland (Frozen Out, Cold Steal, Chilled to the Bone, Winterlude, Cold Comfort and Thin Ice) which have been published worldwide. He has translated all of Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series.
********
BUY THE BOOK:
Orenda Books | Waterstones* | Bookshop.org* | Amazon*
********
Thanks for reading Bibliopiles xxx
Please check out the reviews from the other bloggers taking part in the blog tour.
*These links are affiliate links
Emma's Biblio Treasures 