Darkness Calls
An Inspector Cecilie Mars Thriller
Michael Katz Krefeld
292 pages
Podium Publishing
published May 16, 2023
This is a clever premise. A police inspector with a rough past doesn’t help save a suspected criminal and then he dies. She is then blackmailed over it. The blackmail? Vigilante justice. Killing those that commit crimes and escape consequences. It becomes a race against time to try and figure out who is blackmailing her before her crime catches up with her.
While this is a dark one with lots of potential trigger warnings, I was all in from the start. I’ll admit I am a fan of Nordic police procedurals. They are usually a bit darker than a US or UK ones. I fell for a few of the red herrings and was kept guessing until late in the book. While I have nothing in common with Cecilie, I found her incredibly relatable. Her character is fully developed and I can see how she ended up in her predicament.
The story was constantly moving forward and had many adrenaline filled moments. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
About the book
When a newly promoted police inspector becomes the target of a blackmailer, she struggles to clear her name. But is she fighting for justice—or revenge?
Police inspector Cecilie Mars is a different kind of cop. She has a heavy cocaine habit, fantasizes about vigilante violence, and constantly falls in love with men she shouldn’t. Late one night, while tailing a suspect, Mars makes an ill-fated choice that has far-reaching consequences. Unluckily for her, her misstep has been observed and filmed. Now, an anonymous foe is threatening to reveal the truth unless she submits to his terrifying agenda.
Inexorably, Mars is drawn into a sinister blackmail scheme that could derail her career. At the same time, she’s haunted by the feeling that the shadowy figure behind the threats is well known to her—and growing ever stronger. But who is he? And how far is she willing to go to stop him before she loses everything?
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