Cushla

Spring Tide is a gripping, cinematic crime thriller from Cilla and Rolf Börjlind, the scriptwriters behind Arne Dahl and the Swedish Wallander TV series.

The spring tides are the highest of the year in Nordkoster; the beach will be covered in particularly deep water tonight. Three men on the beach are digging a hole, covertly watched by a young boy. His intrigue turns to horror as he makes out a fourth figure - the woman for whom the hole is intended. Buried up to her neck in the sand, the high tide is rapidly approaching. Still screaming in terror, the victim takes her last breath as water fills her nose and mouth - in her stomach, she feels her baby kick. And her waters break.

Twenty-four years later, the abhorrent crime remains unsolved; gruesome violence however is still prevalent after all those years. A gang has been beating up and killing homeless people in parks - worse still, they are filming their attacks and broadcasting them on the internet. The police have their work cut out trying to keep abreast of the crime wave. Olivia Ronning hopes to follow in her father's footsteps and join their ranks in the next few months after she completes her training; she has only one last hurdle to overcome over the summer break, a challenge from her professor to pick a cold case and solve it. Should be simple, she thinks. Little does she know the world she is getting involved in, the danger she faces and the ugly truths she risks uncovering.

A welcome addition to the crowded stage of Nordic Noir.

You can tell the authors have a TV/film background from the tight plotting, myriad characters and short cinematic set pieces in this gripping novel.

Filled with interesting characters; young police trainee Olivia Rönning is a brilliant creation; believable and likeable.

A thrilling story full of twists and turns (pay off was jaw-dropping) but with social issues at its heart I was sorry to finish it but thank goodness the second book, Third Voice, is about to published...yay!