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A review by litwithleigh
The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
3.0
One sentence review: Honda Civic Reliable Nordic Noir
SYNOPSIS
Chief Investigating Officer Elma has returned to Arkanes after her long-term relationship ended, and her first case is a doozy! A woman who fled Arkanes after a harrowing childhood turns up dead as a doorknob at one of the city's lighthouses. Why did she come back? And who wanted her gone for good?
MY OPINION
I saw fellow Goodreader Mai raving about this series and since books 1 & 2 were $0.99 on Kindle I was like YOLO. I love my Nordic Noir, and I've accepted that it is not for everyone. The translation can be a bit clunky (also it's often British translators, so there's lots of British slang lol). One of my fave "lost in translation" quotes was: "I see it's silly season for the police" LOL. Adding "silly season" to my arsenal asap.
Anyways, I call this Honda Civic Reliable in the context of the genre. Nordic Noir is one of my faves because they have a way of incorporating mental illness into the baddie's motivations that is quite startling. And they have a way of writing subtle relationship dynamics that are quite thought-provoking. But unfortunately these elements were missing from this book. Also, the police work also seemed a little questionable at times, but I guess that's small towns for you?
The flashbacks were the strongest part of this book. You really had to feel for lil Elisabet. The author did a great job with showing not telling how a child's trauma can manifest into "scary" behaviour. While the psychological insights were quite good in this regard, it didn't touch on how the other victim (a prevalent character) felt. And also I didn't really understand the baddie's motivations... they were obviously angry AF, but they didn't seem very motivated to get revenge until the object of their hatred just happened to waltz back into town.
All in all, this book was not BAD, it just didn't meet the banger alert requirements for this genre. However, the reveal at the end about Elam's personal life was heart-wrenching. Really nicely done.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: juicy case, pretty fast paced for a Nordic Noir
Cons: missing that je ne sais quoi that makes Nordic Noirs so bangerlicious, some questionable police work
SYNOPSIS
Chief Investigating Officer Elma has returned to Arkanes after her long-term relationship ended, and her first case is a doozy! A woman who fled Arkanes after a harrowing childhood turns up dead as a doorknob at one of the city's lighthouses. Why did she come back? And who wanted her gone for good?
MY OPINION
I saw fellow Goodreader Mai raving about this series and since books 1 & 2 were $0.99 on Kindle I was like YOLO. I love my Nordic Noir, and I've accepted that it is not for everyone. The translation can be a bit clunky (also it's often British translators, so there's lots of British slang lol). One of my fave "lost in translation" quotes was: "I see it's silly season for the police" LOL. Adding "silly season" to my arsenal asap.
Anyways, I call this Honda Civic Reliable in the context of the genre. Nordic Noir is one of my faves because they have a way of incorporating mental illness into the baddie's motivations that is quite startling. And they have a way of writing subtle relationship dynamics that are quite thought-provoking. But unfortunately these elements were missing from this book. Also, the police work also seemed a little questionable at times, but I guess that's small towns for you?
The flashbacks were the strongest part of this book. You really had to feel for lil Elisabet. The author did a great job with showing not telling how a child's trauma can manifest into "scary" behaviour. While the psychological insights were quite good in this regard, it didn't touch on how the other victim (a prevalent character) felt. And also I didn't really understand the baddie's motivations... they were obviously angry AF, but they didn't seem very motivated to get revenge until the object of their hatred just happened to waltz back into town.
All in all, this book was not BAD, it just didn't meet the banger alert requirements for this genre. However, the reveal at the end about Elam's personal life was heart-wrenching. Really nicely done.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: juicy case, pretty fast paced for a Nordic Noir
Cons: missing that je ne sais quoi that makes Nordic Noirs so bangerlicious, some questionable police work