Deep As Death by Katja Ivar – Book Review

PUBLISHERS BLURB 

The second in a three-book series featuring Hella Mauzer, to follow on the success of Evil Things.

 

• A Nordic Noir of the first-order set in Helsinki in 1953. A dark psychological thriller about ruthless ambition, unrequited love and the lies we tell others and ourselves to avoid facing what has become of our lives.

 

• A woman author and a female heroine. A misunderstood, flawed, whip-smart detective, now a P.I, fighting against both prejudice and crime. Hella finds herself at the centre of an investigation of multiple murders that threaten to destroy the reputations of the rich and powerful. Ivar has again succeeded in telling an incredibly gripping story with some of the cast of characters that we fell in love with in Evil Things.

 

Hella Mauzer has just been fired by the police and is now a reluctant private investigator. Escaping the mind-numbing routine of shadowing unfaithful spouses, Hella finds herself at the centre of an investigation of multiple murders.

It all begins when a prostitute is found floating upside down in Helsinki Harbour. Not exactly a high priority case for the Helsinki police, so homicide chief Jokela passes the job to his former colleague Hella. It’s beginning to look like a serial killer is at work when another lady of the night narrowly escapes being driven into the harbour, handcuffed to the car by her client. What begins like a taut whodunit turns into something more tantalizing as Hella turns her attention to different suspects, often to the consternation of the fascinating Inspector Mustonen, charismatic, ambitious and trying desperately to live up to the standards of his high-maintenance wife.

MY REVIEW 

Set in Helsinki in 1953. Hella is a private investigator after being dismissed from the police force.

When a woman’s body is found in the harbour, Hella begins an investigation. The police aren’t interest as the woman was a sex worker. 

When more women either disappear or their bodies are found Hella believes a serial killer is responsible. Hella is also dealing with her messy personal life as she’s having an affair with a married man, who has promised to leave his wife for her, but she’s still waiting and now has other suspicions about him. 

Deep As Death has great characters and a clever, twisty plot. It’s a dark and chilling murder mystery with a real sense of atmosphere, you can almost feel the chill of a cold winter coming off the page. I’ll certainly be looking for more by Katja Ivar.

Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour,  for the promotional materials and an eARC of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.

 

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/2Zm4yoZ 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katja Ivar grew up in Russia and the U.S. She travelled the world extensively, from Almaty to Ushuaia, from Karelia to Kyushu, before finally settling in Paris where she lives with her husband and three children. She received a B.A. in Linguistics and a master’s degree in Contemporary History from Sorbonne University. Evil Things was her debut novel. 

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