Arguineguín, un pequeño y tranquilo pueblo de Gran Canaria, se ha convertido en el retiro de una amplia colonia de ciudadanos escandinavos que buscan el sol y el mar en el singular paisaje de la isla. La joven y hermosa Erika Bergman llega para pasar unos días de descanso en una escuela de yoga dentro de un enclave privilegiado, pero un asesino trunca sus planes y acaba con su vida... Y con la paz que hasta entonces se respiraba en el paraíso.
En encargado de la investigación, el comisario Diego Quintana, cuenta con la colaboración de Sara Moberg, la intrépida redactora del diario escandinavo Dag&Natt, que lleva más de veinte años viviendo en la isla; y con la del expolicía Kristian Wede, cuya vida privada no pasa precisamente por el mejor momento. Todo son preguntas sin resolver: ¿qué atormentaba a Erika? ¿Qué pasó la noche del crimen? ¿Por qué el asesino engalanó el cadáver como si se tratara de la Venus de Botticelli?

The imagery in this book was astounding. The sights, sounds, smells were all portrayed very vividly. I became frustrated about half way through the book, but everything tied up neatly at the end. I just had to be patient. I liked "The Killer's Art" better. I like the artistic aspect of Jung's writing. ( )

Shocking murders among a Swedish expat community on the Canary Islands, compete with a nasty cult leader. Formulaic.

The setting is the Canary Islands. A fisherman finds a dead body near the shore and Sara Moberg, publisher of a newspaper for Scandinavian tourists, gets tangled up in the investigation. The publisher's blurb makes it sound as if Chief Inspector Diego Quintana is the center of the story but really Sara takes center stage. She and Quintana have a history, as they say. Kristian Wede, a former police officer, has just arrived as junior staff of the Swedish-Norwegian Consulate and he has a history too.

This is the first book in a new series and it is not as tight as it could be, but not so messy as to be unenjoyable. I kept wondering how old Sara and her husband are. There are school-age kids we never meet but somehow their honeymoon was so long ago when they were young.

In any case, this is a reasonable story set in an exotic place. The murderer is pretty clear early on, but the motivation and victim selection is not. I found Adriana's POV sections to be a bit tiresome, but then I generally don't like flashbacks in novels.

I received a review copy of "A Darker Sky: The Canary Island Series, Book 1" by Mari Jungstedt and Ruben Eliassen trans. Paul Norlen (AmazonCrossing) through NetGalley.com. ( )