A Presence of Absence

by Emma Vestrheim, Sarah Surgey

The Odense Series is a new Nordic Noir/Brit Crime series that blends humanist stories and family drama with gritty crime in the central Danish city Odense.

British detective Simon Weller escapes the fallout from the recent suicide of his Danish wife, Vibeke and heads out to her home city of Odense. But once there he is paired up with a local detective, Jonas, who is also about to hit rock bottom in his home life and they must overcome their differences and personal problems to try and catch one of the worst serial killers Odense has seen in many years.

The case takes them back into past decades as history starts catching up with some of the local inhabitants.

When Simon realises that his wife’s suicide may not be all it seems and her name appears in the case, his integrity within the case is compromised, how far will he go to find out the truth of Vibeke’s past and hide it from his already troubled police partner?

Back home in London Simon’s family are struggling with their own web of lies and deceit and the family is falling apart.

With one family hiding a dark secret, the whole case is just about to reach breaking point.

165 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 28, 2017

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of my reviews can be found on www.novelgossip.com


This is the first book in a new series from authors Surgey and Vestrheim and is a blend of Nordic Noir and classic British crime. I’m always equally fascinated and skeptical when authors team up and write together, I worry that you’ll be able to tell that there are two different people writing the book and that there will be two completely distinct voices. Fortunately they work extremely well together and I wouldn’t have been able to even guess it was written by a duo unless I already knew.

Simon is grieving after he lost his wife when she committed suicide and he left his job as a police detective in England. He moves to Odense on a whim to live in the town his beloved grew up in hoping to be able to come to terms with his loss. Jonas lives in Odense and is also a police officer, but instead of climbing the ranks after several years, he’s relegated to being a traffic cop. When Simon accepts a job and is partnered up with Jonas, these two unsteady new partners must find a way to solve a murder staged as suicide with dark links to an old, unknown case.

Earlier I spoke of a blending of genres and with Simon as a English detective and Jonas as a Danish police officer, you can see how things fit together. There was a fairly large cast of secondary characters that were all well drawn, and despite their seeming insignificance to the plot, they all added something to the story in the end. Everyone had an interesting backstory of some sort and the characterization was excellent overall. The prologue and epilogue were both very strong and though the case was solved in the end, the epilogue was fantastic and left things wide open for the planned sequel.

This was really atmospheric, the farmland of Odense was well represented and easy for me to imagine and I was reminded of Ragnar Jonasson’s Ari Thor series as well as Sara Blaedel’s writing style. If you’re a fan of either of those two or of Nordic Noir in general you may like this one.

[Chandra Claypool (WhereTheReaderGrows) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid blend of Nordic Noir and Brit Crime - we get involved in a murder case set in Odense. Simon is a British detective still reeling from the suicide of his wife, Vibeke. Heading to Odense, her hometown, he pairs up with a local detective, Jonas, to help catch a serial killer. The past comes back to haunt him and while families fall apart around them, the case comes to a breaking point that threatens to tear them all apart.

As the first book in The Odense Series, character development is key and the authors do a great job of building up each of the characters. There were a couple moments that had me scratching my head, but it all made sense once you got towards the ending. For me, there were times where it felt a little bit choppy but I think the introduction of so many characters and their complex lives were a lot to keep track of. However, when it all came together, the build up was worth it. If you're looking for a hit you in the face, fast paced, typical crime novel, this would probably not be your cup of tea. If you are looking for the slow burn, build up that feels right when the last pages come together, it is most definitely worth the read. The epilogue! Absolutely threw me for a loop! With the characters built and the setting set, I can only see the series getting better and better with more action and endings that leave you wanting. Bring on the next book! I need it!

[Bookread2day · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am doing the blog tour for this book. I was sent a proof to read. what I am unhappy about is the fact that in this proof copy there is no blurb about this book inside the cover or on the back cover. I have had to turn to goodreads for the blurb of this book to add on my book site. I wasn't even sent an information sheet about the book or the authors. I do love reading short books and I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked the fact that A Presence Of Absence has only 253 pages.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this debut Nordic noir by Sarah Surgey and Emma Vestrheim 4/5 stars.

