Girls Who Lie

Forbidden Iceland #2

by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, Victoria Cribb (Translator)

When a depressed, alcoholic single mother disappears, everything suggests suicide, but when her body is found, Icelandic Detective Elma and her team are thrust into a perplexing, chilling investigation.

_____________

When single mother Mari´anna disappears from her home, leaving an apologetic note on the kitchen table, everyone assumes that she’s taken her own life ... until her body is found on the Gra´bro´k lava fields seven months later, clearly the victim of murder. Her neglected fifteen-year-old daughter Hekla has been placed in foster care, but is her perfect new life hiding something sinister?

Fifteen years earlier, a desperate new mother lies in a maternity ward, unable to look at her own child, the start of an odd and broken relationship that leads to a shocking tragedy.

Police officer Elma and her colleagues take on the case, which becomes increasingly complex, as the number of suspects grows and new light is shed on Mari´anna’s past – and the childhood of a girl who never was like the others...

Breathtakingly chilling and tantalisingly twisty, Girls Who Lie is at once a startling, tense psychological thriller and a sophisticated police procedural, marking Eva Bjo¨rg Ægisdottir as one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Nordic Noir, Fiction, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller

366 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 10, 2019

About the author

Eva Björg was born and raised in Akranes, the small town featured in her books. The Creak on the Stairs was her debut novel. The book went on to win the Blackbird Award and became an Icelandic bestseller. In 2021 The Creak on the Stairs won the British Crime Writers Association (CWA) New Blood Dagger.

Reviews

[Lit with Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

One sentence review: Another Honda Civic Reliable Nordic Noir

SYNOPSIS

Seven months after a troubled mother disappears, her body is found brutally beaten in a cave. Elma and her team are tasked with tracing the shaky steps of the original missing persons investigation to find the killer. And as they do so, revelations about the deceased and her daughter come to light.

MY OPINION

Another solid HRC addition to this series. And would ya look at that: I read them in order! I'll be grabbing #3 once it goes on sale ( update 12/13 it went on sale! Snatched! ) I quite enjoy this series, even though it doesn't blow me away. In a way, the blandness of the characters and their neutral personalities are what make these reads reliable. Surprise, surprise but NOT being annoyed af at characters (especially if I can't stand the alleged protagonist), makes my reading experience so much better.

But on the flip side, the lack of character depth is what really holds this book back from being great. It's been a year between cases, but nothing has happened in their personal lives. Elma continues to whine about her frayed relationship with Dagny and the subtle, but blossoming, relationship between Elma and Saever went nowhere?? The lack of progress wasn't really addressed either; Elma just said the tension dissipated. How sway?? You can't just go from silently holding hands on a beach to NOTHING happening, not even a lil awkward convo about WHY things can't move forward?? There's not often such a long gap between cases in a series, so the absence of character growth over such a significant period of time was kinda ?????

While I enjoyed this book more than #1, the setup was VERY similar. You've got a troubled woman with hella secrets who moved away from Arkanes but ended up back there and dead. You've got flashbacks and kids being weird. It was sorta like she took the same cookie recipe but swapped out chocolate chips for white chocolate chips lol.

Like the first book, the flashbacks were my favourite part. I'm obvi not a mother, but I absolutely empathized with the unnamed narrators struggles with postpartum depression and newfound motherhood. I can't imagine how emotionally and physically difficult it is to incubate a baby for 9 months and then feel absolutely nothing but contempt for it. And to really have no control over these feelings. Really sad shit. So yeah, big TW for this.

Now, my main rich homie qualm is the twisty twist wasn't foreshadowed enough. There weren't any clues about the unnamed narrator, their identity was just suddenly revealed. In fact, the author could've been like yeah the unnamed narrator is Ivanka Trump and you'd be like ight, I can't really argue with that because there wasn't any evidence of the contrary. If the twist had been more subtly foreshadowed, I would've been more impressed with the reveal.

The ending was... meh. After the twisty twist in one of the flashbacks, the author went full spoon-feed mode and the rest of the novel her telling you how everything came to be. Not a fan. Also one of the reveals made me hella uncomfy :/

PROS AND CONS

Pros: juicy case, great flashbacks (very emotional), switzerland neutral characters that won't annoy you LOL

Cons: the twisty twist wasn't foreshadowed enough to make it bangerlicious, romantic storyline was literally yeeted and then picked back up on the very last page... wut

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m happy to say the writing is good in this very interesting mystery. It’s great for anyone interested in psychological, character driven stories. Forensics, guns (no guns at all), and gore are very much in the background. The author’s familiarity with places in western Iceland contributes nicely as well.

The subject and the way it’s written makes sense in Iceland, one of the least murderous countries in the world. The occasional crime of passion I can accept. No serial killers. I liked the detective. For once, she wasn’t an over-the-hill, alcoholic depressive.

A lot of the mystery here revolves around mother/daughter relationships and yes, there is misdirection. Fun.

[Namita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girls Who Lie is a well written Icelandic mystery with captivating descriptions of the weather and the beautiful countryside. It’s the second book in the series but can definitely be read as a stand- alone. A dark disturbing tale which was a slow burner at the start for me but the author did a fantastic job of slowly building the tension up with some surprise twists and turns and an ending that I definitely wasn't expecting.

