The Killing Bay: A Faroes Novel

Ould’s stellar second novel set in the Faroe Islands (after 2016’s The Blood Strand) finds Jan Reyná, a police detective who was born in the Faroes but raised in England, still seeking answers about his past. When a member of the Atlantic Wildlife Conservation Alliance, a group of environmental activists who were recently protesting a traditional Faroese whale hunt, turns up dead in a stone hut, Reyná helps the local police in the ensuing murder investigation. One of them, Det. Hjalti Hentze, has family ties that place him uncomfortably close to the case. Reyná gets a better understanding of the phlegmatic, intensely private nature of the people in this small, faraway place, which Ould conveys with a deft, perceptive touch. The motivations of the activist victim, the prime suspect, and the people helping Reyná’s exploration of his long-buried family history all prove more complex and nuanced than they first appear. As the action builds to a thoughtful and satisfying resolution, Ould plants the seeds of the conclusion to his Faroes trilogy, which fans will eagerly anticipate. (Feb.)