This novel is set in the beautiful landscapes of Denmark and England. With a very unique way of telling the story by switching back and forth to each location. We follow Simon and his family in grief over the death of his wife. He decides to leave England for Odense, Denmark to try and reconnect with somewhere in his wife's history. While there, the daughter of the wealthiest family in Odense is murdered, and he is drawn back into his old Detective life. With the help of Jonas, a local cop, they begin to try solving the case of the worst serial killer that Odense has ever seen.

This book had my attention from the very start. An incredible epilogue to set the tone of the novel. The character development is what blew me away and really helped me connect with them and understand what made them tick. The family ties, the struggles, triumphs, everything is so well thought out. This book is definitely one that will keep you thinking! It's definitely not your average crime novel, it's a slow burn that builds until the very end.

If you're a fan of Nordic noir, then this is the perfect one for you - and good news, it's book one of an upcoming series! A great debut novel by a duo of talented authors.

[Janel · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you get when you mix Brit Crime with Nordic Noir? You get the start of a new crime series! A Presence of Absence is the first book in The Odense Series.

The first paragraph of the above description describes this book perfectly. The prologues draws you in and the plot slowly simmers; a police procedural clouded in a dark and haunting atmosphere, with family ties at its core. While Simon is in Denmark, we get a subplot of his daughter’s life in London; Sanne is doing her best to support her father, as her family life is crumbling around her. Secrets and lies link these two plots and this family is pushed to their limits, as darkness closes in, battling inner and outer demons, can they survive?

While the story wasn’t as fleshed out as I’d have liked and it wasn’t the smoothest read, I believe the authors did a great job of developing the characters. As the story progresses, you really get a feel for their nature/personalities and their actions make sense, and, my gosh, do you get a feel for their loss. The title is so fitting to the plot, throughout the entire book, you really feel the presence of Vibeke’s absence. I’m a fan of flawed characters, haunted by their past, and this book has plenty of them. The plot is solid but it’s the characters that bring this book to life and made for a captivating read.

The plot jumps back and forth between London and Denmark, so you get the best of both worlds, the peaceful atmosphere only Nordic Noir brings and the busy hustle and bustle of London life. If you tend to avoid Noir, give this one a try, with its strong influence of Brit Crime, you might find you enjoy it. Sarah Surgey and Emma Vestrheim – two new, impressive voices in crime fiction, I see so much potential in this series and I’m excited for book two!

*My thanks to the authors for providing me with a copy of this book*

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t read much Nordic Noir so jumped at the opportunity to read and review A Presence of Absence which jumps between London and the Danish city of Odense. Odense is the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson and a series of horrific murders in this quiet city sends the locals into a panic. The murders appear to be random attacks; people are being strung up and hay is left stuffed in their mouths.

Simon Weller (who is recovering from his wife Vibeke’s suicide) is appointed the investigating officer and teamed with local detective Jonas. Both men are battling their own personal demons and in danger of damaging their careers. I enjoyed seeing these mismatched characters attempting to pull together to resolve the mystery rather than tear each other down.



Meanwhile, back in London, Simon’s daughter Sanne has issues of her own. As well as dealing with the her mother’s suicide, her husband is acting strangely and is not happy that Simon is investigating the Odense case. I really felt sorry for Sanne, at the one time when she needed her husband’s support he wasn’t interested.



This isn’t just a book about crime and retribution, it is one of grief and the ripple effect it can have on everyone. An amalgamation of Nordic Noir and Brit Crime equals a winning combination! Four stars from me and I look forward to reading more in the series.

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emma and Sarah were generous enough to send me the review copy for their novel. I am going to need some time to ponder on what rating I am going to give it for real, but for now I give it a neutral 3 stars because I had some problems with it, but in a way I also liked it and it did keep me reading I finished it in about 8 hours. Which I think is a bit long for a 253 pages novel, but it was not bad.

[Gavin McKean · Rating 5 out of 5]

From reading the first draft through to the final copy Sarah and Emma have enthralled me in their world of Nordic Noir.

