A good paced detective novel with an interesting and unusual plot. There was far too much information about people’s hair or lack of it and their height that added nothing to the storyline. 
That apart a good yarn.

Great debut! Very twisty, keeps you guessing and engaged. Good charcater-driven read as well, which feels hard to come by at times.
Excited for more of the same from this author; a welcome addition to the Scandi-Noir genre.

Where Ravens Roost by Karin Nordin, Pub Date 17 Feb 2021
A debut novel set in a small town in northern Sweden, the home town of the main character, Inspector Kjeld Nygaard. 
Kjeld has been disconnected from his father, Stenar, for more than a decade. However, when he got a somewhat muddled call from him saying he'd seen a murder he didn't hesitate to head home. Stenar's allegation has been reported to the local Chief of Police, Ek, who has found no crime evidence. Kjeld, who has a past with Ek, will not let the matter rest, and what he reveals is a lot more than he bargains for.
The plot is appealing - exposing family feuds, rumours, corporate desire and manipulation. 
There are many twists and turns to keep you guessing, and an unexpected conclusion. 
I want to thank NetGalley, HQ and author Karin Nordin for a pre-publication copy to review.

A beautiful dark story set in the darkness of northern Sweden. A seeming murder witnessed by a dementia suffering farmer and his damaged detective son returning home from Gothenburg form the basis of the tale. A body discovered in the fathers barn where he keeps ravens and the mystery of identity is eventually revealed and a rich mining family are heavily involved with lots of shock revelations at the denouement this marvellously paced tale is recommended!

This is a really great debut novel and one for fans of Scandi thrillers. Great characters with interesting back stories and well plotted. Pacy and kept me turning the pages - I will definitely keep an eye out for more from this author.

Where Ravens Roost
(Detective Kjeld Nygaard, Book 1)
By Karin Nordin, Harper Collins
When we meet Detective Kjeld Nygaard, he is not in a good place, he’s estranged from his one surviving parent, separated from his former partner and daughter and just recently suspended from the Gothenburg police department. 

Surprisingly he receives a disturbing and confused voice message from his father, whom he’s not spoken to in twelve years. So hoping to build bridges, Nygaard makes the 10 hour car drive to see him in the north of Sweden, close to the Norwegian and Finnish borders. Upon his arrival he discovers his childhood home in decay, his father in the latter stages of dementia and the hostility of his resentful sister. Alongside the house is a barn where his family have bred ravens for generations. Nygaard discovers a human tooth in this foreboding place before further evidence of human remains are uncovered. 

A tense, creepy and slow burning story follows as the suspended detective tries to unravel the death and the mysteries surrounding this. This he does with little cooperation from the local police inspector and the gradual realisation of his father’s dependency upon him. 

There is a really strong sence of imagery to this novel. The dilapidated house, barn and its occupants are strikingly decribed to the reader provided an atmospheric backdrop. Furthermore we get detailed descriptions of every character we meet, even fleetingly and how these changes through conversation which really helps visualise every scene.
Nygaard’s backstory is convincing, both of his childhood memories and his recent troubles in the police force, the latter is largely put aside for this novel, but I would expect them to feature more prominently in the second novel from the series due later this year.
I enjoyed the pace of the book, nothing is revealed too soon as Nygaard discovers some key revelations, some more surprising than others but all cleverly revealed. 
A key component of the story is the fragile relationship between father and son which is clouded by a memory which can alternate  between lucidity and confusion. Nordin appears to be relaying some of her own experiences in these sequences which are genuinely moving. 
While the fearful premise in a remote location in Scandinavia is well trodden ground in modern crime fiction, there were enough strengths in terms of the plotting, the characterisations and portrayal of human relationships to make Where Ravens Roost a very accomplished debut novel. It certainly bodes well for Karin Nordin’s future novels, if she can continue to further these qualities and continue to give a distinct perspective to her characters. I’m certainly keen to see how Nygaard’s career progresses on his return to Gothenburg. 

Where Ravens Roost is released as an ebook on 17th February and will be available in paperback on 15th April 2021.

What a good book.  Really enjoyed reading it and the ending was a surprise which means that I could not guess when reading it where the story will go.  The characters were believable and it was written in a way that I could feel the anguish of Kjeld and Sara having a parent with Alzheimers.  The story moves between the Nygaard and Lindqvist families, one running a run down farm which houses ravens and the other running a huge mining company.  The families are intertwined but that takes a while to come out in the book which makes you want to read more as you want to find out why this is.  Sara is a housewife with a family struggling in many ways and Kjeld is a police offer who has had a issue at work and comes home after a phone call from his father which he did not understand.  The story then goes backwards and forwards in time sowing the seeds for the end of the book.  As I have already mentioned, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one in the series

If you enjoy dark Scandinavian noir ,then you are in for a treat with this Book.! It's atmosphere as Tense ,Dark & Brooding as the Raven's in it's Title , especially after Detective Kjeld Nygaard finds a Human Tooth in one of the Raven's Nest's in the Barn where his Family have always kept them . He has returned home after a strange phone call from his Father Stenar from whom he's been estranged from for a number of years ,& on his return home also discovers his Father is suffering from Alzheimer's . It is very hard to believe that this is a debut!’ I urge you to read it , #FB, #Instagram,#NetGalley,#Goodreads,# Amazon.co.uk, #Waterstones, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/c566f42be23a0e25d120e78a3454e2d427c4beee" width="80" height="80" alt="50 Book Reviews" title="50 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>,#<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

If you like Scandi Noir you will enjoy this book. Well written with an intriguing mystery at its heart, a likeable hero and great atmosphere Where Ravens Roost is highly recommended.

This story is essentially a multigenerational story of two principle families in the far northern Scandinavian forest area. What is lacking in sunlight and bonhomie is counter balanced by the riches to be gained by the mineral mines. It is a tale of bitter memories, coercion and human survival with smatterings of kindness and thoughtfulness and love interwoven throughout. One reads about 'Scandi Noir' novels and I would put this first novel by Karin Nordin into that category. There is the quintessential, miserable yet capable detective with  multiple problems in both his public and private life. The author depicts Alzheimers through the detective's father. This is well done.
Persevere with this novel as its many tendrils of plot and sub plots will grab your attention and draw you in to the enjoyment of the denouement.

Thanks to HQ digital and Netgalley for an advance copy of this.  
Kjeld Nygaard's life isn't going well - he is suspended from his job with Gothenburg PD after a case that's gone horribly wrong and needs its own investigation.  He's separated from his partner and rarely sees his young daughter.  He gets a phone call out of the blue from his estranged father so drives hundreds of kilometres north toward the Finnish border, into the deepening winter, to work out whether what his father says is true.  There he finds darkness and family secrets that he may wish he'd left alone.  
So far, so generic Scandi Noir with a dysfunctional cop protagonist?  Not at all.  This was a slow burn family story with a suspenseful plot, a terrific sense of place and some very finely drawn characters, including the small town and its inhabitants, Kjeld, his increasingly confused and frail father and Kjeld's put-upon sister who is trying to hold everything together.  The weather, the ravens, the dampness of forgotten basement junk, all add to the menace.  
An assured debut - I hope Ms Nordin is bringing Kjeld back to readers sometime.

This is a new scandie Noir that had me gripped from the start. It pulled me in the with mystery of the murder and the pace of the book kept me going. Some of the twists were guessable but that didn't detract from the story itself. Pulling the past of the detective into his present the story kept me interested and the conclusion was Excellent. Brilliant debut and look forward to reading more

Inspector Kjeld Nygaard had been estranged from his father, Stenar, for more than a decade but when he got the rather muddled phone call from him saying that he'd seen a murder in the barn on his land he didn't hesitate to drop everything and go to Varsund. Actually, 'drop everything' rather overstates the situation. Nygaard was on suspension following the shooting of a suspect in the Aubuchon murder enquiry. There had been a complication: the Kattegat Killer turned out to be Nils Hedin, Nygaard's best friend. Still, the ten-hour drive from Gothenburg in the south of Sweden to Varsund in the far north shouldn't be underestimated.

When Kjeld got to the Norrland Farmhouse in Jamtland, he found his sister, Sara, who was obviously very harassed and not without good cause. She'd been trying to look after her own two children, work, cope with the fact that her husband was unemployed and seemingly incapable of looking for a job - and deal with her father who was in the advanced stages of dementia. Her reaction wasn't that she was glad to see her brother but anger that he'd done so little to help. She wasn't alone in having this reaction to Kjeld: his husband felt much the same and was trying to stop him having access to his daughter, Tove.

About the only person who was supporting Nygaard was his partner, DS Esme Jansson of the Violent Crimes Division, Gothenburg City Police, but his sudden departure from Gothenburg has left her to prepare the submission to the enquiry into the Kattegat Killer on her own. She's not pleased either. His father seems to have forgotten the phone call he made: there's no pleasure in seeing his son and all he's worried about is the wellbeing of his ravens which live in the barn. Kjeld wants nothing to do with the birds: he still has the torn ear from when they attacked him as a child.

Then a body turns up when an intruder starts digging up the floor of the barn.

Varsund is largely supported by Norrmalm Industries, a mining conglomerate. It's currently being run by Roland Lindqvist, in the absence of his elder brother, Peter, who seems reluctant to return from a sabbatical he took after the death of his wife and child. Roland's attempting to sell the company: his son David is all for this. He's keener on the money than actually doing any work at Norrmalm Industries.

It's the north of Sweden, not far from Finland and only twenty miles from the Norwegian border. Life is hard in the unforgiving climate with only limited daylight for six months of the year. The contrast with the south of Sweden is marked and the area around Varsund is a character in its own right. The main characters are strong and well-drawn but I occasionally had trouble remembering who was who amongst the minor characters. That's a minor quibble though as this is a good read and an excellent starting point for a new series.

You'd like to know about the plot, though, wouldn't you? Well, it's very good. There's one twist which I guessed fairly early on but the reveal about the killer is jaw-dropping. The clues were there but I hadn't spotted them at all. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series and I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

As Scandi fiction goes, this noir is as good as it gets! This is my first dabble in Swedish fiction and no going back if this is anything to go by.

I loved the brooding, complicated personality of Kjeld Nygaard and the plausible complexities of his life. 

An out of character call from dad Stenar, plunges Kjeld back into the family he tried so hard to escape. Tackling his founded fear of his fathers rookery, Kjeld finds a tooth. With a body soon to follow Kjeld cannot but assume that his father is somehow involved in these murky happenings on his own land.

With Stenar however, in the grip of Alzheimer’s, Kjeld struggles to make sense of things even with his experience as a detective. The truth does out but without pleasantries and the sting in the tale hurts throughout. 

Karin Nordin’s characterisations display a maturity rarely met in a debut novel and her no frills approach powers the chill to the end while still allowing us to gather sympathy where due.

Many thanks to Karin Nordin and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity of enjoying such an engaging book. I wouldn’t hesitate in highly recommending Where The Ravens Roost.

This is a perfectly creepy, atmospheric thriller set in Sweden, with a frazzled police lead and a complicated crime to solve.

I whizzed through this one once I had started and couldn't put it down. It follows detective Kjeld Nygaard, as he receives a call from his slightly estranged father, to come home and investigate a murder he has witnessed in his barn, 

Kjeld returns and finds not only his father in a declining state of Alzheimer's, but also a human tooth. 

The atmosphere is eerie and the bare Nordic landscape only adds to the already desolate feel this debut novel has. 

