Thank you You Like Them and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.
I've read a few Scandi noir thrillers and although I do enjoy some of them and I was a bit worried about this as a few people have said it was a bit "Jo Nesbo" and he's not one I enjoy.
However I did enjoy this, well written, good plot and I liked the characters. I did guess right a few times but I still enjoyed
I look forward to reading further books by Karin.

This Scandi-Noir is the first in series from Karin Nordin. The book reads very much like a Jo Nesbo book and was quite enjoyable throughout.

Kjeld is a suspended detective who receives a garbled voicemail from his estranged father claiming he’s witnessed a murder. But when Kjeld arrives at the supposed crime scene there is no ‘scene’ and no body.

Filled with secrets and mysteries to be unravelled, this is a great book for any crime/thriller lovers.

This is a gripping debut thriller, set in a small mining town which Detective Kjeld Nygaard left long ago. However, whilst on suspension after a former case went badly wrong (perhaps setting up the next book?), Nygaard receives a call from his father, Stenar, saying that he has seen a murder. However, Stenar has dementia, so whilst his son races home to help, he is not sure what is truth, what is imagined. Arriving home to a bitter welcome from his sister, he finds there is no evidence to back up his father's claim. But he starts to investigate any way - and is soon embroiled in festering history, small town politics and a race against time as his father is accused of a crime himself.

A thrilling read with great characterisation.

Detective Kjeld Nygaard wants nothing more than to forget his family and Varsund, the small mining town in northern Sweden he once called home, even exist. But while on suspension from the Gothenburg City Police department after his last case went disastrously wrong, his estranged father Stenar leaves a voicemail on Kjeld’s mobile claiming he’s seen a murder.

Kjeld drives through the night to reach his childhood home, but with no evidence and Stenar suffering from Alzheimer’s, the local police think he must have imagined it. Kjeld can’t stop himself from investigating what actually happened, and soon discovers a tooth in a nest in his father's rookery.

The police still won't investigate properly but then Kjeld chases someone away from the barn with the Ravens. On his return after the suspect slips away there in the rookery is a half dug out decomposed body. However as the police start to suspect his father Stenar, it becomes a race against time to discover the truth before it’s lost forever.

But will uncovering the truth expose a family secret that is best left buried?

Its a pretty good story, though I guessed the secret long before the end but some of the other twists I didn't see coming. It deals well with his father's Alzheimer and how his sister looks after him. The atmosphere is interesting, you sort of get a sense the small mining town is somewhere you'd like to escape from with its short sunlight hours, cold snow and one main employer that doesn't suit all. Kjeld seems a little bit of a lost soul; estranged from his father, marriage collapsed, his daughter lives with his ex husband and having not known his ex colleague and police partner was a murderer.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

*Many thanks to Karin Nordin, HQ, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
A good thriller, with a detective who cut ties with his family years ago but is forced to return to his hometown after a disturbing call from his father.
This thriller has a cast of characters I did not connect to. Kjeld, a man shaped by his disturbing childhood, still willing to help his father suffering from Altzheimer's disease, and although keeping a distance at the beginning, with time warming up to him and his elder sister. The mystery revolves around the land rich in natural resources and complicated relationships from the past. A Scandinavian noir that reads slowly but rather well.

This was a fast-paced thriller with a family secrets trope. I really enjoyed it, a quick and entertaining read.
Thanks a lot to NT and the publisher for this copy.

It's good Scandinavian thriller but I found the plot a bit predictable and it didn't keep my attention.
Some less pages and a more tight plot would have helped.
not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book felt like stepping into a dark Scandinavian crime show. It was layered and twisty and had so many entertaining characters. If you love a good murder mystery you’ll find something to love.

A brilliant debut novel and I can't wait to read more in this series. Fast paced, full of lots of twists and had me hooked from the beginning. Definitely looking forward to reading more by this author.

As a big fan of Scandi-noir novels this was one I was looking forward to. For a debut the author has laid a trail breadcrumbs throughout the book that can be expanded on in future novels. The main character Kjeld is not necessarily the most likable protagonist but this book deals with his past and his family and introduces us to a cast of characters whom I am sure we will see more of in future tomes.
The theme of the ravens being the secret keepers is reminiscent in some ways of The Birds and they have their own sense of dread and fear each time the characters are around them.
I thoroughly enjoyed this debut and look forward to seeing a lot more by Nordin in the future

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a chance to read this book in return for my honest return.

I was supposed to be reading another book but was sucked into this one instead and just couldn’t put it down. Family drama, murder, old friends and enemies.... this book has it all, and ravens too of course. I particularly loved the character of Stenar and had a lot of sympathy for him - flaws and all. I really enjoyed this one and even though I predicted some of the twists I definitely didn’t see them all coming.

An interesting and gripping read!

