A review by bookcravings
The Harbor by Katrine Engberg

4.0

The Harbor is book 4 in a Nordic noir series from this author, and is beautifully translated from the original. (Note: book three has not yet been translated to English).

The story revolves around a teenager who has gone missing, but things get complicated as people close to the case are found dead. The police must answer the question, "what was the motive" to solve the case. There were a lot of characters and several stories within stories, but it was the descriptive framing that took my breath away. The descriptions of the Copenhagen harbor are so vivid you can see almost see the boats bobbing on the water, the islands dotted in the distance. There is a lot of technical detail on the operation of the recycling center, but it was fascinating to learn about the Amager Resource Center (ARC), a waste-to-energy plant that integrates a ski slope roof and rock climbing face to become part of a proposed entertainment complex.

I was also intrigued with the story of the behind the scenes auction fraud, the history of death masks, and the way the author tied these into the storyline. I also highly recommend The Tenant, the first in the series from Katrine Engberg.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for an advance reader's copy.