The Killing Bay

Starred review from December 19, 2016
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.

February 1, 2017

In Ould's follow-up to 2016's The Blood Strand, English detective Jan Reyna, born on the Danish-controlled Faroes Islands but raised in England, is back to solve crime in his native land. Working with Det. Hjalti Hentze, he investigates the murder of a newly arrived member of the Atlantic Wildlife Conservation Alliance. This group of outspoken activists was recently protesting the traditional Faroese whale hunt until the woman turned up dead. As in the first book, Reyna assists with the local investigation, especially since Hentze has family ties that place him unprofessionally close to the case. Reyna also continues to learn about the private ways of the Faroese people and the secrets they keep, many of which they do not share with outsiders. Although the activist victim's actions were perhaps environmentally sound, they did not necessarily make her friends among the locals, leading to a plethora of suspects. VERDICT Ould's strange, remote setting and the even stranger people make for an intriguing read, especially combined with a hero who is almost as prickly as his forefathers and yet manages to solve even the most complex crimes.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2017
Ould's latest Faroes novel (set on the Faroe Islands between Norway and Iceland) picks up where The Blood Strand (2016) left off. London homicide detective Jan Reyna has just buried his estranged father and is trying to penetrate Faroese insularity to find the truth about his late mother. Hjalti Hentze, Reyna's closest friend, is investigating the murder of Erla Sivertsen, a Faroese woman who recently returned to the islands as the photographer for an animal-rights organization determined to halt the islanders' traditional whale-hunting practices. Hjalti's investigation quickly reveals connections to his own family; Erla was probably having an affair with his son-in-law, Finn. To make matters worse, Finn is one of the fishermen participating in the whale hunts. As investigators target Finn, Hjalti digs into elements that don't add up, like obstructive Danish security agents and the obvious staging of Erla's body. Ould brings the outside world into the Faroes through the global scrutiny of the islands' hunting practices, while skillfully capturing the simple, hardworking Faroese people. An absorbing literary procedural for readers who prize an exotic sense of place.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)