Carolyn's Reviews > The Owl Always Hunts at Night

This is a disturbing Nordic thriller featuring child abuse and ritualistic killing. When the body of a young woman is found posed in a strange position surrounded by owl feathers and candles in the woods outside of Oslo, Holger Munch (Head of Homicide) and Detective Mia Krüger suspect they are looking for a disturbed killer. The case becomes even more disturbing when one of their team finds video footage of the woman in captivity before her death on the dark web and they realise this is a killer that will likely strike again.

Overall the book is well written and paced and there is plenty of tension and suspense but I think this might just be a bit too noir for me as I found the descriptions of abuse quite confronting. I also didn't like any of the characters, perhaps because they are all so unhappy with their lives. Munch is not coping with his ex-wife's announcement that she is getting married, Mia is still grieving over the death of her sister and won't see a therapist and one of their team has a drinking problem so all in all they are a pretty morose lot. Still if you like Nordic Noir, can cope with a twisted and deviant killer and don't mind a lot of angst in your characters then you'll probably enjoy this.