I would like to thank the TBC Reviewers request group & the author for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy, am I glad I made space for this series on my shelves. All the good feelings I had about A Creak on the Stairs have totally multiplied after reading Girls Who Lie. Loved it!

Single mother Marianna disappeared seven months ago. Now, her body is found in a cave on a lava field. Let me stop right here. How cool is this?! Or hot 🤔? Anyway. A lava field! How many times have you read anything about a LAVA FIELD in your crime fiction? Bonus points for Scandi-Noir! Marianna’s fifteen year old daughter is in foster care. Her monosyllabic answers aren’t really helping investigators but is she just a typical grumpy teenager or is there more to it?

As we follow the investigation into solving the mystery of Marianna’s death, there are chapters featuring an unknown mother and her daughter throughout the years. These are especially harrowing and even upsetting at times. It seems rather obvious that the chapters in the past and present will connect at some point but how? I thoroughly enjoyed trying to figure that out and found myself traveling the wrong path for the longest time. More bonus points for the author for keeping me guessing.

Girls Who Lie ticks all the boxes for me. Intriguing characters and a suspenseful mystery all wrapped up into the most fantastic setting, oozing atmosphere on pretty much every page. I was thrilled to get to know Elma and her colleagues a bit better too. The author manages to create a healthy balance between Elma’s professional and private life, which is something I personally find really important. Let’s face it, when you know what’s happened in Elma’s not-so-distant past, you want to know where she goes from here, don’t you? I know I do. And I even found myself rooting for a certain relationship. But I also don’t want it to take over the entire book because that’s just not how I roll. So, yes, balance perfectly achieved.

Chilling and absorbing, Girls Who Lie is an outstanding addition to the Forbidden Iceland series. It had me hooked from the very first page and didn’t let go until the final word. There are plenty of twists and a shocking turn of events that … well, shocked me. A dark and disturbing slow-burner that had me glued to the pages, Girls Who Lie proved my instincts about this series were right the first time and this is without a doubt top-notch Icelandic noir. Ragnar better watch out, Eva Björg Ægisdottir is hot on his heels. Recommended!

[Linda Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifteen years ago, a young woman gives birth. Unable to even look at her own child, this is the start of of a relationship that leads to an appalling tragedy.

Today, Detective Elma and her team are called to investigate when a body of a woman is found in an abandoned cave ... the victim of murder. She had disappeared 7 months earlier. leaving behind a note, leaving her daughter and the police assuming she had either just walked away or perhaps committed suicide.

As Elma and her team interview the people who knew the victim, they find that her life was a mystery. The more they learn, the more questions they have.

This is a multi-layered crime fiction / police procedural with a bit of psychological undertones. Suspense starts on the very first page and maintains a high level until the shocking conclusion. There are twists that turn the reader first this way, then the other. Characters are solidly defined. An Icelandic novel written by an Icelandic author, this is well written and expertly translated into English.

Many thanks to the author / translator for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read and reviewed the first in this series; A Creak on the Stairs, back in October last year and was totally and utterly hooked. That book went on to win the Crime Writer's Association, CWA New Blood Dagger award, and was so well deserved.

Ægisdottir is back with yet another tantalising and gripping case for police officer Elma and her colleagues and in this, she has proved for sure that she's no one-hit-wonder. Here's an author who is going from strength to strength, creating plot lines that thrill whilst dealing with some of darkest and disturbing issues that push people to behave so badly.

Elma is a complex and fascinating character. She's been back in her home town of Arkranes for just over a year, having spent time with the Reykjavik force. Despite the small size of the the town, she's been kept pretty busy over the past twelve months; not just with work, she's also dealing with her own personal issues, and whilst these are many, they never impact on her professionalism. Elma is loyal and true and a determined police officer, always going that extra little bit, to ensure justice is done.

When the decaying remains of a woman's body are found in the lava fields it soon becomes clear that this is Maríanna; a single mother who went missing seven months ago. It was always suspected that she had taken her own life, having left an apologetic note for her teenage daughter Hekla. Maríanna was not always the best mother. Young Hekla had been abandoned in the past, on more than one occasion, and is now living with foster parents who clearly adore her. However, further investigation reveals that this is not a suicide and that Maríanna was murdered.

Elma and her police partner Sævar take on the investigation and as is often the case, it soon becomes clear that there are plenty of potential suspects. Despite the size of Arkanes, there are many secrets simmering just below the surface.

Interwoven between the present-day action, the author brings us passages written by an unknown woman, almost diary form, and these are chilling and so very dark. The reader will come to all sorts of conclusions when reading these, impacting on what we expect to happen. Be prepared for shocks and twists a plenty though, never assume ...

Victoria Cribb's excellent translation adds so much to this wonderful slice of Nordic Noir. The reader is transported to the desolate, bitterly cold landscape of Iceland, and thrust into the middle of the small community of Arkanes, whilst also being privy to the innermost thoughts of the characters.

This is crime writing at its finest and I'm not sure how Ægisdottir will top this one, although I am excited about finding out where Elma goes next.

Finely detailed and perfectly plotted, Girls Who Lie is thoroughly gripping and lushly atmospheric. There's a feeling of menace that runs throughout; not from the murder plot, but from the workings of damaged minds and how they go on to seek their revenge.

Absolutely recommended by me.

[Jacob Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Girls Who Lie is an intriguing addition to the Forbidden Iceland series by Eva Björg Ægisdottir, which is turning into a fantastic new crime series. The atmospheric setting draws you in, and the clever, compelling storyline kept me hooked. It makes for a completely gripping, sinister and shocking read.

