Book Review and #BlogTour #OrendaBooks @annecater – The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (4 stars)

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Title: The Creak on the Stairs

Author: Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

Published: 14th of March 2020 – Orenda Books

Format: Ebook – 315 pages

Hello Hello! How are you?

Today, I’m bringing you my second tour for Orenda Books that I’ve done this month! These tours are organised by Anne Cater and I’ve really enjoyed going outside my comfort zone with the books offered. Thank you to Anne and Karen from Orenda Books for inviting me to take part in this tour and for sending me the book.

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS

When a body of a woman is discovered at a lighthouse in the Icelandic town of Akranes, it soon becomes clear that she’s no stranger to the area.

Chief Investigating Officer Elma, who has returned to Akranes following a failed relationship, and her colleagues Sævar and Hörður, commence an uneasy investigation, which uncovers a shocking secret in the dead woman’s past that continues to reverberate in the present day …

But as Elma and her team make a series of discoveries, they bring to light a host of long-hidden crimes that shake the entire community. Sifting through the rubble of the townspeople’s shattered memories, they have to dodge increasingly serious threats, and find justice … before it’s too late.

MY REVIEW

The Creak on the Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir is a standalone Icelandic Noir mystery, set in Arkanes, a small town in Iceland in which we follow Elma, a police detective as she investigates a murder and ends up revealing long-hidden secrets.

I’ve been trying to read out of my comfort zone for a while and I jumped at the chance to read this book when Anne sent me the email about it. It was my first time reading an Icelandic Noir and I have to say that I was impressed. I had a great time reading it and even though I wasn’t totally enthralled and worked out what was going on from the first few chapters, I will say that it was very enjoyable.

I really liked reading about Elma, her childhood in Arkanes and why she left to go to Reykjavík when she was 20, and why she came back to her home town. I really liked the other characters and thought that it was a really well-exectued book.

The trouble with these types of books is that it’s hard to say enough without saying too much and because I worked everything out so early, I don’t want to say too much, but I will say that there are some instance of child abuse and rape, in case you are sensitive to these themes.

Equally, I don’t read many thrillers and mysteries, but I will say that even though I knew who the culprit was the whole way, it was actually really intriguing to see how the police came to the conclusion, who they interrogated, the different things they uncovered during their investigation and I felt like I was right there with them, or at least watching it from afar. I’m not sure you can say that a murder mystery is necessarily very unique, but I did like this one because of its setting and especially Elma, the main character, I thought she was very believable and I’d love to read more books that feature her.

MY THOUGHTS AND RATINGS

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and had a great time reading it and see how everything fit together. I gave it 4 stars because I did work everything out relatively soon in the story, so that was a bit of a disappointment, but the characters and the structure of the book, along with the writing style were enough to captivate me till the end.

I highly recommend this book to mystery and thriller fans and will definitely try to read more books in this genre.

Once again, thank you to Anne, Karen and Eva for letting me take part in this tour and for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post. Tell me about any Nordic Noir books you’ve read and really enjoyed! See you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – EVA BJORG AEGISDOTTIR

Born in Akranes in 1988, Eva moved to Trondheim, Norway to study my MSc in Globalisation when she was 25. After moving back home having completed her MSc, she knew it was time to start working on her novel. Eva has wanted to write books since she was 15 years old, having won a short story contest in Iceland.
Eva worked as a stewardess to make ends meet while she wrote her first novel. The book went on to win the Blackbird Award and became an Icelandic bestseller. Eva now lives with her husband and three children in Reykjavík, staying at home with her youngest until she begins Kindergarten.

If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here: Amazon UK (affiliate link) – Amazon FR (affiliate link) – Amazon US