It definitely feels as though this could be the beginning of a series, with Kjeld at the helm. He is a troubled detective with the requisite broken past that all the best scandi leads have. The slow burn, but ramped up tension, will have you turning the pages with eager anticipation. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and can't wait for another by Nordin. Congratulations. 

I would recommend this to fans of nordic noir, creepy/atmospheric thrillers and general mystery fans.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book

This is book 1 but had the feel of a book in the middle of a series. Lots of half explained back story. Other than that I really enjoyed it, though it didn’t help me be any less creeped out by ravens.

I don’t quite know what it is about this book but there’s something about it that I struggled with. Kjeld was an interesting character, for the most part. Not someone I would usually hope to read about (I didn’t really like him as a person), or enjoy spending time with in real life. It’s good to push out of my comfort zone with characters, though, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The story itself was intriguing, the complex relationships between several of the characters only made it more so. I did struggle to find any connection with many of the other characters, I feel we didn’t get to see enough redeeming factors for them, or reasons to be on their side, or enjoy learning about their lives. They just felt a little flat. That being said, I really enjoyed Esme, and though I didn’t particularly like Stenar, you could really get a feel for the kind of person he was underneath the confusion. Another not so likeable character but there was certainly some depth. The mystery of the book had some great twists and turns (even if some were a little predictable) and I enjoyed it for the most part, though wasn’t entirely happy with the justification over the resolution. It’s not a book I would read again, but if someone asked me if they should read it, I certainly wouldn’t turn them away from it. I’m not sure it was entirely my cup of tea, and I really didn’t like any of the characters that much, but maybe someone else would feel very differently.

This is a very accomplished first book.  The depths of a Scandinavian autumn set a scene of discomfort and family tensions, allied to an old mystery that no one has ever addressed.
A message from his father, whom Kjeld has not spoken to for 10 years, sets him off on a 10 hour journey north to try to find the truth of the message.
His father is not welcoming and his sister distressed by caring for him with an increasing level of Alzheimers disease.  The situation Kjeld discovers when he arrives is far from comfortable.
The mystery gets deeper and darker and the reader is drawn in more and more to the story,
A very good winter read with lots of snow.

My thoughts about Karin Nordin's Hardhiting Stunning Nail Biting Debut Crime Thriller Was Extraordinary Brilliant. Where Ravens Roost,is a stunning debut thriller,that has full of suspense and mystery, that has twists and turns that makes this a fantastic read. Where Ravens Roost tells the story of Detective Kjeld Nygaard, who is suspended from his current job as a police officer in gothenburg, while on suspicion Kjeld's father sends a message on Kjeld's phone that he has witnessed a murder in his barn, that's when Kjeld decides to drive up to his fathers home in the Sweden, and to take a look what is happening, as soon he gets there, he soon discovers a dead body, he calls the police, when the police arrive, they point fingers at Kjeld's father Stener, who is suffering from alzheimer's, it's a race against time for Kjeld to find the truth about the murder, and who is really responsible, was just incredible. Debut Author Karin Nordin, has written a powerful story, that also reveals some dark secrets of Kjeld's family which blow me away. A smashing debut that is well written, and presented, that is going to take you on a rollocoster ride, with its unique story, suspense and the characters. Take a bow Karin Nordin, Where Ravens Roost is a great start of your crime fiction journey which is highly recommended. I would like to say thank you to Author Karin Nordin, Publisher's HQ Stories, And Netgalley for giving me a chance to read and review this outstanding hard hitting thriller.

I quite enjoyed this book by a new author (to me). I believe this is her first book and look forward to more. The book takes place in the snowy wilderness of Varsund, a fictional town in Sweden which is sparsely populated. Although the mystery wasn't exactly hard to work out, the characters were likeable and I found myself invested in their outcomes. I do feel that the phrase "...pursed his/her lips" was definitely overused, to little effect. There were a few typos as well that were distracting, but nothing major.
I would be interested to read another book by this author, and will recommend it to others who want an engaging winter tale of murder. Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.