Review: One True Word by Snæbjörn Arngrímsson

Synopsis: After a day of simmering tension on a trip to an uninhabited island, Júlia snaps and leaves her husband Gíó marooned in the middle of a freezing fjord in the depths of the Icelandic winter, with night drawing in.

When she regrets her decision and returns, he is nowhere to be found. The police launch a manhunt, but soon their suspicion falls on his wife. She spins them a story to hide her involvement, but she can feel the net closing in.

Is Gíó alive or dead? In hiding or hunting her down? And can Júlia get to the truth before it destroys her?

~ ~ ~

Another Icelandic noir that I am putting right up there was one of my favourite reads for the year (Eva Björg Ægisdóttir's "The Creak on the Stairs" was my first Icelandic thriller - aside from the Icelandic Sagas of old.).

Not only is the reader compelled to finish this mystery, but also impelled by the unreliable first person narrative of Julia and the investigation into the disappearance of "husband" Gíó. 

The concise chapters move back and forth as Julia recounts current events and those from her past in an effort to draw the reader into her mindset. But we know her version of events is unreliable as she constantly lets us know that she is a habitual liar, who lies easily and unaffectedly.

"I enjoyed the way lying tasted"

"I have a habit of lying"

Julia constantly yet not consistently puts forward her version of events and whilst the police net is closing in around her, a decided lack of proof sees Julia embark on her own quest .... for freedom ... for survival.  This is another point she makes quite clear to the reader - she is a survivor!

Is this mystery solved .... well, that is for each reader to decide.

Review: The Adventures of the Murdered Midwife by Liese Sherwood-Fabre

Synopsis: Arthur Conan Doyle provided few details on Holmes' boyhood. His ancestors were country squires, his grandmother was the sister of the French artist Vernet, and he had a brother named Mycroft - seven years his senior.

Recently, a cache of documents has been discovered detailing, in Sherlock's own hand, his early forays into criminal investigation.Only weeks into his first year at Eton, Sherlock's father calls him and his brother back to Underbyrne, the ancestral estate.

The village midwife has been found with a pitchfork in her back in the estate's garden, and Mrs. Holmes has been accused of the murder.

Can Sherlock find the true killer in time to save her from the gallows?

~ ~ ~

After a few false starts with other authors taking on Holmes, I actually found myself enjoying this take on the young Sherlock. What begins as simply a case of proving his mother innocent of a crime,young Sherlock, and indeed the Holmes clan, embark on solving the actual crime as the body count rises.

The author provides an insight into the young Holmes, fresh from being dragged away from his first year at Eton, to join older brother Mycroft (dragged away from Oxford Uni much to his chagrin) and uncle Ernest in collectively solving these local crimes.

For me, however, it is Mrs Holmes who is the stand out - she is obviously the one whom young Sherlock will emulate - and you can feel the author's guiding hand in his development as a detective. As Sherlock himself says "... mother always taught me a detached mind produced better results ...". We also are treated to the first glimpses of the skills Holmes will develop and use in his latter years - disguises, consorting with all class of people, powers of observation and evidence collection, a little criminal activity, and his one-up-manship against the local constabulary.

All in all, this is a fine start to a new series and one I am looking forward to investing in.