Death on the Beach (An Island Mystery #2) by Anna Johannsen
Genre: Crime fiction, Police procedural, Noir
Read: 5th November 2020
Published: 15th May 2020
★★★ 3.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
A teenage girl is missing. Why don’t her parents care?
A fourteen-year-old girl disappears on the small island of Föhr, and Detective Lena Lorenzen is called in to investigate. When the girl’s bloodied body is found on the beach with vicious wounds to the wrist, Lena immediately suspects that what’s been made to look like suicide was in fact a brutal and calculated murder.
But the local residents—even the girl’s own parents—won’t cooperate with her investigation. The devoutly religious islanders are clearly hiding something. But what ungodly secret could possibly lead to the murder of an innocent teenage girl?
Soon Lena realises that the isolated island holds darker secrets than she ever could have feared. In her toughest investigation yet, she must confront her own past if she is to catch the killer—before they strike again.
MY REVIEW:
The second book in the Island Mystery series by German author Anna Johannsen, DEATH ON THE BEACH has been masterfully translated Jozef Van Der Voort so that the story and its prose flow seamlessly. You lose nothing in translation and it feels as if it has been written in the Queen's English. The prose is so atmospheric I felt as if I was on the North Freisland island myself.
DI Lena Lorenzen has returned to her home island of Amrum for a much needed break to relax and enjoy some downtime with boyfriend Erck, with whom she had rekindled her relationship. Five whole days of rest and relaxation. But no sooner has she arrived and before she can put her feet up, she receives a call from her superior Detective Superintendent Warnke asking for a favour.
A 14 year old girl, Maria Logener, has gone missing on the island of Fohr. Her parents belong to an extreme conservative free church known as the Bretheren which is locally considered a cult by most of the islanders. Due to her local knowledge of the islands, DSU Warnke entrusts Lena with the investigation knowing that she will deal with it sensitively and avoiding any negative publicity. As it is, their working relationship has improved since the previous case and Warnke allows Lena a wide scope of resources to be hers for the asking as and when she needs them.
From the outset, Lena and her partner DS Johann Grasmann come up against unco-opertive parents who refuse to allow access to Maria's bedroom and deny any rebellion on their daughter's part. "Maria is a good girl" they claim. However Lena is no stranger to a parent's denial but the Logeners are different. As is their faith, the man is the head of the house with their wives and children deferring to their husband and/or father in every situation. And in accordance to their faith, Maria did not disobey her father and showed respect at all time. Unlike her older sister Johanna who turned her back on the Bretheren and her family to study pharmacology on the mainland. But what Lena finds interesting to note is that it was Johanna who raised the alarm and reported Maria missing...not her parents. And Lena wanted to know why. The first 48 hours are crucial and yet the Logeners have wasted precious time by not reporting her missing, refusing to believe Maria would leave the fold.
But then Lena receives the call she had been dreading. Maria's body has been found on the beach. Her death an apparent suicide. But something is bothering Lena and she suspects foul play. When Lena breaks the news to her parents, it seems the island's grapevine is quicker than she had anticipated and Maria's father denies that his daughter would take her own life. Lena believes Frau Logener knows more than she's saying due to the Bretheren's conservative views on wives deferring to their husbands at all times. So she devises a ruse to speak to her in private. No mother would want to sit back in an investigation into her daughter's death.
The case turns out to be a complex one with enquiries leading them in new directions and further questioning ensues. It appears that Maria Logener was not who everyone thought she was...but of course the investigation can't move forward without the victimology. Soon witnesses become persons of interest - teachers, friends, students - as the last days of Maria's life is slowly revealed.
On a personal level, Lena battles with her committment to Erck whilst having to deal with a former one night stand joining the team from the mainland. Then there is her estranged father who desires to reconnect with his daughter though Lena refuses to have anything to do with him. Meanwhile, I sympathise with poor Erck who is loving and patient with Lena despite her sometimes casual treatment of him. He wants to commit to her but he won't push her and yet she seems to want to enjoy the benefits without the committment. Isn't that a guy's line? I didn't find Lena particularly likeable in this regard.
Whilst it is a police procedural, I found the procedural story a little slow-moving. I couldn't care less about Ben's wanting to pick up with Lena where they left off after that one night. He doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer and yet at the same time, Lena is sending out mixed signals.
The setting is atmospheric that I found myself googling these little known islands off the coast of Germany so I could see their beauty for myself. The locations are stunning and I felt as if I was truly there...on the beach beside Lena, puzzling out the mystery alongside her.
However, I found the ending to be somewhat anti-climatic and wondering where the result came from. All that time spent on puzzling it out for something and nothing? It felt a little out of left field and disappointing.
Despite this, DEATH ON THE BEACH is a nice quick read. I read it in an afternoon/evening. I'll be back for the third installment, hoping for something more decisive in the way of Lena's relationship...because I like Erck.
A good quick read with a seamless translation from German. Perfect for those who enjoy Scandi-noir crime fiction.
I would like to thank #AnnaJohannsen, #NetGalley and #AmazonUK for an ARC of #DeathOnTheBeach in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Anna Johannsen has lived in Northern Friesland since her childhood. She loves the landscape and the people of the region and is especially fond of the North Frisian islands that provide the setting for her Island Mystery novels starring DI Lena Lorenzen.
Her debut 'The Body on the Beach' is a #1 Kindle bestseller.
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