Today I’m taking part in a blog tour for Corylus Books, a lovely indie publisher with a focus on translated crime fiction. Back in September last year I took part in a blog tour for Murder at the Residence by Stella Blómkvist so I was looking forward to reacquainting myself with the tenacious lawyer in Murder Under the Midnight Sun. This novel was published in Iceland in 2015 and translated by Quentin Bates in 2023. The identity of the author remains a mystery…

Here is the blurb from Corylus Books:

“What does a woman do when her husband’s charged with the frenzied killing of her father and her best friend? She calls in Stella Blómkvist to investigate – however unwelcome the truth could turn out to be.

Smart, ruthless and with a flexible moral code all of her own, Stella Blómkvist is also dealing with a desperate deathbed request to track down a young woman who vanished a decade ago.

It looks like a dead end, but she agrees to pick up the stone-cold trail – and she never gives up, even if the police did a long time ago.

Then there’s the mystery behind the arm that emerges from an ice cap, with a mysterious ruby ring on one frozen finger? How does this connect to another unexplained disappearance, and why were the police at the time so keen to write it off as a tragic accident?”

As the blurb demonstrates, and as with Murder at the Residence, Stella finds herself with several plates to spin. Murder Under the Midnight Sun packs a lot into just 214 pages without ever seeming relentless or overwhelming. It’s expertly paced.

The Icelandic setting plays a part in the police’s indifference to the historic disappearance of a young British holidaymaker.

“People have vanished in Iceland before and never been found, without any indication of foul play.”

[…]

She’s far from the only missing person that Iceland’s natural world hasn’t given back.”

If anything, this serves to heighten Stella’s determination as she’s more than happy to butt up against the police, often with the help of her friend, the news blogger Máki. It’s through Máki that Stella finds herself increasingly caught up in Cold War intrigues that want to stay buried, and early on there’s a stunning set piece whereby Stella nearly ends up buried herself, down an icy crevasse.

The past and present are woven together seamlessly and the smaller population of Iceland make the connections between characters seem less contrived than they could in a more populous setting. The modern day murder of Stella’s friend Rannveig’s father and best friend was just convoluted enough to keep me guessing while being resolved satisfactorily in a short novel.

My one reservation – which I didn’t have with the previous novel – was Stella’s conduct in her private life. I’ve absolutely no issue with her being a woman who goes after what she wants. But when what she wants is a woman in a highly vulnerable state, and when her method of getting that woman is to ply her with strong alcohol, I’m not alongside. I don’t have to like everything about a protagonist to enjoy a novel and I did really enjoy Murder Under the Midnight Sun. If Stella can just be more respectful of informed sexual consent in future, that would make my enjoyment unreserved.

That aside, I did like Stella’s relentless pursuit of answers and her humorous self-belief:

“My cousin Sissi gazes at me with frank admiration in his eyes.

‘You’re one of a kind,’ he says.

I smile demurely. I agree entirely with his sentiment.”

Fingers crossed for more Stella translations!

Here are the stops from the rest of the tour, so do check out how other bloggers got on with Murder Under the Midnight Sun: