Caveat: THE GIRL WITHOUT SKIN, by Mads Peder Nordbo is not for the faint of heart, nor weak of stomach; there's quite a bit of gore, as well as child sexual abuse.

It is, however, a nearly perfect murder mystery, which is cleverly crafted along two timelines - one from the seventies and one from the present. Both time frames, many of the characters, and certainly the crimes, are interwoven in a delicate dance of past and present, all of which takes place in an icy Greenland town. It's a fast paced, tense, all engrossing story, which I read in two sittings.

Our protagonist, journalist Matt Cave, is himself living in a cave of grief, having recently lost his wife and unborn child in a horrible car accident. He is just damaged enough to make him interesting and garner compassion. He's often noted as reaching for his ring finger, to mindlessly play with a ring, which is no longer there. Definitely plays with your heart. He's a very likable character, and I look forward to reading more books in this series.

Nordbo writes like a poet, his words are beautifully constructed, and a pleasure to read. I found it fitting that Matt finds himself reading a bit of beautiful poetry, toward the end, which is a celebration of the beauty and the challenges of living in Greenland.

I noted a few translation issues, which could be construed as errors, but it's not difficult to look past them, given the extraordinary story. While Nordbo has written several books, this is his first to be translated into English; I look forward to reading more of his work.

Thank you NetGalley, Mads Peder Nordbo, and Text Publishing for the Kindle version of this book, in exchange for my honest review. It is very much appreciated.

In the first hundred plus pages I was really excited about this. I really enjoyed [book:Smilla's Sense of Snow|124509] this year which also dealt with the tensions between Indigenous Greenlandic people and the Danes who colonized them. I think Nordbo was very successful in the presentation of this - I just wish perhaps I could read it from the perspective of a Greenlandic author (note same scenario with Smilla's Sense of Snow).

I think there are maybe some gaps in the writing, in that I was often very confused as to how certain characters got themselves to certain places and into certain pickles. I also feel like there may have been too many players, maybe to manufacture the suspense of whoddunit, but this was annoying not suspensful.

With Scandinavian fiction we often here works compared to Stieg Larsson's three millenium novels. Smilla's Sense of Snow is quite similar, predates Larsson and in my mind doesn't get the attention it deserves (although it was adapted into a film). I would have been ok I think, had Tupaarnaq had only a passing resemblance to Lizbeth Salander - the tattoos, the attitude, and trouble always following her around. Unfortunately I think making her capable of hacking and wrongly accused of the crimes was just too much.

I didn't find either Matthew or Jakob well characterized, maybe because our time was split between their narrations in 2014 and 1973. But I feel like Matthew needed more attention on the page, other than his history of tragedy.

Kept me flipping pages, sometimes scratching my head, but flipping 'em pages none the less.

When a mummified Viking corpse is discovered in a crevasses out on the edge of an ice sheet, journalist Matthew Cave is sent to cover the story. The next day the mummy is gone, and the body of the policeman who was keeping watch is found naked and flayed—exactly like the victims in a gruesome series of murders that terrified the remote town of Nuuk in the 1970s.

As Matt investigates, he is shocked by the deprivation and brutal violence the locals take for granted. Unable to trust the police, he begins to suspect a cover-up. It’s only when he meets a young Inuit woman, Tupaarnaq, convicted of killing her parents and two small sisters, that Matt starts to realise how deep this story goes—and how much danger he is in.

I found myself riveted by this book. It was like a race to get thru it to find out the truth about the mummy and who had killed the policeman. However, this was not an easy read. There are some very dark themes, and manny readers may find them disturbing. It's a gritty and sombre crime novel that will not appeal to everyone. I do, however, recommend it to anyone who likes their crime realistic, yet grim.

A Nordic murder mystery set in Iceland, this is a grim tale of a grieving journalist who is sent to write about the discovery of a mummified corpse, discovered in the ice and thought to be c600 years old. The storyline then veers into murder of seals, people and child abuse and I found it to be a difficult read in many parts, partly due to the subject matter, partly to the translation and writing style and it does jump around a lot.

For lovers of the Nordic dark thriller, this is for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

Matthew Cave has suffered an unbearable personal tragedy. He isn't in a good place mentally, but as a journalist, work(he hopes) can distract him from his own dark thoughts( at least for a moment or two). When a mummified corpse is discovered in Greenland, he finds himself in an isolated town whose inhabitants hold a fair amount of secrets.
Most( well-written) murder mysteries are suspenseful, full of twists and turns, and keep me guessing whodunit and why. This was true in The Girl Without Skin and additionally, the setting is so remote and the unrelenting cold, snow, and ice make even the simplest things so much harder. What does the body of a Viking have to do with unsolved cold cases and current murders? The story is compelling but the murders are described in brutal and graphic detail which certainly won't appeal to every reader. This one was outside my comfort zone(because of the gore) and I wouldn't say it was an easy read, but I was engrossed enough to want to know how everything would come together and I wasn't disappointed once the author connected all the dots. This is the first book in a series and I am interested to see what comes next.
I received a DRC from Text Publishing through NetGalley.

