North
Sea Cottage by Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen, Candied Crime (2014) was my selection for this
month’s Mystery Readers. Because the book was translated into English, some of
it comes across as awkward, but the plot and its pace kept pulling me along.
The
story takes place in Stenbjerb, Denmark located in Jutland in the northern part
of the country. Tora Skammelsen, a writer, has retreated to her aunt’s north
sea cottage to recover from some unspecified tragedy revealed later in the book.
Her aunt, Bergtora, the owner of the cottage is temporarily in a nursing home
to a fall.
Tora
is barely settled when there’s a storm, and a lightning strike sets the stable on
fire. Fireman put the fire out, but in the aftermath, she discovers a trap door
in the stable floor. In the space underneath she sees a skeleton, animal bones she
thinks, until she sees a skull. The police are notified and an investigation
ensues. The bones turn out to be very old.
A flashback takes us back to 1943 during WWII and is told through the eyes of
Bergtora, our heroine’s aunt, a 12 yr. old child when the German army occupied
Denmark. Times are hard, food is in short supply. Bergtora’s father is part of
the resistance movement, a very risky business made worst by neighbor informing
on neighbor. Late one night her father leaves, never to be seen again,
apparently fleeing to Sweden.
As
the story moves back and forth between the years 2012 and 1943, Tora and the police
officer in charge of the investigation become friends, collaborating to
untangle family secrets in order to find out who was buried under the stable.
Though the ending was
not very satisfying because it leaves the reader to wonder what happened after
the identity of killer is learned, this twisted tale is enjoyable due to its
fast moving
