Into the Dark by Orjan Karlssen (Arctic Mysteries 2) 

In Norway’s far north, something unspeakable is surfacing…

When a mutilated body rises from the icy waters off the jetty in Kjerringøy, it shocks the quiet coastal village – and stirs something darker beneath. Not long after, a young woman is found dead in a drab Bodø apartment. Suicide, perhaps. Or something far more sinister. Detective Jakob Weber and former national investigator Noora Yun Sande are drawn into both cases. Then a hiker reports a terrifying encounter in the nearby wilderness: a solitary cabin … and a man without a face.

As the investigation deepens, the clues grow more disturbing – and the wild, wintry landscape closes in. Jakob is certain of one thing: if they don’t find the killer soon, he’ll strike again.

This was a genuinely terrifying thriller from Orjan Karlssen, the second in his Arctic Mysteries series featuring investigators Jakob Weber and Noora Yun Sande. I read one section out loud to my other half who said ‘no wonder you have weird dreams”. This referred to a recurring figure seen by people in the novel and variously described as having completely dark eyes, a face like liquid, and a face it’s impossible to truly describe as it seemed indistinct. The team find themselves with two cases that could potentially be linked, with Noora newly back at work after injury. This case is very dark and I love that Scandi Noir is never scared of taking its readers to the darkest places, in a way a lot of other crime novels shy away from. This maybe crime, but it’s certainly not cozy! The author uses the surroundings of Kerringjay to create a dark and dangerous atmosphere. Here it isn’t just weather, it can and does kill. There is something mystical about this place, isolated and surrounded by mountains inland and the coast. There’s a sense of being alone and also enclosed, when they encounter an artist as part of the case, his girlfriend Britt describes his obsession with one particular mountain that he seemed to be painting over and over. It’s beautiful but bleak here. Noora only has to look out of the window to see:

“a display of the northern lights played out  across the sky in shades of purple and turquoise. The atmospheric  glow made the water below sparkle like tiny pieces of silver. It was  a phosphorescence that arose and vanished in the blink of an eye.”

But the days are short and dark, the sea is bitingly cold and the wind will rip a scream away from your mouth before it can be heard. It all adds to the tension and also the sense of danger. It’s horrifying for Tuva, who is undertaking her naked swim with best friends Britt and Katja. She’s needed some time with her friends after her lover Emilio simply disappeared from her life, leaving no trace. Firstly the women spot an unusual figure, standing and watching them from the sidelines. He’s hard to describe but the women are unnerved and make sure he moves away. Then they’re hit by an unbelievable smell coming from the water, leaving them thinking a sewage pipe may have discharged. As a yellow anorak floats to the surface Tuva is transfixed. She knows this coat and its usual smell very well. It’s Emilio’s clothing. As the figure turns over in the water the women realise he’s been in the water for some time and his eyes are missing. 

“She didn’t want to gaze into that abyss but was unable to look away. The once full lips had been eaten away by fish […] leaving only grimacing teeth.” 

I enjoyed Noora and Jakob as characters and it’s definitely a good idea to read the first Arctic Mysteries book to get a sense of where their journeys started. Jakob comes across as very measured, he thinks of the different angles before acting. I loved the way he dealt with being called into his brother’s school as his guardian. While he remained respectful he was also well aware of certain teachers and their attitude, so made sure he got his brother alone to get to the bottom of what’s happened. Even the teacher who remembers Jakob is unable to get under his skin. He treats his work in a similar way, his only deviation from his customary caution is journalist Sigrid who he has a fledgling relationship with, but even then he’s constantly defining the boundaries of what he can and won’t share with her. Noora is more instinctive and that’s a voluble tool to have, however she’s vulnerable at the moment, just back at work after injury. The author’s description of the referred nerve pain Noora feels was painfully accurate and reminded me of days when I push myself too far. Jakob checks in all the time and at one point makes it clear that if she’s not being straight with him about her limitations they could both end up in trouble. I have complex pain so I understood her reticence about being open, she doesn’t want to be relegated to a desk or lose her job when she’s good at it. She does start to push it a little, taking a few more painkillers than she should here and there. She asks Jakob to trust her, but I was scared for both of them. 

It’s Noora who feels most angry about some aspects of the case because she’s a woman and from that perspective Kjerschow’s techniques are hard to accept. Their investigation after Emilio was found took them to the nearby Miele Foundation, run by financier and Gestalt Therapist called Kjerschow. Jakob finds him evasive when they question him about his centre and the clients who stay there. He feels like the man is deflecting questions back as if he is a mirror, which makes sense if you understand his training. Gestalt Therapy is a humanistic approach which asks the client to use the here and now to resolve long term problems, using techniques like the Empty Chair where they can talk to someone as if they’re present to resolve conflict. There’s an element of acting out or role play in these techniques and Kjerschow shows them the basement at the foundation, usually known as the Expurgation Room. It has a dirt floor and a strange, tree like structure with branches that show traces of blood. Is Kjerschow so arrogant that he believes the police won’t notice or that he can manipulate them to dig no further. He describes his usual clients as wealthy bankers and the like, who use activity based techniques in the room to expurgate their tendencies. I love that Jakob is one step ahead of him and won’t let money stand in the way of getting their man. 

As the killer takes out another victim, close to home, it becomes genuinely terrifying. The man without a face appears again and there’s something hypnotic about him, almost as if you couldn’t look away even if you wanted to. It doesn’t take long to find another body on the shoreline, with their eyes gouged and beautifully cut circle of skin taken from around the naval. Jakob starts to suggest potential suspects stay in a hotel together, where they can have an eye kept on them. At this point you’ll want to read on to the end and it’s totally worth it. The tension is incredible as Noora and Jakob get ever closer. Noora witnesses something despicable at the Miele Foundation while Jakob follows a lead up onto those mountains Emilio was so fond of painting. I was torn between whether something mystical was going on, or whether someone with great influence was orchestrating it all. My heart was hammering as Noora and Jakob put themselves on the line to prevent another murder. Will Jakob’s promised trust in Noora hold out? Who is the strange man in the parka and is he responsible for the murders? As the truth of Kjerschow’s therapy comes to light and the police surround a cabin in the woods, with ravens in cages as warning signals, they know this is no ordinary killer. I heartily recommend this series to fans of Scandi Noir because it really is a fantastic addition to the genre. Although I’ll have to read something a bit less nightmare inducing for a couple of days. 

Meet the Author

Ørjan Karlsson (b. 1970) grew up in Bodø, in the far north of Norway. A sociologist by education, he received officer training in the army and has taken part in many missions overseas. He has worked at the Ministry of Defence and is now head of department in the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection. He has written a wide range of thrillers, sci-fi novels and crime fiction, and been shortlisted for or won numerous awards, with a number of his books currently in production for the screen. He lives in Nordland, where the Jakob Weber crime series is set.