Matthew Cave is assigned to report on a mummy suspected to be the first Viking found in Greenland. After the mummy disappears, and the police officer guarding it killed in a most horrific manner, Matthew investigates a story decades old based on the similar style of murder of four local men. The tale grows exponentially as he learns about the murders’ connections to child molestation, kidnapping, politics, and a mysterious, tattooed woman just released from prison. Secrets are revealed, crimes are solved, and living / dead are confirmed.

Nordbo writes a graphic, bones-laid-bare crime novel with the setting of Nuuk, Greenland as prominent as a main character. The Danish / Greenlandic tension is pushed and pulled throughout the story, with national politics and corruption affecting local affairs. Twists and turns abound as new evidence surfaces, but the main source of a policeman’s journal written during the earlier crimes takes the reader back in time for a more intimate feel. A major information dump at the end does its best to feel natural, coming from the appropriate characters. In any case, the tale is multi-layered, with storylines that converge for a revelatory denouement. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from Text Publishing Company through NetGalley.

Gripping from start to finish. Although a dark theme, there is also light due to the determination to find answers to decades old questions. For fans of Scandinavian style mysteries, The Girl Without Skin is a must read.

I've been meaning to read more Nordic crime, so when I saw this title popping up I just couldn't resist. That cover does look kind of daunting, doesn't it? I went in The Girl Without Skin full of expectations and they were more than met. The first thing that stood out for me was the setting. It shows that the author knows Nuuk and Greenland from his own experience living there, because he is able to describe it in a way that makes it truly come alive. I also like that the main character Matthew is a Danish 'outsider' like the author himself. Being able to see both Nuuk and Greenland through his eyes was truly insightful, and I feel like I've learned a bit about the life there as well as having read a solid crime thriller. Because solid it was. Bloodcurdling, twisted, disturbing and bodies piling up as you turn the pages... Oh yes, The Girl Without Skin isn't for those who don't like to see their crime thrillers bloody. But if you, like me, don't mind things getting messy, you will have a great time with this little shocking story. I really liked the writing style, which was engaging and made me keep reading until I suddenly reached the last page. The pace is good and I liked how the plot was constructed, which 1973 flashbacks as well as the current (2014) storyline. It was interesting to see how the author slowly tried to link both point of views and there is one thing for sure: The Girl Without Skin will have some shocking surprises for you in store!

I was without doubt more than pleasantly surprised by The Girl Without Skin. I like my crime thrillers dark and disturbing, and an interesting international setting is always a bonus for me. This story isn't for those with a weak stomach, as there are a lot of graphic scenes involved including violence, bloodcurdling murder scenes and abuse. The Greenland setting is excellently executed and it felt like I were there myself along with the main characters... The story itself chilled me to the bone. If you like dark crime thrillers, you should definitely give this one a go!

When a mummified corpse is discovered on Greenland's ice cap, Danish journalist Matthew Cave and his photographer, Malik, are sent to the site to cover the story. Archaeologists are incredibly excited, for they believe the corpse to be that of a Viking - a find that would hit the headlines around the world. Notes made and photographs taken, Cave and Malik return to Nuuk, leaving a young policeman called Aqqalu behind to guard the corpse overnight.

The next morning, Malik discovers his equipment has been stolen - and with it, the photographs of the archaeological find. But when Cave and Malik return to the ice cap to take more they find Aqqalu's been brutally murdered and the corpse he was tasked with protecting has disappeared.

With the authorities instructing Nuuk's leading newspaper, Sermitsiaq, to suppress the story, Cave's editor sends him to the archives to research a series of murders from the 1970s. There are some similarities between those deaths, and that of Aqqalu.

The killings in 1973 were investigated by a young policeman, Jakob Pederson and, with the aid of Jakob's diary, Cave learns he believed the murders were linked to child abuse being covered up by the authorities. Three young girls suspected of having been raped by their fathers, vanished. The fathers were later found gutted; their internal organs removed. Fearing for the safety of a fourth girl, Jakob manages to whisk her away and takes her home with him, putting his career and both their lives on the line. He's then attacked in his home and is never heard from again. The girl he tried to rescue was found and abducted, and in all liklihood was murdered before she could reveal what she knew about the abuse.