Karin Nordin's Scandi-Noir debut is a chillingly atmospheric novel featuring the troubled and flawed DI Kjeld Nygaard, a police officer suspended after a disastrous set of events in Gothenburg. He is estranged from his dysfunctional family, certain his father, Stenar, never loved him. He reluctantly returns to the home he grew up in, to the farmhouse, a family in the process of splintering apart, in a small, remote mining village after more than a decade away. He had received a strange and confusing call from the Alzheimer's suffering Stenar, claiming to have seen a murder in the barn where the ravens roost. His sister, Sara is overburdened and exhausted by trying to take care of Stenar, with tensions crackling between the siblings. In a claustrophobic landscape, and a community of no opportunities, all is drained of colour, where haunting secrets from the past are held close.

As Kjeld wonders if Stenar really saw a murder, he finds a human tooth in the barn and a body soon follows. This is a disturbing and unsettling read, with a blinkered and self contained Kjeld, with twists and turns, of lies and deception, of family, and corporate wrongdoing. One of the highlights are the insights provided in the descriptions of Alzheimer's in the character of Stenar. There is a great sense of location evoked, the wilderness, the woods, all casting a menacing aura, along with the cawing of the ravens. This is one for those who love their Scandi-Noir. Many thanks to HQ for a copy.

"Some truths are best left buried"

After picking my broken self up off the floor, having finished reading this amazing story of part Scandi Noir, part domestic drama, part cultural fiction; I am still trying to assimilate that this is the debut novel of a new author – and failing dismally! The writing is just too assured, confident, compelling, visual and perceptive. The storyline a gritty, disturbing, powerful and emotional slow-burner with genuine depth, and told with real feeling.

I was taken on a unique and individual journey like no other before, and whilst I didn’t want to reach those closing final words, I knew that if I didn’t escape the clutches of those dark, claustrophobic and all-consuming pages, my fate might be irrevocably changed! I was drawn into this story right from the very first page and from then on, the short, well signposted chapters, led the way to an ending which whilst not exactly uplifting or heart-warming, was clearly not as gloomy as it might have been had all of my predictions come to pass.

I always imagine modern day Sweden to be a cosmopolitan hub of Scandinavian sophistication, which left me totally unprepared for the harsh and unforgiving forest and mining landscape of life near the Swedish/Norwegian border in the depths of the shortening autumn days; with the cast of dour, life-weary characters, seeming totally as one with their surroundings. Whilst the area of Jamtland is a real place, which I was able to virtually visit for myself, the town of Varsund, where the roots of the Nygaard family are clearly planted, is a location of fiction, which is probably just as well, as it definitely doesn’t sound like the place you would want to admit to calling home. It is the kind of environment which young people are desperate to leave just as soon as they are able, and should you miss that golden opportunity to escape, you only need to look at the older generations of your family to see exactly who you are destined to become in a few years time. It seems to offer all the trappings of life on the treadmill of a “one-horse town, where someone has shot the horse!”

The only member of the Nygaard family to make good his exit from Varsund, is Kjeld, although the place and reputation he has carved for himself in the society of the City of Gothenberg, is hardly an illustrious success. As a DI in the Gothenberg City Police he has definitely not covered himself in glory, and his personal life as husband, father and work partner, has been one long series of social and professional disasters. Now he is back home for a reluctant visit, breaking the many years of silent separation from his family, in response to a strange plea for help from his estranged and now dementia ridden father.

This is a well structured, multi-layered story which encapsulates; a crime demanding Kjeld’s detective skills to solve; a domestic crisis of proportions which threatens to engulf and overwhelm the entire Nygaard family if left unmanaged; and the devious and duplicitous actions of corporate dealings, which have terrifying ramifications for the the future of the family. The action isn’t fast-paced, but deliberately and relentlessly gruelling. The atmosphere between the protagonists is always strained and intense, no matter what the relationship. The observational, detailed and descriptive narrative offers such a clear window into the lives of the family, that I could imagine myself there, frozen to the bone, sitting at the Nygaard kitchen table, being forced to eat herrings, whilst Kjeld wrangles with his feelings and wrestles with his conscience, in a bid to expiate some form of reconciliation with Stenar, his father, whose grip on reality is diminishing almost in front of his eyes and Sara, his sister, whose jealousy has fuelled her hatred for so long, although until now she has kept her feelings hidden from Kjeld – or did he just not see the signs! So many lies, so much deceit and duplicitous behaviour, so many long-held rivalries and resentments. My suspect list for murder was soon whittled down to just a couple of names, as I had worked out the underlying plot within the first half of the story. However, the author carefully placed a few choice red herrings, which had me doubting myself a little, even though I was eventually proved correct about the storyline, but wrong about the perpetrator.

Whilst the cast of characters is quite vast, because of the insular nature of the storyline and their relationships, they often appear as almost a single entity, characterless, colourless and without individual personality or charisma. To be honest they almost sucked the life out of me as I was reading, such was the constant air of apathy and disappointment they exuded. The arrival of Esme, Kjeld’s partner in the Violent Crimes Division, looked as though it might shake things up a little and to her credit, she does manage to help focus Kjeld a little and surprisingly, out of what seems to be her normal character, she helps pick up the pieces in a practical sense, when Stenar’s dementia shows signs of getting too much for them all to cope with on a daily basis. Kjeld is a man on a journey of self-discovery, very much his father’s son in so many ways, although he would probably never admit it. His bluff, bluster and antagonistic behaviour, hides someone struggling to keep his shortcomings, emotions and vulnerabilities under control. It does appear that Esme might like her relationship with Kjeld to become more personal and intimate, although she is astute enough to realise that right now and right here, that isn’t appropriate. She and Kjeld have an unspoken synergy between them which means they always have each others backs covered and it will be interesting to see how their future relationship develops once they are back in “the real world.”

