Yule Island

Overview

An art expert joins a detective to investigate a horrific murder on a Swedish island, leading them to a mystery rooted in Viking rites and Scandinavia´s deepest, darkest winter. The Queen of French Noir returns with a chilling, utterly captivating gothic thriller, based on a true story. FIRST in a new series.

`A dark, dark slice of Scandi Noir´ Heat magazine *Book of the Month*

`Gustawsson`s writing is so vivid, it`s electrifying´ Peter James

`Remember her name. Johana Gustawsson has become a leading figure in French crime fiction [and] Yule Island is impossible to put down´ Le Monde

***Winner of the Cultura Ligue de l`Imaginaire Award 2023***

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Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she´s asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden`s wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found.

Emma must work alone, and the Gussman family apparently avoiding her, she sees virtually no one in the house. Do they have something to hide?

As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover the secrets of the house and its occupants.

When the lifeless body of another young woman is found in the icy waters surrounding the island, Detective Karl Rosén arrives to investigate, and memories his failure to solve the first case come rushing back. Could this young woman`s tragic death somehow hold the key?

Battling her own demons, Emma joins forces with Karl to embark upon a chilling investigation, plunging them into horrifying secrets from the past – Viking rites and tainted love – and Scandinavia`s deepest, darkest winter…

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PRAISE FOR JOHANA GUSTAWSSON

`Wonderfully dark and intricately woven … will have you hooked from the very first page´ B A Paris

`Johana Gustawsson has become the queen of the French thriller genre´ Le Point

`Intriguingly dark and vivid, and so cleverly told´ Essie Fox

`A gripping story of murder and black magic …Gustawsson slowly weaves together three seemingly disparate strands of her narrative with a skill that shows why she is such an admired crime writer in her native France´ The Times

`A wonderfully creepy, unsettling read, with a superb twist in its tail´ James Oswald

`Bewitching and wonderfully gothic´ Sunday Express

`Johana Gustawsson brilliantly illuminates the depths of the human heart´ Le Figaro

`A whirlpool that draws you irresistibly into levels of darkness so much deeper than you can possibly be ready for´ Ambrose Parry

`Ethereal, romantic and as cold as death, this nerve-shattering and powerful novel immerses us in a cruel and thrilling Nordic tale where love smashes against the rocks of madness´ La Fringale culturelle

`A stunning and beautifully written gothic thriller´ Alexandra Benedict

`Johana Gustawsson has no equal when it comes to hooking us with stunning twists and unexpected leaps in time´ Les Echos

`A bold and intelligent read´ Guardian

`Utterly compelling´ Woman`s Own

`Brilliant … the last chapters knocked me sideways, and it`s a long time since that`s happened´ Lisa Hall

`Cleverly plotted, simply excellent´ Ragnar Jónasson

`A must-read´ Daily Express

Reviews

Author Biography

Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, has won the Plume d’Argent, Balai de la découverte, Balai d’Or and Prix Marseillais du Polar awards, and is now published in nineteen countries. A TV adaptation is currently underway in a French, Swedish and UK co-production. The Bleeding was a number-one bestseller in France.

David Warriner translates from French and nurtures a healthy passion for Franco, Nordic and British crime fiction. Growing up in deepest Yorkshire, he developed incurable Francophilia at an early age. Emerging from Oxford with a modern languages degree, he narrowly escaped the graduate rat race by hopping on a plane to Canada – and never looked back. More than a decade into a high-powered commercial translation career, he listened to his heart and turned his hand again to the delicate art of literary translation.