I thought the first book in the series, A Creak on the Stairs, was very creepy. I thought it set the tone for the series very well, which Eva Björg Ægisdottir carries through perfectly into the second book.

The author really does draw on the setting in this book, especially when the body of a missing woman, Mari´anna, is found on a lava field. This is one of the most original locations for hiding a body I’ve come across in crime fiction. It adds to the layer of intrigue surrounding the woman’s disappearance and who could be behind it. Now, Detective Elma and her team have to find out what happened to Mari´anna seven months earlier. But they have lost valuable time. Will they be able to find out who was behind it?

Some of the most intriguing scenes in this book are when Eva Björg Ægisdottir takes us back in time to fifteen years ago when a young mother gives birth to her daughter. I wanted to understand why she didn’t feel anything for her child, and this made her character all the more fascinating. As Eva continues to visit this time, we begin to see this character grow. I wanted to know how what was happening in the past fed into what had happened in the present. Was the discovery of the missing woman’s body and these scenes somehow connected?

Eva brings Elma’s character to life, and I liked the wit in her conversations with her colleague, Saver. The dialogue between them makes them feel like real people. The relationships that the characters have with each other are also what makes this story really compelling. I’m sure I’ll keep coming back to this series, excited to see what Eva Björg Ægisdottir has in store for us next.

If you love crime novels with a strong, fascinating setting that makes you feel as though you’re there, then I highly recommend Girls Who Lie. This book will reel you in from the very first page and keep you invested in the plot and the characters. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

[Dr.Javed Rasheed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girls Who Lie is the second novel in Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s Forbidden Iceland series, featuring Detective Elma. The story deliberately misdirects the reader through two timelines, and the identity of the murderer is only fully revealed very late.

The basic mystery :

Maríanna is a troubled young single mother living in Akranes. She has a long history of alcohol/drug problems and depression and has repeatedly neglected her daughter, Hekla.
Seven months before the main investigation, Maríanna disappears. She leaves a note apologising and apparently indicating that she intends to end her life. Because of her history, the police initially accept that explanation.
Then two boys discover a badly decomposed body hidden in a cave in the Grábrók lava fields. The body is identified as Maríanna, but the post-mortem establishes that she did not die by suicide: she had been violently attacked and murdered.
Elma and Sævar therefore have to reopen the old disappearance investigation.
Hekla’s troubled childhood
Hekla is fifteen.
Her childhood explains why suspicion initially falls around almost everyone connected with her.
When Hekla was about three, Maríanna disappeared for several days, leaving the little girl alone without food or water. Hekla was consequently placed with Bergrún and Fannar, a couple who became her foster/support family.
Years later Maríanna again disappeared for several weeks. Bergrún and Fannar wanted to adopt Hekla, but Maríanna refused. Eventually Hekla was allowed to stay with them regularly.

MSo, after Maríanna’s disappearance, Hekla appears to have finally acquired the stable family life she had always wanted. But Elma becomes increasingly suspicious that Hekla isn’t telling the whole truth.

The other story — the mysterious mother and daughter
Interspersed with Elma’s investigation are disturbing first-person passages.
We follow an unnamed young mother from the birth of her daughter through the girl’s childhood.
The mother is emotionally detached from the baby almost from birth. She struggles to bond with her and repeatedly describes her inability to understand or love her daughter normally.
As the child grows, it becomes clear that something is very unusual about the girl.
She has difficulty understanding other people’s emotions and behaviour and learns to imitate what other people do. She is bullied and isolated and gradually becomes extremely good at concealing what she is actually thinking.
These passages are the novel’s biggest piece of misdirection. We initially assume that this mother and daughter must somehow be connected to Maríanna and Hekla in the obvious way.

They aren’t.
The investigation widens
Elma and Sævar begin interviewing everyone connected with Maríanna and Hekla.

They look at:

* Maríanna’s father
* Hekla
* Bergrún and Fannar
* Hekla’s friend Tinna
* Tinna’s mother Margret
* people associated with Maríanna’s relationships and troubled past
The investigation becomes particularly interested in Tinna and Margret.
There are uncomfortable parallels between the two families:
Maríanna → Hekla

and

Margret → Tinna
Both relationships involve mothers and daughters, secrets, manipulation and conflicting versions of reality.
The title Girls Who Lie consequently applies on several levels: the girls aren’t necessarily lying for the same reasons, and adults around them are also concealing things.

The major twist :
The biggest revelation concerns the identity of the mysterious mother and daughter from the flashback sections.
The girl in those sections is Tinna.
And the mother is Margret.
The reader has been led to believe that the disturbing childhood story belongs to someone directly connected with Maríanna. Instead, it is the backstory of Tinna and Margret.
This completely changes how we interpret the seemingly innocent relationship between the two.
Tinna has spent much of her life learning how to behave by watching and copying other people. Margret, meanwhile, is far more calculating and manipulative than she initially appears.
The novel then begins to reveal how the two stories — Maríanna/Hekla and Margret/Tinna — intersect.

