H δανέζα συγγραφέας καταπιάνεται με μια μακάβρια ιστορία και τη συνθέτει με προσοχή, λεπτομέρεια και διακριτικότητα.

This historical murder mystery set on an atlantic crossing in the 1920s is unlike my usual reading choices but it turned out to be a good choice nonetheless. This was a story that started out with what seemed to be a reasonably easy to fathom death that may or may not be a crime. All this evolved into an incredibly knotted web of shenanigans. I was hooked from the first chapter. Lone Theils. Ένα χορταστικό, από κάθε άποψη, θρίλερ με μια συναρπαστική και περίπλοκη ιστορία που κερδίζει τις εντυπώσεις.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I love Agatha Christie so a murder mystery set in the 1920’s sounded right up my street. Unfortunately I didn’t find myself particularly engaged in the story, or really caring about the outcome.

With just days remaining until they reach New York, and even Temple’s purpose on board the Endeavour proving increasingly suspicious, Birch’s search for the culprit is fraught with danger. Waar het om draait, is dat ze tussen deze foto's een foto vindt van twee Deense meisjes die jaren terug waren verdwenen op een ferry tussen Denemarken en Engeland. De koffer waarin de foto's zaten, leidt haar naar een beruchte seriemoordenaar die echter ondertussen al een tijdje in de beruchte Wolf Hall gevangenis zit. Tijdens de zoektocht van Nora komt ze echter ook zelf het gevaar tegen en zo mondt het verhaal uiteraard uit in een spannend einde dat goed is opgebouwd. It’s no spoiler to say an unexpected death occurs at the beginning of the story. An elderly man is found at the foot of a flight of steps. One of the ship’s officers, Timothy Birch, is tasked with dealing with what seems to be a tragic accident but when a Scotland Yard policeman, James Temple, who is also on board, takes an interest it appears that there might be a more sinister reason for the death. Fatal Crossing has been translated from Danish, and while the translation was smooth enough, I did bristle at the overuse of the word chubby to describe several female characters in the book.

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There’s a lot of repetition of the same interactions between the main two protagonists – I guess in an attempt to build up to the climax where everything is revealed but it’s done in a fairly lazy way where no new information is slowly revealed. There is certainly plenty to like about "The Murder Game" and the influence of those aforementioned authors is plainly evident. There is a nice prologue to set the scene and introduce the key protagonists in true "Golden Age" mystery fashion. The setting, too, is very Christie-esque and I liked the way the author made use of a 1920s themed murder mystery game to create a mystery within a mystery. Not only did this allow homage to be paid to that classic era, but it also reminded me of the technique employed by Anthony Horowitz in his "Magpie Murders" and "Moonflower Murders" books. It won't escape fans of Horowitz that there is something of a "Midsomer Murders" feel to this story too. När det gäller fallet, så även om jag kanske inte föll totalt för boken så räknade jag inte ut slutet förrän Nora låg riktigt risigt till och själv började inse att något var fel med en viss person. Jag hade inte alls förväntat mig det slutet måste jag erkänna.

SPOILER ALERT* the protagonist’s daughter has gone missing, which is an underlying theme within the story. For something which apparently drives the protagonist and is the reason for his journey, there is no information given on HOW she goes missing. It’s his fault? But HOW? He was on a ship when it happened - where was her mother?! It just makes no sense. While most of A Fatal Crossing conforms with a traditional "whodunnit" mystery format in the traditional style, the dramatic ending comprises a shift into thriller territory, with a great twist that I certainly didn't see coming! I love a good closed circle murder mystery so this was right up my street and so well done. There's a small(ish) cast of not especially likeable characters, some secrets from the past, a few grudges and a lot of twists and turns.

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So, you see, THAT plottwist alone is a good enough reason to read this book already. It's really good, you'll enjoy it. And again: take a look at that cover. Isn't it gorgeous? Speaking of the photo and what happened to the two girls in it. Wow. I was not expecting that at all. I don’t want to say anything here about what happened because I hate spoiling books for other people. But I love books where I don’t see the ending coming. For some unknown reason (most likely my inability to read a synopsis properly) I thought this was going to be a historical who dunnit in the style of Agatha Christies And Then There Were None but while there are some similarities it's a little bit different. For one thing it's set in the present day with a group of residents from a small village, and a few unexpected guests, attending a murder mystery party on New Year's Eve at the local hotel. I requested this ARC from NetGalley last year, it was what prompted me to read the author's debut, A Fatal Crossing, which I DNF'd two thirds in. I thought it only fair to give The Murder Game a fair shot, but as 20% in, have decided to also DNF.