Armed with the information contained in Jakob's diary, Cave starts his own investigation into the 1973 murders. Along the way he meets Tupaarnaq, a young Inuit woman who has just been released from prison. She was jailed when she was just fifteen-years-old, having been found guilty of killing her parents and younger siblings. Her father had been gutted; the rest of her family were shot. But Cave's instincts tell him all is not as it appears.

The two form an unlikely alliance and together uncover long buried secrets - the kind that someone in the present is willing to kill to protect.

The Girl Without Skin is, I believe, the first of Mads Peder Nordbo's novels to be translated into English and what an introduction to his novels it is. Yes, it's gruesome in places - perhaps overly so, for faint-hearted readers - but I found the method of killing fitting, given the propensity for seal-hunting in the area.

The characters of our protagonists, Cave and Tupaarnaq, are vastly different but as a team, they work. Tupaarnaq in particular is one tough cookie but underneath the bravado and tattoos she wears like a shield, there's a vulnerability to her that I was drawn to. Cave is immensely likeable, too. He's struggling to come to terms with losing his wife and unborn child in a tragic accident and throws himself into his work as a means of escaping the emptiness he feels at home. Obviously there's plenty of room for both to be developed further as the series progresses and more of the authors books are translated into English.

Well-written, atmospheric, dark and gritty, The Girl Without Skin is a title I'd recommend to fellow fans of Scandinavian crime authors such as Jo Nesbo, Jussi Adler-Olsen and Steig Larsson.

I am a huge fan of Nordic mysteries and loved this one.
I loved the setting and it had a fast paced plot and believable characters.
Kept me guessing till the end

My only impression of Greenland is an indirect one absorbed from "Smila's Sense of Snow", which, although the protagonist is from Greenland, is set in Denmark proper. Thus Mr. Nordbo's setting here is almost entirely new to me.

Matthew is a dead man walking, a man for whom there will be no recovery from the loss of his wife and unborn daughter in a car crash. In his numbness he has come to Nuuk, Greenland, a town he lived in briefly as a child, as a stringer for a Danish newspaper. He has no goals, no ambition. He survives.

Matthew's Danish editor has ambition for him though, and pushes him to report on everything, giving the paper stories from a reporter on the ground. When a mummified Viking shows up in a cave, it's a big deal and Matthew is right there on the job. He's there too when a cop is murdered and a body tied in a bag is found by a fishing crew. Suddenly a sleepy coastal town is the scene of multiple murders.

The story is tied to the past, which is presented in flashbacks. These flashbacks are fairly short and to the point so they aren't too bad. They tie nicely to the present, which makes them feel less like stuffing. I got a bit lost during the story of Matthew's father, a US serviceman, and the reasons why he abandoned his wife and child.

This is not the best of the Nordic thrillers, but the unusual location and the details of Greenlandic life, make it particularly interesting.

A frozen man is discovered in the ice near Nuuk in Greenland. There is a great stir when scientists opine that it could be a mummified Viking, and local journalist Matthew Cave is despatched by his editor to cover the story. Things change very quickly however when the eviscerated corpse disappears and the cop that was guarding it is found dead, with the same eviscerations. Soon there is a third such killing.

Cave, a newcomer to Nuuk, is asked to look into similar killings that happened in the 1970s, to see if there is a connection. In the process he runs into Tupaarnaq, a recently-released prisoner who was convicted of such a killing and is an immediate suspect.

The plot, which shifts between Matthew's contemporary investigation and the investigation of 70s policeman Jacob, is nicely paced and there are a few surprises. I have to say that I felt that the 1970s setting worked better. I'm afraid that the contemporary plot elements of an investigating Scandinavian journalist assisted by a non-conformist tattooed woman into crimes involving abuse was just a little, dare I say, too familiar.

I really enjoyed this thriller - the first book I've ever read which is set in Greenland. Matthew Cave, a journalist, is in the town of Nuuk, on the Arctic Circle when a frozen body is discovered - it's believed to be an ice age Viking so the story could be big news. A police man is left to guard the body overnight, but the next day, he is found dead and the body has disappeared. Matt receives a tip that this killing could be related to four unsolved murders from 4o years ago. He is given the diary of the police officer who was investigating those murders by his source. As he reads through the diary, Matt believes that these two sets of murders are definitely related and comes to realise that he might be in danger. I'll look forward to reading more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Mads Peder Nordbo , and Text Publishing Company for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

