‘Girls Who Lie’ by Eva Björg Ægisdottir | @evaaegisdottir @OrendaBooks

Author : Eva Björg Ægisdottir (trs by Victoria Cribb)
Title : Girls Who Lie
Series : Forbidden Iceland #2
Pages : 320
Publisher : Orenda Books
Publication date : May 22, 2021 (ebook)

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

When single mother Marianna 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 Grabrok 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 Marianna’s past – and the childhood of a girl who never was like the others.

| MY THOUGHTS |

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!

Shout-out, as always, to Victoria Cribb for the seamless translation and huge thanks to the publisher for the fabulous proof copy. All opinions are my own.

Girls Who Lie is available to buy in ebook format. The UK paperback will be published in July.

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