Matthew Cave is assigned to report on a mummy suspected to be the first Viking found in Greenland. After the mummy disappears, and the police officer guarding it killed in a most horrific manner, Matthew investigates a story decades old based on the similar style of murder of four local men. The tale grows exponentially as he learns about the murders’ connections to child molestation, kidnapping, politics, and a mysterious, tattooed woman just released from prison. Secrets are revealed, crimes are solved, and living / dead are confirmed.

Nordbo writes a graphic, bones-laid-bare crime novel with the setting of Nuuk, Greenland as prominent as a main character. The Danish / Greenlandic tension is pushed and pulled throughout the story, with national politics and corruption affecting local affairs. Twists and turns abound as new evidence surfaces, but the main source of a policeman’s journal written during the earlier crimes takes the reader back in time for a more intimate feel. A major information dump at the end does its best to feel natural, coming from the appropriate characters. In any case, the tale is multi-layered, with storylines that converge for a revelatory denouement. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from Text Publishing Company through NetGalley.