Welcome to the latest stop on the blog tour for Murder Tide by Stella Blómkvist translated by Quentin Bates. Murder Tide was published by Corylus Books on 4 July 2025 as an ebook with the paperback to follow on 1 August 2025.
Murder Tide is the third book from mysterious* Icelandic author Stella Blómkvist to be translated into English and I am very pleased today to be able to share a teaser extract:
One of the tough guys steps in front of me on the pavement.
‘You’re coming with us,’ he says.
‘Says who?’
‘Oddgeir wants to meet you.’
‘Our car’s right there,’ the other hardnut says, taking my arm.
I ask for names and numbers, but they pay no attention.
‘Get your hands off me,’ I tell him, ice-cold.
‘We don’t want any trouble.’
‘You refuse to show any identification and try to manhandle me,’ I snap back. ‘That’s an offence and I’ll have you in court.’
‘Oddgeir’s waiting for you.’
I get in the car with them.
They drive off and accompany me to Oddgeir’s office where he appears to be in a meeting with two of his subordinates.
‘Are you off your head?’ I demand.
‘You have a memory stick that I suspect contains information relating to a serious crime,’ he replies, looking down his nose at me.
‘Fucking bullshit.’
‘Give me the stick.’
‘Or what?’
‘Or I’ll have one of my men search through your pockets.’
‘You’re threatening me with being physically manhandled a second time by your men?’
‘As you should know better than anyone, it’s a punishable offence to obstruct the work of the police in investigating a serious crime.’
‘I haven’t obstructed your work,’ I reply. ‘But you have obstructed my legal work.’
‘Where’s the memory stick?’
I shrug.
Oddgeir nods to his muscular sidekicks. They dip their fingers into the pockets of my leather jacket – and they find the memory stick.
‘Gummi! Take a look at this right away!’ he orders one of his men.
The man snatches up the memory stick and rushes from the room.
‘You’re in serious trouble,’ Oddgeir says. ‘You could make it a lot better by handing over the encryption key.’
‘What key?’
‘I know Sævar wrote down the key for you.’
‘You’re telling me you know what was said in a confidential conversation between myself and my client at Litla Hraun? If that’s the case, then that’s another offence to add to the list.’
Gummi opens Oddgeir’s office door. He stands there in the doorway and looks awkwardly at his boss.
‘What?’
‘There are no encrypted files on this memory stick.’
‘What, then?’
‘Just ordinary video files.’
‘I don’t believe it.’
Gummi goes over to his boss’s desk, plugs in the memory stick and opens it.
Queen appear on the screen.
‘We are the champions,’ Freddie Mercury sings with all his heart, his voice filling the drug squad office.
Oddgeir turns pale. Then his face flushes deep red.
‘I knew all along that Sævar was messing with us,’ he says.
‘Not at all,’ I say coldly.
‘There’s no other explanation.’
‘Yes, there is and it’s very simple. I know your dirty tricks, and now I have evidence.’
I fish my phone from my pocket.
‘I’d best call the commissioner so he’s ready when my official complaint against you and your department lands on his desk.’
Oddgeir’s face swells with anger.
‘But you can keep the memory stick as a memento,’ I add as a parting shot.
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