TW: mentions sexual assault, paedophilia, violent crime

Today I’m taking part in a blog tour for Corylus Books, an indie publisher with a focus on translated crime fiction. The Murder Pool (2019, transl. Quentin Bates 2025) is the fourth Stella Blómkvist mystery I’ve read as part of Corylus’ blog tours and it’s my favourite so far.

Here is the summary from Corylus Books:

“Sometimes murder runs in the family. Or does it? When a well-known artist is found in Snorri’s Pool with an axe buried deep in his chest, Stella Blómkvist is immediately thrown in at the deep end, brought in to defend the apparently harmless young man the police have in their sights as the killer.

The man’s mother had spent time prison, convicted of the killing of a personal trainer, despite her protestations of innocence. Stella can’t help being drawn into both the cold case and this fresh murder, with a trail of guilt that stretches half-way around the world.

As if she doesn’t have enough to keep her busy, Stella’s pursuing a political high-flyer suspected of being a serial rapist, and defending a senior police officer on corruption charges that have all the  hallmarks of a vendetta.

But the toughest challenges Stella faces are among her own loved ones…”

The opening scene has Stella objectifying a client who approaches her with details of a sexual assault, and I found myself wondering if I’d reached the end of the road with this lawyer. But I’m glad I persevered because in fact this installment saw her at her most well-rounded; humanity to the fore as much as her tough doggedness in pursuing the truth for her clients.

The Murder Pool is pacy, nicely convoluted without being utterly confusing, and with plenty of commentary on Icelandic society which never felt heavy-handed. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Stella’s long-term girlfriend Rannveig is working on a documentary about miscarriages of justice, and asks for her opinion on one woman in particular, Hjördís, who was accused of running her lover over in her car, causing life-changing injuries. Having served her time, Hjördís is protesting her innocence. Stella isn’t sure either way…

Later that night, to try and walk off insomnia, Stella wanders down to Snorri’s Pool which is where, as the blurb tells us, she discovers a famous artist “obviously stone dead. And not of his own volition.”  

It turns out the chief suspect is Hjördís’ son, and he’s adamant he didn’t do it. He becomes Stella’s client and her investigation leads her into the very murky waters of political and police corruption, drug smuggling, serial sexual assaults, and money laundering.

(I want to flag that the details of two rapes are given in the novel. It isn’t remotely gratuitous but could be very triggering for some readers.)

“That’s why they went so far as to arrest a high-ranking police officer, considering personal favours and loyalties have long been commonplace between top officials. Anything else would be madness.”

Characters from previous novels reappear (including my favourite, news blogger Máki), some of them much to Stella’s chagrin, which was fun:

“A cunning devil with a voice is smooth as silk and a polished manner, but with razor teeth.”

Also fun is Stella being employed by deputy police commissioner Vígbergur Antonsson, arrested on charges of corruption without knowing explicitly what he is accused of. Stella’s tussle within, due to her distrust of police, and without as she tears into the prosecution, was hugely entertaining.

Grounded as it is in modern institutions and with the financial collapse still looming large (Antonsson’s stores of cash are used to accuse him of bribes, but he points out he doesn’t trust the banks), it all felt very believable and of course, not unique to Iceland at all.

The Murder Pool whips along at great pace while still allowing for all the threads to be fully explored. It also manages to treat issues such a rape, paedophilia and sex tourism with the seriousness they deserve without losing sight of the demands of a thriller. The exposure of the corruption woven throughout society is effective and pointed.

I thought this was the most sophisticated of the Blómkvist novels so far, without compromising any of what makes this such a popular series. Stella goes from strength to strength!

“Bravery and cunning are a good mix, and a recipe for success.”

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