Trouble by Katja Ivar

I would like to thank Bitter Lemon Press and Anne from Random Things Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Bitter Lemon Press

Published – Out Now

Price – £11.06 paperback £7.59 Kindle eBook

Helsinki, June 1953, at the heart of the Cold War. Hella, now a reluctant private investigator, has been asked by her former boss at the Helsinki murder squad to do a background check on a member of the Finnish secret services. Not the type of job Hella was hoping for, but she accepts it on the condition that she is given access to the files concerning the roadside death of her father in 1942, at a time when Finland joined forces with Nazi Germany in its attack against the Soviet Union. German troops were sent to Finland, the Gestapo arrived in Helsinki and German influence on local government was strong, including demands for the deportation of local Jews. Colonel Mauzer, his wife and other family members were killed by a truck in a hit and run incident. An accident, file closed, they said. But not for Hella, whose unwelcome investigation leads to some who would prefer to see her stopped dead in her tracks.

In thrillers its often about separating the wood from the trees. We usually have an obvious crime and a multitude of suspects to sift through. A more skilled thriller though can also make the crime to solve unpredictable. In Katja Ivar’s enticing thriller Trouble we are taken to Helsinki in the 1950s for an absorbing tale of betrayals, murder and a desire for unswerving justice.

In the Helsinki of 1953 Hella Mauzer is adapting to a new phase in her life. No longer part of the Finnish police force she is starting out as a private investigator recovering from her previous adventure; as well as the ever present hurt of her family’s unexplained murder in the 1940s. Hella’s ex-boss though asks her for an unusual favour to perform a deep background check on a potential new head of the murder investigation team. Her target is Heikkinen part pf the mysterious secret service and on the surface perfect for recruitment; but Hella starts to pick up on some interesting family secrets. In addition, she starts to find strange messages that all point towards her father’s death - a man described as the finest spy in Finland perhaps did indeed have enemies to be wary of.

This is my first exposure to this series, but this third instalment very nimbly explains Hella’s situation; her family’s destruction (in an absolutely chilling prologue) and also starts to set the scene that Hella does not really fit 1950’s Finnish society’s view of what a woman should be. Here women are expected to be nurses, teachers, or mothers. Not to become police-officers; get involved with death and certainly not to challenge their male counterparts. Hella though is very independent; has a fine sense of justice but also rarely let’s go when she feels she needs to solve a case. Ivar creates a really impressive background of life in a very sexist culture and at the same time this makes Hella really shine as an independent woman; not even afraid to walk away from a lover who has tended to put her in second place time and time again. Hella though while gets annoyed rarely lets things stop her and that resilience and steely determination makes her a fascinating lead detective not afraid to put herself in the firing line for justice.

The main joy here is putting all the pieces together as it is not immediately obvious what the crime to solve is. Are we just solving Hella’s family’s brutal murder? Is she a pawn in her former employer’s political games or is there another crime hiding in plain sight (I suspect you can guess). What I liked about this is that nothing seems quite obvious and even when we get to the core mystery that we find quite a few likely suspects. I was further impressed that as the storyline expanded, we again see the signs of the damage that a society that judges women to be quiet covers far too many other types of crime.

As this is an interesting historical period in Finland’s history, we also get an exploration of WW2 past – one that I am not that familiar with. Here we have a fascinating tale of a country trying to avoid being ruled by the Soviet Union but also in an uneasy alliance with Nazi Germany at the same time. This dark period leads to another core plotline and sets up some disturbing explanation for the tragedy that stole Hella’s childhood happiness. I was hugely impressed that all these strands slowly entwine and joined together in a way I did not see coming and it was a very satisfactory conclusion.  I will definitely keep an eye out for more tales in this series and this series feels very much like it is just getting started. Highly recommended for fans of Nordic Noir and great absorbing mysteries to solve!