THE HARBOUR

 

SYNOPSIS

A boy is missing.

A web of lies will be uncovered...

When fifteen-year-old Oscar Dreyer-Hoff disappears, it's assumed he's another teenage runaway - an overlooked middle child who will turn up within 24 hours.

But as the hours, and then days, tick by and the family become more frantic, Detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner begin to dig deeper into Oscar's life.

Who has been sending the family malicious notes? What secrets is Oscar's best friend keeping? And what's really going on down at the harbour?

With every passing hour and little evidence, the odds of finding a missing person grow dimmer and dimmer in Kørner and Werner's toughest case yet.

Title: The Harbour

Author: Katrine Engberg

Series: Korner and Werner #3

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication date: March 10, 2022

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Copenhagen is one of my favorite cities so reading this series is such a pleasure. Detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner are back for the third time with another smashing mystery (although in fact this is book 4 in the series. I still can’t understand why they went from book 1 to book 3 and did not translate into English (or Spanish) book 2 😕).

A 15 years old boy has gone missing and an enigmatic note has appeared at his home. Is it a ransom note or did he go away willfully? At the same time, a crane operator at an incineration plant makes a shocking discovery. Are the two cases related? It will fall on Kørner and Werner’s shoulders to answer that question in an investigation in which time will be of the essence. 

Although at first things felt a little bit disconnected with several open fronts and different character perspectives, once the whole image started to get clearer and the investigation picked up the pace I found it nearly impossible to stop reading. 

As usual with these Nordic noir novels, the atmosphere was one of the things that sold the book to me. The descriptions of the harbour really made you feel like an involved party in the investigation, and added to the unsettling feel of the story. The reader can really get a feel of the stench inside the waste plant or the oppressiveness of wandering around an old fortress.

The mystery unfolds with several unexpected twists and red herrings that manage to notch up the tension as the ending gets near, coming all together in a really dramatic conclusion.

The characters are fantastically well developed. Jeppe and Anette keep evolving throughout the series and I love the balance the author gets between their personal and professional lives, and how the latter might impact on their personal bliss (what were you thinking Anette?!). I also like how, even though both of them have their flaws, they don’t come as tortured, traumatized characters at no point at all, as it sometimes the case with these type of characters.

Dark and gritty police procedural that weaves together a convoluted story in which lies, greed and deceit will collide in a shocking conclusion.

If you liked The Tenant and The Butterfly House make sure to pick up this one as the series keeps getting better and better. I, for one, can’t wait to read their next case. Also, should I start studying Danish to be able to read book 2? 🤔

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.