What actually happened to Maríanna?
The final revelations show that Maríanna’s murder is connected to Margret and Tinna, rather than being a straightforward revenge killing by Hekla or an act committed by one of the obvious suspects.
Margret has been manipulating the situation and controlling the narrative around Tinna.
The shocking element is that Tinna is not simply the helpless, strange child we have been encouraged to see her as. Her understanding of people and her ability to imitate them make her capable of concealing much more than anyone realises.
The truth surrounding Maríanna’s death emerges through the relationship between Margret and Tinna and the lies they have constructed.
This is why the ending can feel somewhat morally uncomfortable: the mystery is solved, but justice is not as clean or satisfying as the reader might expect. One contemporary review specifically noted that the ending leaves a feeling that justice has not been completely served.
And what about Hekla?
One of the cleverest aspects of the ending is that Hekla is not the monster the reader may temporarily suspect her to be.
Her resentment towards Maríanna is completely understandable. She has suffered because of her mother’s neglect and has grown up surrounded by adults who make decisions about her life.
But the investigation gradually separates Hekla’s anger and difficult behaviour from actual responsibility for Maríanna’s murder.
The apparent clues pointing toward Hekla are therefore another example of the novel’s central theme: people see a troubled girl and immediately construct a story about what she must have done.

The final pages :
Once the murder mystery is essentially resolved, the novel gives considerable attention to Elma and Sævar.
There has been an obvious attraction between them throughout the investigation. Elma has also been involved casually with her neighbour Jakob, but her emotional connection with Sævar is different.
The ending suggests that Elma and Sævar may finally be moving beyond being merely colleagues.
But Ægisdóttir deliberately doesn’t give the reader a conventional romantic resolution. Their relationship is left open, providing a thread into the next book.

So, in one sentence
Maríanna’s supposed suicide turns out to be murder; Elma’s investigation exposes a web of dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships and deception, ultimately revealing that the apparently peripheral Margret and Tinna are central to the crime, while the mysterious childhood narrative has been deliberately disguising their identity and role.
The novel’s final message is essentially that people lie for very different reasons — some to protect themselves, some to manipulate others, and some simply because the truth is unbearable — and outsiders are remarkably quick to believe the wrong story. This theme is central to the book’s construction. I would give the story and book 4 stars.
Dr. Javed Rasheed

[Kingofmusic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alles Lüge oder was?

„Ich weiß genau, dass die Menschen auf der Straße keine Richter brauchen – sie urteilen selbst. Und ihr Urteil ist so viel unerbittlicher als das der Justiz.“ (S. 329)

Mit „Verlogen“ legt die isländische Autorin Eva Björg Ægisdottir den zweiten Teil ihrer „Mörderisches Island“-Krimireihe vor (erschienen wie auch schon Band 1 bei Kiepenheuer&Witsch in der Übersetzung von Freyja Melsted).

Diesmal begleiten die Leser:innen Ermittlerin Elma und ihren Kollegen Sævar von der Polizei Akranes auf der Suche nach dem Mörder der zunächst als vermisst gemeldeten und dann durch vermeintlichen Suizid ums Leben gekommenen Maríanna. Als ihre Leiche gefunden und untersucht wird, stellt sich schnell heraus, dass es kein Suizid war…Die Suche nach dem Mörder beginnt und zeigt dabei deutlich Schwachstellen in der Polizeiarbeit; dies wird immer wieder durch (Selbst-)Zweifel der Ermittler deutlich. Aber auch Polizist:innen sind eben nur Menschen, die sich von Fehlern nicht freisprechen können.

Während sich das Netz aus Lügen, Widersprüchen betreffend Maríanna und ihrer inzwischen bei Pflegeeltern lebenden Tochter Hekla immer weiter um die Leser:innen zusammenzieht, sorgt ein zweiter Handlungsstrang aus Sicht einer Ich-Erzählerin immer wieder für Kopfschütteln, Entsetzen, „Schütteln wollen“ zunächst für „Ach, ist ja klar, aus wessen Sicht das geschrieben ist“-Gefühle beim Leser. Aber die Autorin führt ihre Leser:innen scheinbar gerne aufs Glatteis, denn wie schon in „Verschwiegen“ gibt es im letzten Drittel des Buches diesbezüglich eine faustdicke Überraschung, die jedoch (natürlich) dafür sorgt, dass sich alle Fragezeichen in Luft auflösen und man als Leser:in entspannt und mit einem Kopfnicken den Epilog „genießen“ kann.

Neben der Krimihandlung nehmen die Leser:innen auch wieder an Elmas Privatleben teil, deren Gründe für die Rückkehr von Reykjavik nach Akranes weiter vertieft werden. Das Ende lässt den Schluss zu, dass sie ihr „privates“ Glück peu a peu zurückgewinnt – es soll ihr von Herzen gegönnt sein!

Alles in Allem hat mich auch der zweite Teil dieser Krimireihe vollends überzeugt – ich mag die gemächliche Gangart, den Blick hinter die Kulissen der Polizeiarbeit, Lokalkolorit etc. mehr als blutrünstige Thriller. Im Zusammenhang mit dem Lokalkolorit möchte ich noch auf die (Klapp-)Karte von Island hinweisen, die es den Leser:innen erlaubt, an die Orte des Geschehens zu „reisen“. Das nenne ich Service!

Und so ziehe ich 5 eiskalte und klare Sterne aus meinem Rezensionsbeutel und spreche eine absolute Leseempfehlung aus!

