For about a year now I've been reading Nordic Noir mysteries from different Nordic countries - and I have to say Icelandic are my favourites. Girls Who Lie is second book in Eva Björg Ægisdóttir's Forbidden Iceland series set in a small Icelandic city of Akranes featuring the detective Elma. It's very much a police procedural series following the investigation, but with likeable main characters and interesting side characters. Even though it touches on some serious issues, it's never gratuitous.

I've already picked up the next part - this may be a new favourite mystery series.

Virkilega góð bók. Stíllinn lipur, söguþráður og fléttan góð og persónusköpunin frábær. Eva er að mínu mati betri höfundur en Yrsa og Ragnar...

If anything, Girls Who Lie is full of unexpected twists and turns. Even though some characters appear to be rather dreary and bland at times, it turns out they are not. Instead, it is more due to the slow development of the complex plot, and the reasons behind everything that happens, that different characters do, make complete sense and are a fantastic mix of raw, deep feelings, decisions, and circumstances.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mix and the bleak and atmosphere. So, the plot, atmosphere, and characters are really great and absolutely worth 5 stars.

Having read and been very impressed with The Creak on the Stairs, the first in the Forbidden Iceland series, I was anxious to read the second installment, Girls Who Lie. It did not disappoint.

Seven months after her disappearance, the body of Maríanna is found. A troubled single mother, she was thought to have committed suicide, leaving behind her 15-year-old daughter Hekla who seems to have settled happily into her foster home. It soon becomes clear, however, that Maríanna did not abandon her daughter but was brutally murdered. Elma, along with Sævar and Hörður, her CID colleagues in Akranes, investigates, and the number of suspects grows, especially because, as the title suggests, people are not always honest.

Interspersed periodically in the present-time case investigation are diary-like confessional entries written by an unknown woman. These first-person passages cover a number of years, beginning fifteen years earlier when she is suffering with post-partum depression. As her daughter grows up, the single mother has difficulty bonding with her child who behaves differently than other children. These sections are heartbreaking and disturbing at the same time. For me, much of the interest in the book lay in trying to find the connection between these events in the past and Maríanna’s death.

I appreciated seeing some growth in Elma. Her intelligence and determination are again evident but so is the fact that she is gradually recovering from the trauma that brought her back to Akranes. She is happy in her job, has become accustomed to the smallness of her old hometown, and has developed comfortable working relationships and friendships with colleagues.

The novel touches on a number of difficult issues such as psychological manipulation, childhood neglect, suicide, teenage pregnancy, post-partum depression, sexual orientation, and bullying. All are covered sensitively. Certainly some of these traumatic events explain the behaviour of characters.

The narrative is very cleverly plotted. One bit of misdirection left me stunned; I made assumptions which I was intended to make but should not have. I didn’t always question inconsistencies and that is my failing as a reader because the author does not cheat. Though there are ample red herrings, all the clues are also there, so that the case’s resolution is satisfying.

As does the first book in the series, this one establishes a real sense of place. Anyone who has visited Iceland will recognize the descriptions of setting. I know little about the Icelandic justice system, so enjoyed learning about the country’s treatment of minors.

I highly recommend this police procedural. With its intricate plotting and engaging protagonist, this is an accomplished novel that maintains the reader’s interest throughout.

Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).

Lange ist es her, dass ich die Leseprobe von "Verlogen" gelesen habe und mir dachte: "Joa, muss ich nicht unbedingt gelesen haben." Ganz ehrlich? Manchmal sollte man einfach auf das Bauchgefühl hören. So hat es für mich leider nur für 3,5 Sterne gereicht und ich musste mich teilweise etwas zum Lesen zwingen, weil ich so unmotiviert war.

Worum geht's? Eine Leiche wird auf Island gefunden - es ist eine Frau, Marianna, die vor einigen Monaten verschwunden ist. Doch anders als vermutet war es kein Suizid, sondern Mord. Hat ihre vernachlässigte Tochter oder deren Pflegefamilie etwas damit zu tun? Und was ist mit dem Mann, den Marianna an dem Abend treffen wollte? Und dann ist da noch etwas, das sie über ihren längst verstorbenen Bruder sagte...

Das Buch wird zu zwei Zeitpunkten erzählt. Zum einen begleitet man die Ermittlungen und die beteiligten Personen, zum anderen erhält man immer wieder Einblicke in das Leben einer Mutter. Das fand ich ursprünglich ein bisschen nervig, letztendlich hat das aber die einzige Wendung gebracht, die ich nicht habe kommen sehen. Spannung war jetzt nicht unbedingt in Massen im Krimi enthalten, mal so ganz vorsichtig gesagt.

Insgesamt fand ich die Krimi ganz nett, aber das war es dann auch. Man verpasst jetzt nicht wirklich etwas, wenn man ihn nicht liest, aber vielleicht gefällt er anderen Personen ja besser als mir.

Long, slow burn, but really enjoyable. Great sense of place and great characters. I only guessed a very small part of this. Can’t wait for the third book to come out this summer!