A great first book, which has created an excellent foundation for the characters to further pull you into the imagination of these two captivating writers and I, for one, cannot wait to see what the future has in store.

[Sam (Clues and Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all my reviews, visit Clues and Reviews
www.cluesandreviews.wordpress.com

A Presence of Absence, a collaborative effort by Sarah Surgey and Emma Vestrheim, is the first in a new series blending Scandinavian crime fiction and classic British police procedurals.

When the daughter of one of the wealthiest man in Odense, Denmark turns up dead, British detective, Simon, is on the case. New to Odense and grieving the loss of his wife, Simon must connect with washed-up local cop Jonas, to hunt one of the worst serial killers Odense has ever seen. Dark, brooding and intricate, this novel will have you thinking long after the last page has been read.

The novel’s setting is completely original moving back and forth between the vast Nordic scenery of Denmark and in England, readers are able to connect not only with Simon and Jonas, fighting their own personal demons that are complicating their current case, but also with Simon’s family as they work through their own grief.

In fact, the character development in this novel was my favourite part. Fully developed and thought out, each character brought something completely new to the plot. Past sins, individual sacrifices and personal demons collided until each character has reached their breaking point. This is not your everyday crime novel, family bonds are strong throughout and played a huge role throughout the narrative.

That epilogue? It had me reeling. I will be eagerly awaiting the next in the series.

I am predicting big things for this series; attention Nordic noir fans, a new series has arrived!

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel holds a lot of promise. Surgey and Vestrheim are able to fairly seamlessly co-write a piece of crime fiction that blends British police procedural fiction and Nordic crime noir – two of my favorite genres.

Full review on my blog! Pages and Pints

[The P.Turners]

Please see review on the blog: https://thepturnersbookblog.wordpress...

[Linda Boa · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be reviewed Wednesday March 22nd as part of Blog Tour at https://crimeworm.WordPress.com/

[Hazel Johnstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

i did like this - i found the English a bit clunky & thus distracting but will certainly read no.2 when it appears

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

So so

This was a slow read, for all that it was short. I had only just started to like the characters when the book ended abruptly. But the biggest detractors were the sheer number of grammatical and mechanics mistakes, as well as continuity errors. Hopefully with a good editor the inevitable sequel will be better.

[kate blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging read

This is not my usual genre but I enjoyed it. The storyline kept me interested and the two main male characters were flawed but you found yourself pulling for things to get better for them.

[Chloe Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

All reviews can be found at https://thereadinglodge.wordpress.com/

A Presence of Absence is the first book in a new series by self-published authors Sarah Surgey and Emma Vestrheim. The Odense Series follows British Detective Simon Weller; starting with A Presence of Absence where Weller must tackle the grief of his newly deceased wife as he attempts to run away from his demons in Odense, Denmark. However, he cannot get away from her, her face keeps cropping up everywhere he goes resulting in Weller drinking himself to sleep each night. But, when his wife crops up in a case, he cannot help but follow the clues to understand how she was involved. A Presence of Absence is a novel about grief and facing your demons.

A Presence of Absence is a fast-paced, dark, gritty, and mysterious novel that has you on your toes throughout. Sarah and Emma really know how to string a mystery, crime novel together. I went through the majority of the novel wondering who was committing the crime and why and how Simon Weller’s own family were implicated. Not a lot of information is forthcoming throughout the novel, you gain information as Simon Weller does giving the feel of a proper case. It is not until the last 1000 or so pages that the case truly starts to wrap up and it becomes a lot clearer who is committing the crime, and why. It was because of this that I was gripped throughout, and read this book in the majority of my spare time so that I could try and crack the case before the book had finished.

Simon Weller falls into the category of a detective that doesn’t let his emotions cloud his judgement. Before the death of his wife, and his involvement in this case, his work and his family life were two completely separate entities. But, with the death of Vibeke, he can no longer focus on what is going on around him, falling for the bottles of beer and wine as an escape from his grief leading to his resignation from the London Police Force and moving to Denmark to gain clarity, and escape the demons that haunt him day and night. He definitely has an element of the dark and brooding (without the romance element) as he fights against letting the memories of Vibeke in and pushing his family aside who are only trying to help. However, it is clear that he is an intelligent man and one that stands up for himself, not telling those who think they are better than him take control. You can see this through his initial relationship with Jonas who, disgraced in the Odense Police Force, tries to lord it over Simon and pretend to be far superior than he really is.

