Into the Dark by Ørjan Karlsson – blog tour

Translated by Ian Giles

Last January I read and reviewed the first book in this series set in Norway’s Nordland district capital Bødo. Into Thin Air introduced us to Chief Investigator Jakob Weber, and his colleagues, Noora Sande recently transferred north from Kripos, to get away from an abusive ex, and detectives Armann and Fine. This first novel in a planned trilogy centres around two missing women – a missing nineteen-year-old who was out hiking, and later a travel influencer on the Lofoten archipelago. Two crimes committed far apart, but with many similarities, is the second a copycat abduction, or by the same perpetrator?

This is where I should say, if you haven’t read or want to read these books, look away now, for Into the Dark continues some of the storyline from the first novel, which deliberately left some threads hanging.

It is some time after the events of the first part of the trilogy, and Noora is still suffering from the injuries incurred in the denouement out in Røst, chugging painkillers to hide the fact that she’s not really ready to return to work. Jakob still misses his dead wife Lise, but his relationship with journalist Sigrid is slowly taking off, and his teenaged half-brother Ola Andre is now living with him and settling into school, until Ola Andre sticks up for a bullied boy with his fists!

We switch PoVs to Tuva Mjelde who with her friends Britt and Katja is enjoying a sauna at a private health foundation’s facilities in Kjerringøy about an hour by ferry north of Bødo. Time for a naked plunge into the cold water, but there is a man watching them by the boathouse. Tuva has angry words with him and he leaves. They disrobe and jump in – but Britt gets her foot caught in something, but the others free her. However, the incident brings something to the surface – it’s a stinking body, which had been tied under the pontoon and Tuva recognises him, it’s Emilio, her artist boyfriend who she’d though had just upped and left a couple of weeks ago.

Jakob gets the call, putting domestic life on hold to hotfoot it up to Kjerringøy, to the Meile Foundation – which is a private facility for treating addiction. Later once Noora has joined him, and they get access, they’ll discover it has a rather different basement treatment room, and that the usual customers are rich young businessmen.

But while he’s travelling another call comes in – a woman shot dead, at first glance a suicide. Armann heads over there to meet Theresa Sommer, the new forensic tech, who thinks it was murder. It was known that she had seen a character known to the police from the previous novel…

So, as before we have two separate cases, this time with different modi operandi. However, it’s not long before a link can be made between the two – it must be more than coincidence?

I can’t say any more. Karlsson builds the tension chapter by chapter teasing out the revelations bit by bit as the two investigations progress and it becomes clear that there is someone very nasty and murderous out there. Again the detectives will put themselves in danger to catch a killer, who always seems to be one step ahead of them.

I loved the development of Weber and Noora, but also Armann, Fine and their superiors, Superintendent Råkstad, and Chief of Police Telle, the latter being a decisive and positive woman in contrast to ‘the Crow’ as they nickname Råkstad.

Once again, Karlsson leaves us with unfinished business and indeed a cliffhanger this time. Things are hotting up nicely for the third part of this trilogy. I can’t wait!

Source: Review copy – thank you! Orenda Paperback original, Jan 2026, 321 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiliate link (free UK+ P&P)