Book Review: Where The Shadows Lie

Where The Shadows Lie
by Michael Ridpath

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Where Surprises Lie

This is a surprisingly good read. I just picked it up randomly and was hooked since the first chapter. We have a solid protagonist in Magnus. He is a tough cop at the receiving end of a drug cartel. A thorough American, he is reunited to his origins in Iceland as he needs to be alive as a witness in a case. The run-in with an assassin in the initial few pages itself had me admire the work of author Michael Ridpath. I read his brief interview and though he is no Icelander, he has painted a fantastic image of the nation. His research shines through in this novel.

I loved discovering new and newer things about Iceland in here. With Michael's prose it all comes alive. The protagonist is at once interesting with an enemy gunning for him in the first few chapters. Then on he is working for Iceland's police force which is drastically different because cops there don't carry firearms, forget about civilians shooting anything. There is plenty of mystery in Iceland and no small portion comes from the murder of a professor being investigated by the local police with consultation from Magnus.

Here too Magnus faces obstacles with the local police head not being too cheery on having help from an American cop. No cop likes their domain encroached upon by anyone no matter how experienced or qualified they be.

Of course with the rare crimes in Iceland the police there have little experience in following leads and investigating into a murder. So Magnus is to be there with the local chief grudgingly keeping him informed.

Then there is the pretty girl who is involved in the mess over ancient sagas being sold off to raise money. She is too good to have been involved in anything illegal, yet all clues seem to have her involved somehow. The sagas itself is fascinating and Tolkien had clearly taken great liberty in making the stories his own with "The Lord of the Rings". There is the familiar friendly but dull cop eager to be a partner to Magnus. There is a mysterious pastor of a church that was swallowed up by hell. There is information that leads to other possible murders. There is a lot of action and suspense with each chapter satisfactorily leading us to a thrilling finale.

The descriptions of the landscape, the sky, the waterfall, the simmering mountains of lava is simply marvelous.

It is a very rewarding novel to read and this is the first novel on Magnus. I can't wait to see how Michael Ridpath comes back to this cop in a sequel.