©kingofmusic

[Eline Van Der Meulen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ijskoude leugens is het tweede deel van de Forbidden Iceland serie van Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir, na Vanuit het duister. Het debuutboek van Aegisdottir blies me werkelijk van mijn sokken en was meteen goed voor 5 sterren. Gezien het 2e deel (en intussen ook het 3e deel) beschikbaar was in Kobo Plus, las ik het er al snel achteraan. In dit tweede deel keren de rechercheurs uit het eerste deel terug en lezen we in het boek vanuit 2 standpunten. Het ene is de vondst van een lichaam van een vrouw. Het blijkt om Marianna te gaan die al 7 maanden vermist was. Daarnaast lezen we over de geboorte van een meisje, vele jaren eerder en de moeilijkheden die de moeder ervaart om haar kind lief te hebben. Net zoals in deel 1 hebben we dus een flashback scenario wat ik ten zeerste kon smaken. In dit deel had ik wel wat moeilijkheden als er bepaalde twists aan het licht kwamen omdat ik in mijn hoofd helemaal op een ander spoor zat. Ik vond het verhaal ook wat warriger geschreven dan deel 1 en ik moest er soms echt wel mijn gedachten opzetten om mee te blijven. Het verhaal blijft wel op alle vlakken spannend, maar deel 2 was voor mij toch net iets minder overtuigend dan het debuut. Toch blijf ik het een aangename reeks vinden om te lezen en ook het feit dat beide delen geen al te dikke boeken zijn, maakt dit het perfecte boek voor een warme zomerdag! Ik ben alvast benieuwd naar het derde deel – Schaduw in de nacht. Voor ijskoude leugens geef ik 4 sterren.
https://elinevandm.wordpress.com/2023...

[Atlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shiiit hvað þessi var góð, ég át hljóðbókina upp eins og hún væri nammi. Ég hafði mun meiri áhuga á persónum þessarar bókar en fyrri bókarinnar, mér fannst sérstaklega gaman að fylgja fyrstu persónu frásögninni, hún bæti svo miklu við söguna og fékk mig án djóks til að taka andköf. Ég kann líka að meta hvernig Eva Björg fer að því að fjalla um íslenska glæpi og hvernig allt og allir eru tengdir langt aftur í tíman. Ég fann einnig að mér fór að þykja vænt um Elmu og Sævar, þau vina vel saman og mynda gott teymi. Sævar er líka bara rosalega fyndinn.

[Karen Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Eva Björg Ægisdóttir's debut, The Creak on the Stairs and I clearly wasn't the only one as it deservedly won the CWA John Creasy (New Blood) Dagger 2021. Girls Who Lie is the second book in her Forbidden Iceland series and it cements her position as an author to watch.
As with the first novel, the lead character here is Elma, a police officer who has moved back to Akranes, the town she grew up in. This is a story about events that occurred in the past and through the course of the book, Elma herself has to examine her memories and come to terms with her uneven recollections of her relationship with her older sister, as well as the more recent, tragic loss of her husband.
However, it's the discovery of the body of a missing woman which really drives the narrative as Elma and her colleagues have to face up to the failures of their initial investigation which assumed that Marianna most probably died by suicide. Forensic and pathological evidence now proves that the single mother was murdered and so they have to re-examine the case and interview witnesses and potential suspects. Seven months on, memories have already faded and as each tentative new lead seems to come to nothing, it's fascinating trying to sift through the clues to figure out just what really happened.
Interspersed throughout the novel are chapters written in the first person by an unnamed woman. Unlike the main storyline following Elma's investigation, which is set over a short timeframe, these confessional chapters take place over a number of years. The first entry finds her as a bewildered, possibly traumatised new mother and as the years progress, there are some harrowing revelations which hint at the eventual truth but remain tantalisingly opaque until the shocking conclusion.
Girls Who Lie epitomises the very best of Nordic Noir; it's a chilling, melancholy story which explores the dark emotions that drive human behaviour. The convoluted awkwardness of teenage relationships, maternal expectations and pressures, complicated family dynamics, negligence, manipulation and self-preservation are all scrutinised in this compelling murder mystery. As the terrible facts begin to come to light, the sense of foreboding and unsettling tension steadily increases until the secrets and lies are eventually exposed. The real truth turns out to be more shocking than I expected and although in retrospect, all the clues are there, I still wasn't sure what really happened until the devastating conclusion. However, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir also recognises the best of humanity and there are whispers of hope here too, with love and compassion a much-needed balm for those who need and deserve better.
With its intricate, compulsive plot, astute, convincing characterisation and an atmospheric sense of place which ensures that this story resonates everywhere yet could only take place in Iceland, Girls Who Lie is as beautifully written as any literary fiction novel. Victoria Cribb also deserves the highest praise for her sensitive, flowing translation which is absolutely seamless throughout. Elma and her CID partner, Sævar are rapidly becoming two of my favourite crime fiction protagonists and the intriguing ending to this book has left me desperate for more. Very highly recommended.

[Silvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alleenstaande moeder Maríanna verdwijnt en door het briefje op de keukentafel gaat iedereen uit van zelfmoord. Dan wordt zeven maanden later haar lichaam gevonden op de lavavelden en het wordt duidelijk dat ze slachtoffer was van moord. Rechercheur Elma neemt de zaak onder de loep en die zaak wordt steeds complexer naarmate het aantal verdachten groeit. Elma volgt het spoor terug tot aan de jeugd van Maríanna, een meisje dat nooit was zoals anderen…

Dit is het tweede deel in de 'IJslandse Moorden' serie. Het vorige deel vond ik, ondanks dat het een rustige opbouw heeft, erg mooi en interessant, dus ik was heel erg benieuwd naar het tweede deel. Ook hier begint het weer heel erg rustig. Je leest vanuit een onbekend perspectief en het begint met een geboorte. Deze inleiding riep bij mij meteen vragen op. In het volgende hoofdstuk komt hoofdpersonage Emma weer in beeld. Vervolgens krijg je telkens hoofdstukken tussendoor die te maken hebben met het andere, nog onbekende perspectief. Al gauw wordt het lichaam van een vrouw gevonden...

Ook deze Scandinavische thriller heeft weer een langzame opbouw qua spanning. Ikzelf hou van deze sfeer en vind het niet erg dat het eventjes duurt voordat het écht spannend wordt, maar ik kan begrijpen dat het voor sommige mensen misschien toch iets te langdradig kan zijn. De schrijfstijl van Eva is super vlot en fijn en hierdoor vond ik het ook minder erg.

Het verhaal vond ik erg interessant. Wie is nou toch die onbekende vrouw en wie zit er achter de moord? Heeft dit iets met elkaar te maken, of moet je het toch in een hele andere hoek zoeken?

Ik heb ook weer van dit tweede deel genoten en wil @utitgeverijdefontein heel erg bedanken voor dit recensie-exemplaar!

Beoordeling: 4,0 ⭐

[Wandaviolett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurzmeinung: Es geht auch unblutig und unekelhaft!
Leiche in der Lavahöhle
Eine junge Frau ist verschwunden, Marianna. Man findet sie in einer Höhle, einer Lavahöhle. Keiner scheint sie zu vermissen, dabei hat sie Angehörige.

Der Kommentar:
Der zweite Kriminalroman dieser neuen Krimi-Autorin hat mir zugesagt. Die Story wird nach und nach entfaltet, der Hintergrund zu Marianna tut sich auf. Listig legt die Autorin falsche Fährten und obwohl man spürt, dass da etwas nicht stimmt, geht man ihr auf den Leim. Interessant ist es, dass auch die Ermittler Vermutungen anstellen und man bald denkt, der Fall sei gelöst. Aber dem ist eben gar nicht so.
Ich mag die Erzählweise, die zwar nicht Hochliteratur ist, aber auch nicht der übliche Schmierenstil sonstiger Kriminalromane. Es geht auch weitgehend unblutig zu, ohne dass Spannung zu vermissen wäre.

Fazit: Die Ermittler haben Privatleben und Privatgedanken, sind aber nicht so ausgetickt wie andere Ermittlerpaare. Nichts, was nach Aufmerksamkeit schreit oder um jeden Preis Effekthascherei betreibt. Ein ganz gediegener Kriminalroman, dessen Handlung man gerne folgt – niemals langweilig, niemals ekelhaft. Viel Landschaft. So mag ich es. Was hat gefehlt, um den fünften Stern zu bekommen? Vielleicht eine Brise Tempo.

Kategorie: Kriminalroman. Island.
Verlag: Kiwi, 2023

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girls Who Lie is a second book in Forbidden Iceland series and it's so good! Brilliantly written, gruesome, complex and full of twists and turns, the tension underlying and creating that dark and broody atmosphere I love about Scandi noir so much. Very impressed with that series and cannot wait to read more.

[Ingstje · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t think it was possible but the second novel in the series about Elma, the female police inspector in Iceland pleased me even more than the author’s debut. Without a doubt this will probably stay my favorite novel even in the future, when there are many more books in this excellent series. The plot, the characters, the brilliant twists… everything was amazing.

It takes a little bit of time before the real developments in the investigation of Maríanna’s murder take off but in the meantime I still had a lot to sink my teeth in. The author explored Hekla’s – Maríanne’s daughter – life and throughout the whole novel there are also extracts that start with the shared feelings of how tough life is for a young mother with a newborn who doesn’t have anyone to rely on. Those snippets continued at regular intervals in the novel detailing the strenuous relationship over 15 years, the struggles of a mother with a girl who doesn’t seem to behave like other girls. So many emotions arose inside me, all wanting to come out. At first I was furious with the way she treated her infant but at times I felt just as much compassion, sensing she might have post-natal depression. Was it all it was though, was she actually an evil person, or was it the child who was really different, making her harder to love?

Who murdered Maríanna? You’d almost think her own daughter Hekla had the most to gain because she loved her weekends at her foster parents much more than staying with her own mum, but wasn’t that a little presumptuous? In the course of the novel several characters appear to be a perfect candidate. There’s so much to uncover and it’s wonderful how deeper into the story, I had the feeling Elma and myself were in way over our heads… where was this going to lead?

I thought I knew what was going on, but the author had some very VERY clever red herrings up her sleeve. The story is much more complex than I initially expected and the characters have a fascinating complexity as well. Eva Björg AEgisdottir twists and turns the story quite literally until you hardly know which way to go… I loved how everything changed by the end and I was SO surprised yet again!

This book and this entire series is absolutely brilliant so far. I highly recommend the series to all readers who set the bar high and who are often let down by the simplicity of other novels because this is anything but! I have become a big fan over the course of these two books and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for Elma!

[Tripfiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery set in ICELAND



Eva Björg Ægisdóttir is a name to watch when it comes to Icelandic Noir. She has a very confident writing style and her storytelling abilities keep the reader firmly hooked in as she moves through the story. I very much enjoyed the first in the series The Creak on the Stairs which was set in Akranes, where Elma, the central detective, is based.

The body of a woman is found in the lava field by Grábrók. She is thought to be Marianna, a woman who had simply disappeared, leaving daughter Hekla behind. Theirs had been a tricky relationship and social services had semi fostered her out to another couple. As Elma and her team piece together her final weeks and days, they are clear that this was not a simple disappearance. Running alongside is another mystery, which serves to add a further layer of interest to the narrative.

This is not solely a novel about police detection but it also explores Elma’s family life – and in particular her relationship with her sister – giving her a real human side. There is also a well turned psychological dimension to characters’ actions which always adds a really strong angle to the narrative. People behave in ways that might seem errant and evil but, given understanding of past experience, their patterns of interaction feel very plausible.

This is a richly worked and well paced mystery that offers both a well plotted storyline and a truly evocative setting. It is so well thought out.

[Agla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was pleasant, the mystery made sense, mostly. There were twists that also made sense. The resolution left a few questions unanswered which I'm not a fan of in mysteries. The cop characters remained one dimensional, like in book 1, but it's less forgivable here because we spend a lot of time, wasted time, on the main female cop private life. It didn't flesh her out so it felt really wasteful. The low rating is due to the resolution and the treatment of women/motherhood in the book. It will have to go under a spoiler tag but I'm annoyed. basically all characters are female which could be good, but none are good or that interesting. Three women are defined by motherhood: 2 are horrendous at it and 1 is good at it but couldn't have bio kids which was painful for her. That's fine. My main thing is that one female character lied about being raped. This trope needs to die and the reason she lied is SO shallow and fat phobic. People knew she had sex with an "ugly and fat, shy weirdo" so she says he raped her to avoid the shame... because of that he commits suicide and his parents move away. The whole plot is basically the consequences of this lie and it really left a bad taste in my mouth. The is also a psychotic/sociopathic teenager, also a woman, who has committed crimes but remains unpunished and unrepentant. Really this book doesn't have a good female character which really is a shame . I'll still continue with the series but I'm in no rush to do so.

[Mario · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable book by this author. That’s two so far in this series and hopefully there are more to come.

In many ways both books have much in common. Chapters set in the modern day are interspersed with an historical storyline that tantalisingly reveal how and why we have reached the current situation. The strength of the story is how real and believable the characters are and it’s easy to get emotionally involved in their lives. In addition there is a tension and suspense that gradually builds, particularly in the historical part of the storyline. As in the previous book the story deals with a difficult domestic situation. This time it is a 15 year old girl coping alone with post natal depression and then later struggling to bring up an emotionally damaged child. The mother daughter relationship was particularly well done I thought.

The story has a twist midway through which makes the reader view what had been previously revealed from a different perspective, which I found a clever idea.

As with the previous book I found the ending believable but a little too predictable which meant four stars rather than five but this shouldn’t detract from an excellent story.

[Jens van der Kreet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anders als bei dem ersten Band dieser Reihe, dauerte es diesmal leider etwas, bis ich mit dem Lesen in den Flow kam.

Dies lag vorwiegend daran, dass die Antagonistin der Früher-Ebene, eine überforderte Mutter, aus deren Perspektive erzählt wurde, mir extrem unsympathisch war.

Leider nervte mich am Anfang auch die Liebesgeschichte der Protagonistin Elma, bei der man einfach das Gefühl hatte, dass sie sich den falschen Mann ausgesucht hat.

Es wurde also Zeit, sich zum Fundort der Leiche zu bewegen. Hier erwartete uns ein ortstypisches Setting, eine Lavalandschaft, wie sie es nur in Island gibt. So muss das.

Es entwickelte sich eine spannende und emotionsgeladene Geschichte, in der sich zwischen erzieherischem Versagen jugendlicher Mütter und Kriminalität eine Wechselwirkung entwickelt.

Besonders gut gefallen hat mir ein erzählerischer Kniff kurz vor Schluss, der einen absolut umhaut.

Mal wieder ein gutes Werk von Eva Ægisdóttir!

[Alix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first book of this series and the second one is just as absorbing. Like the first book, Girls Who Lie is your typical slow-burn Nordic Noir. Like the title suggests, the story deals with the consequences of lying. It also focuses on the relationship between mother’s and daughter’s. The book takes place in Akranes, a small town in Iceland where the winters are brutal. The vivid descriptions of the bitter cold and various landscapes made me feel as if I was there in Iceland.

Additionally, this book has a clever bit of misdirection. I’ve seen this particular misdirection used in other thrillers before but I never picked up on it here until it was revealed. Once the misdirection is revealed it starts to become clearer who is involved in the murder. Overall, an engrossing Nordic Noir and I look forward to reading the next installment of this series.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow.

[Virginie Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 🌟

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always on the lookout for new voices in Nordic Noir, I devoured the atmospheric first novel, The Creak on the Stairs by Icelandic author, Eva Björg Ægisdóttir. Girls who lie is the second instalment in the Forbidden Iceland series, featuring Chief investigating officer Elma, set in the West Iceland town of Akranes. As I’ve said before, any book that begins with a map and a list of foreign names and words with the correct pronunciation gets me slightly hooked and Ægisdóttir generously supplies both.