Jonas is a born and bred Denmark man. Growing up on a farm, he believed he would grow to take over from his parents someday. But, after doing a good deed, all he wanted to do was be the hero, and so he joined the police force – to his parents dismay. Jonas had high hopes to progress throughout the police force, but was later disgraced and left in the position of lowly traffic cop, handing out tickets and chasing down drunk drivers. His wife, Birgitte, was looking for more, marrying Jonas when he was at the peak of his career. Jonas is definitely a character who is down on his luck; pulled into work along Simon Weller on his first major case, the power goes to his head as he tries to put Simon in his place. However, it is clear that Jonas is lacking in self-esteem, secretly eating large quantities of food and understanding the position he stands in with his wife is not one of love and affection, but convenience. Jonas’ progression alongside Simon was definitely something that made me happy, as he began to take into account everything that Simon was telling him instead of jumping to the more obvious conclusions. I am looking forward to, and hoping, that they two characters stick together through the rest of the series and seeing how they rub off against each other.

This novel was definitely interesting with the two elements of British and Danish cultures. There is a lot of mention surrounding Hans Christian Andersen and the way in which he has changed the culture of Denmark and the tourism industry. The novel was fun to read and definitely dark with all the various elements surrounding Vibeke’s death and the deaths of those in Denmark. I’d like to thank Sarah and Emma for reaching out to me to review this book, and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

[Marcus Hobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story which was sadly spoilt for me by many mistakes in the text. The use of the wrong words in several places, meaning that you had to re-read some sentences to get the right meaning, is something you don't want to have to do in a fast paced thriller. Pages 13 to 15 are double spaced, and everything else is single. Little things that a good editor should be able to sort out.

Apart from that, this was a great story. We have two storylines running, in England and in Denmark. An English detective, Simon Weller, reeling from the suicide of his Danish wife, gives up his job in London and travels to her former home in Odense to begin life again. He takes a job with the local police and soon finds himself embroiled in a series of murder cases.
When he finds a photo of his dead wife in the diary of one of the victims , he realises that there may be a connections somewhere. Is he took involved to be able to think clearly?
Even with a climactic ending we are still left with many threads dangling and plenty of scope for the promised sequel.

[Pam Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book which engages through the complexity of the plot and the relationships between the characters. I found their backstories intriguing. As I learnt more about each person, their place within the story seemed to make sense. I particularly enjoyed seeing the relationship between the two policemen, Jonas and Simon develop and I do feel that there is more to be said about them in subsequent books. The contrast between their two families sheds light on them as people and adds depth to their characterisation. As the tension is slowly ramped up, I just had to read on to the end.

Most impressive is the style of writing. Emma and Sarah have successfully established a single, consistent and distinctive voice. As Simon and his family come to terms with their grief over Vibeke's death, you sensed how it seemed to numb their reactions and thoughts, as if they were not quite communicating with each other. This made Simon's decisions and actions seem all the more understandable. As a debut piece of nordic noir, A Presence of Absence is hugely enjoyable and sets up the series beautifully.

In short: rounded characters and an intriguing plot make this an impressive addition to the crime genre.

Thanks to the authors for a copy of the book

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

(I received a copy of this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review as part of their blog tour. But as I unfortunately didn't enjoy the book, I did not take part in the tour.)

Since this is an ARC copy, the grammatical errors and typos - of which there are many - can be excused.

Pros:
- The cold, bleak atmosphere oozed mystery and soaked me in its tragedy and emotion. The tone was perfectly set.
- The ending was chilling and very exciting.
- It was a clever mystery.

Cons:
- The sentence structure was very messy and dominantly in passive voice.
- There was an overwhelming overuse of dialogue tags.
- The book ended on an infuriating cliffhanger.
- The characters weren't strong and defined enough.
- It was very slow and very boring.