I particularly resonated with the author’s portrayal of Stenar’s advancing dementia, although I did read that this terrible illness had also affected her in a very personal way, so perhaps she, like myself, is looking at that part of the story with a practiced and detailed eye. Kjeld has no idea of what is about to face him on his return to Varsund and he is ill-prepared both mentally and physically to deal with the challenges which face him. Sara has been shouldering all of the work herself, as well as keeping her own family together and she is emotionally exhausted by the whole experience and at the end of her tether. Karin writes about the issue in a compassionate, caring and heartfelt way, yet without glossing over any of the details, or playing down the tragic consequences for an entire family. When it seems as though things can’t get any worse or more complicated for Kjeld, the final bombshell is dropped by Esme, which turns his entire world upside down and throws everything he thought he knew about his past, into disarray. It causes him to look at Stenar in a different light and even though he remains completely at odds with the way events were handled by his parents, he comes to accept that every action was taken out of love and protection for their family, particularly Kjeld himself. Whilst Kjeld doesn’t really want to touch any of the Lindqvist ‘blood money’, he fast realises that by accepting what is rightfully his, it will enable him to help pay back a family torn apart by the secrets they have been forced to keep for so long. He vows to try and change his life, one step at a time, towards becoming the better, more compassionate and fair-minded person he has now realised he is deep down. Will it be Esme or Bengt who stands by his side on his forward journey?

It seems that you can “take the man out of the darkness, but you can’t take the darkness out of the man.” – or can you?

Oh! and let’s not forget the ‘Hitchcockian’ guardians of the barn, the all-seeing, all-knowing, “unkindness” of crows, who certainly live up to their name. For Stenar they are his stability and life-blood, all that lies between him and his failing grasp of everyday routine. For Kjeld they were and still are, a constant source of discomfort and fear. For Sara, they are a millstone around her neck and the masters of her eventual downfall. This story definitely deserves to be optioned for film and would certainly give a new twist to “The Birds”!

This one ticked all the boxes for me, I loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
i beleive this is to be the first in a series of books featuring the lead character which is music to my ears.
Extremely decent Nordic Noir crime story.
It all appears fairly straight forward early in the book with a couple of different main stories which you just know at some point are going to come together. A few small twists along the way and then one real biggy before the sotry concludes. Here's to the next one from Ms Nordin.

Where Ravens Roost by Karin Nordin is a great scandi-crime debut.

Kjeld Nygaard is facing suspension from the police and going through a separation from his partner and child when his estranged father leaves a message for him saying that he has witnessed a murder. The problem is that Kjeld’s father is suffering from insetting dementia and his memory is unreliable. Kjeld travels back to his childhood home in a remote mining village and as he investigates he starts to believe that his father may have seen something but when a body is found it is Kjeld’s father that comes under suspicion. As Kjeld investigates he uncovers his own puzzling family history as he gets closer to identifying the murder.

Where Ravens Roost is fast paced, dark and full of twists. Kjeld is a character that I want to read again and I expect to see in a BBC 4 crime series in a year or two.

Where Ravens Roost by Karin Nordic

This gripping crime thriller takes place in a small town, full of secrets. Anyone could be a killer.

I thought this was a well-written, suspenseful book. It sure had many twists and secrets for the reader to try to solve. There were many interesting characters. I recommend this book.

Thanks Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

This was one of the first Nordic thriller's I've read, so I don't have much to compare to for the sub-genre. I'm basing this review off of how it compares to other thrillers.
There was a strong plot with a great cast of well-developed characters. The story opened up right away into the mystery of what happened in the Nygaard's barn and when - was someone killed? Who was it, and why? It was definitely intriguing, but I didn't feel myself sucked in as I have with other novels. The story wove through all of the connected events and the roles the characters had in them beautifully. I loved how interconnected it was.
Some of the twists were predictable, but the last one at the end I didn't see coming.
My one main issue was that it was soo long. I don't know if the surrounding story and events needed to be built up as much as they were. I also wasn't the biggest fan of Kjeld (our MC) as a person and I found myself frustrated with his actions and aggressions more often than not.

Interesting Nordic Noir style of book, which explored the characters backgrounds well, and set the scene for the finale.

I enjoyed this as my first scandi noir novel, however I did guess one of the clues pretty earlier on. I also did not like kjeld as a person and it made it hard for me to properly get into the book

A scandi noir thriller by Karin Nordin - detective Nygaard is suspended from his job, when he gets a call he can’t ignore. His father Stenar, who suffers from Alzheimer’s and who he hasn’t seen for years, calls to say he has seen a murder.
What follows is a discovery of a body, but there are twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. There are many secrets in the small town and Nygaard needs to find them out.