Reading - Death of the Demon

Death of the Demon by Anne Holt

In a foster home outside Oslo, a twelve-year-old boy is causing havoc. The institution’s steely director, Agnes Vestavik, sees something chilling in Olav’s eyes: sheer hatred. When Vestavik is found murdered at her desk, stabbed in the back with an Ikea kitchen knife—with Olav nowhere to be found—the case goes to maverick investigator Hanne Wilhelmsen, recently promoted to chief inspector in the Oslo Police. 

Could the child be a murderer? As police canvass the city for Olav, Hanne, working alongside the foulmouthed detective Billy T., orders an investigation of the home’s employees. But despite her supreme deductive skills, she is hopeless at delegating, hopeless at pooling information, hopeless at sharing responsibilities. Can Hanne learn to trust others before her bullheaded instincts lead her astray—in the workplace and on the home front? 

Meanwhile, Olav makes his way through the city, looking for the mother who was forced to consign him to the state’s care. A dark and captivating new chapter in this brilliant, rollicking series, Death of the Demon examines that murky intersection between crime and justice.

Reading - The New Mrs Clifton

The New Mrs Clifton by Elizabeth Buchan

As the Second World War draws to a close, Intelligence Officer Gus Clifton surprises his sisters at their London home.  But an even greater shock is the woman he brings with him, Krista - the German wife whom he has married secretly in Berlin.

Krista is clearly devastated by her experiences at the hands of the British and their allies - all but broken by horrors she cannot share.  But Gus's sisters can only see the enemy their brother has brought under their roof.  And their friend Bella, Gus's beautiful, loyal fiancee, cannot understand what made Gus change his mind about her.

What hold does Krista have over their  honourable Gus? And how can the three women get her out of their home, their future, their England?