Girls who lie is written in two time lines with alternating chapters devoted to the development of two parallel and intersecting stories. I found myself making a number of assumptions about both stories as the book unfolded, both of which were shattered and left me a little jaw dropped at one point as the pieces of the puzzle started to come together and led to a satisfying conclusion that was neither predictable nor unexpected.

We were introduced to Chief investigating officer Elma in the first book in the series and I think I wrote that she was a welcome new addition to the collection of damaged and dark Noir detectives. Ægisdóttir reveals a little more about Elma in this book including the reasons contributing to the sadness that underpins her departure from Reykjavík and return to her childhood home of Akranes. There are a couple of seemingly predictable and cliche elements in the development of her character, including the chemistry that appears inevitable between her and fellow investigator Sævar. There are definitely echoes of fellow Icelandic Noir author, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s Huldar and Freya Children’s House series as far as that element goes.

Overall this was a satisfying read and Ægisdóttir definitely sits on my ‘to continue to read’ shelf. I found the translation a little linear and stilted for my liking and would have liked a little more atmosphere and mood to infiltrate the pages to envelop me in the Icelandic landscape that I love so much. 4 star read.

[Ariannha · Rating 4 out of 5]

❓ Hace seis meses Marianna desapareció dejando una nota para su hija adolescente, Hekla, en la que le pedía perdón, por lo que todo el mundo asumió que se había quitado la vida. Sin embargo, transcurrido este tiempo, su cuerpo aparece en unas cuevas volcánicas y, por el estado del cadáver, resulta evidente que alguien la ha asesinado, dejando la investigación en manos de la oficial de policía Elma. Tras una primera novela que me gustó pero en la que me costó coger el ritmo por la dificultad con los nombres islandeses, esta segunda entrega me ha gustado muchísimo más. La autora ha jugado como ha querido con las voces narrativas y me ha confundido por completo hasta que ya fue demasiado tarde.

👉🏻 La autora utiliza el gélido y oscuro paisaje de Islandia, especialmente sus perturbadoras zonas volcánicas, para construir una atmósfera opresiva que acompaña a la perfección el misterio.

👍🏻 La trama brilla especialmente por explorar las relaciones familiares tóxicas y disfuncionales, destacando la compleja y distante relación entre la víctima y su hija. Al mismo tiempo, alternando con los capítulos de la investigación, el libro nos presenta otros fragmentos en cursiva centrados en una madre y su hija; estos empiezan en el pasado, justo cuando nace la niña, y van avanzando de forma paralela hacia el presente… mostrando esa relación disfuncional.

✍🏻 Nos encontramos ante una investigación que se realiza poco a poco, por lo que no es una novela de ritmo rápido pero tampoco lento; todo avanza según lo va requiriendo la propia historia, logrando que la intriga y el interés se mantengan constantes de principio a fin.

👍🏻Sin duda, la autora ha sabido consolidar esta saga con un suspense psicológico nórdico impecable que te atrapa de forma sutil pero implacable. Ya tengo el tercer libro, Las sombras de la noche, esperando en mi estantería y espero pronto traerles una reseña.


«No hay que dejar que nadie sepa lo que piensas en realidad, incluso cuando sabes que todos tienen pensamientos horribles que no se atreven a decir en voz alta».

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me the existence of evil people (call them psychopaths, or any other similar name) is one of most terrifying things. Two separate storylines, which eventually weave together was fascinating, I thought.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Lindamac Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another cracker from Eva . Love the characters and all the twists in the book as much as the last one . Bring on number 3 😌

[Dimitris Passas (TapTheLine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir returns with the second installment in the "Forbidden Iceland" saga featuring detective Elma, a young police officer who lives in Akranes, a town on the west coast of Iceland and deals with a number of complex investigations along with her limited circle of colleagues. Akranes is also Ægisdóttir's hometown, even though today she resides in Reykjavik. Her debut, The Creak on the Stairs, has been more than well-received by the global readership and Eva established her name as one of the most prominent contemporary Icelandic crime authors. Even though I really enjoyed the first book, I need to state that Girls Who Lie is a much more mature novel where the author proves that she has developed her writing style as is evident to whoever reads this well-crafted text. In terms of genre categorization, this is a straightforward police procedural with some splashes of mystery and whodunit. The first half of the book unravels slowly as the investigative team runs to a brick wall every time they think that they may have found a valid lead, but in the second part, the tempo accelerates and beware of a major rug-pulling moment at the beginning of the third and final act. Ægisdóttir plays with the reasonable assumptions that the reader makes as he follows the story and the twist comes out of the blue thus making the reading experience all the more enthralling. The themes that the author explores are similar to her first writing attempt, the well-hidden secrets of families, the devastating effect of lies and their consequences, the plague of bullying and intimidation to weaker children and many more.

To read my full review, visit https://tapthelinemag.com/post/girls-...

[Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Halfway through, this book began to feel like a chore. There was absolutely ZERO tension or sense of urgency at any point. The characters were two-dimensional and difficult to relate to or empathize with in any way (except maybe, MAYBE, the teenagers, and even then, it was a stretch). The pace was slow and written as though even the author was bored with the procedural process. I finished it only to find out whodunnit, but the reveal was as uninspired and flat as the rest of the book.