Today I’m pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for Death Deserved. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and Orenda Books for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Police officer Alexander Blix and celebrity blogger Emma Ramm join forces to track down a serial killer with a thirst for attention and high-profile murders, in the first episode of a gripping new Nordic Noir series…

Oslo, 2018. Former long-distance runner Sonja Nordstrøm never shows at the launch of her controversial autobiography,  Always Number One. When celebrity blogger Emma Ramm visits Nordstrøm’s home later that day, she finds the door unlocked and signs of a struggle inside. A bib with the number ‘one’ has been pinned to the TV.

Police officer Alexander Blix is appointed to head up the missing-persons investigation, but he still bears the emotional scars of a hostage situation nineteen years earlier, when he killed the father of a five-year-old girl. Traces of Nordstrøm soon show up at different locations, but the appearance of the clues appear to be carefully calculated … evidence of a bigger picture that he’s just not seeing…

Blix and Ramm soon join forces, determined to find and stop a merciless killer with a flare for the dramatic, and thirst for attention.
Trouble is, he’s just got his first taste of it…

Review:

I have read and enjoyed books by Thomas Enger before, so I was interested to see what he could create with a new partner, and how they would fare with a new series. It’s a very promising start with the importance of the relationship between Blix and Emma made clear to the reader even before Emma is aware of it. I loved the way they work together and their history clearly plays a part in this. The characters have great depth and it was great getting to know them. I look forward to seeing what they do next!

The reality TV show setting is an aspect of the novel I found very interesting, particularly in view of the current headlines surrounding reality shows. Although it runs as a subplot for most of the novel, I wanted to know what challenges the contestants would face and who would win the competition.

This novel is full of tension, particularly as it takes some time for Blix and his team to find a pattern to the deaths and catch the killer. As we reach the end, there is a more definite sense of danger and I was desperate to discover who the killer was and see that everyone was safe.

Death Deserved is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here