While I quite enjoy Scandinavian murder mysteries, there are certainly degrees of quality, as with any genre. I stumbled upon this piece by Mads Peder Nordbo and liked the dust jacket blurb, hoping it would live up to the synopsis. Learning that Norbdo works in Greenland offered me some hope that he would be able to shed some unique light on the setting, as well as the story’s development throughout. Danish journalist Matthew Cave is sent to Greenland to cover their upcoming elections. However, there is a sensational story coming out of the small community of Nuuk, which demands Cave’s attention. A man is found on the ice, his organs removed in a brutal manner. While it surely could be one of the many wild animals in the region, the cuts seem to precise and clean to be anything but that of a knife blade in a human’s hand. As Cave begins to investigate a little more, the body count increases and the severity of the attacks seem to be growing as well. Cave pokes around and discovers a connection to a set of crimes from back in 1973, where small children were kidnapped. As the community is reeling, Cave’s editors are demanding answers and sensational coverage, which he is not yet ready to offer. Following the trail, Cave discovers that some of the missing children have reappeared, as though they were dropped from the sky decades later, with no past and for no known reason. As he wrestles with his own personal demons, Cave must follow this case through to the end, even if the results are anything but satisfying. An interesting story that Nordbo makes his own, though there was some element missing to make it stellar. Those who like Scandinavian mysteries may find something worthwhile herein, though I felt the flow and entire premise fell a bit flat for my liking.

What is it that defines a Scandinavian mystery? Must the author hail from that region to be given this classification? Perhaps the story must take place within those countries defined as ‘Scandinavian’? I ask this because the story takes place entirely in Greenland, which may be part of the Danish territories, but the flavour of the novel is definitely unique. Nordbo uses this unique approach to flavour his novel in such a way to allow it to stand out, as well as some of the biographical information I provided above. Much of the setting and the societal norms differ greatly from those used in the numerous Scandinavian novels I have read, though this uniqueness is not entirely unwelcome. Matthew Cave is an interesting character and proves to be a worthy protagonist. Receiving his surname from his father, a member of the American military stationed in Greenland, Cave left the area at the age of four to settle in Denmark. This strain from any father figure proves to be a recurring issue throughout the novel, as does the loss of his wife and unborn child, thereby erasing his chance to be a father. Nordbo uses this thread to push the story along, as Cave seeks to piece together some of the happenings to those children from 1973 and the resulting murders in more modern times. Cave proves to be an effective journalist, but I did not feel a connection to him, which may be more to do with the style of writing that Nordbo offers. Many of the other characters who grace the pages of this book are a mix of gritty members of the police or community members, who mix a Danish and local indigenous culture into their daily lives. Nordbo tosses names and terminology around with ease, leaving a reader not entirely adept with either to flounder. Still, I was able to make some general connections and limped my way through the piece. The story’s premise was decent and I am pleased to have been able to follow it, but it was also weakened by a lack of flow and jilted writing. A mix of short and longer chapters, the story seemed to sputter along and I could not entirely tell if it was the translation that was causing me such distress or a lack of cohesive writing in whatever language. I have often said that Scandinavian novels seem to offer a seamless transition when translated, but this was surely an exception. I noticed that this was the first in what might be an upcoming series, so I am not sure if I want to continue when the next piece surfaces. That being said, I am forewarned and forearmed, should I choose to continue. Other readers preparing for this undertaking should be as well.

Kudos, Mr. Nordbo, for a decent effort, though it missed the mark for me. I can only hope that others find something stellar in this writing, as it did not meet by, admittedly, high expectations.

I generally really like Scandinavian mysteries- the dark and cold, the intense inward personalities and conflicts. The entire genre is fascinating, moody, atmospheric and generally interesting stories.

I have noticed that as colder and further north we get, the more violent some of the crimes are. Iceland is pretty tough that way and this is my first book from Greenland. As intriguing as the writing is, the cruelty and violence towards kids and critters were too much for me and I didn't finish the book.

While of course I want to know the outcome, these depictions of vile and cruel acts can stay in my brain.
I would love to read another book by this author with a little less bloodiness and horror.

I did not finish the book... it did not grab me and after about 100 pages I had to give up. Too many books, too little time. Sorry

Wow!! How to I even start to describe this book!! To be honest, this was my first attempt at reading a Scandinavian thriller and I had hear previously that they can be really dark, and this book was dark but it was exceptional. The way this book was written was so fluid and so easy to read, And the way he did the time jump from the present to the past through the diary was so seamless and easy, I fell in love with the book from the page one and it kept me hooked and gripped throughout. The characters in this book were so well created and written. Tuparnaaq was such a wonderful and complex character whom you cannot help but fall in love with. I sincerely hope that the other books in this series are translated to English as well as I'm really looking forward to reading his other books. A well deserved 5 stars from me. Thank you to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the chance to read this ARC in exchange of my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it was beautifully well written.

It was quite gruesome and not for the feint hearted but I really enjoyed the plot. The ending felt a little rushed but I thought overall it was a really enjoyable read which had me gripped right to the end. I also loved the different times and thought this was done well.

I wanted to say I found this hard to follow, but that's not necessarily true since I did finish the book. I've not read much fiction or even non-fiction out of this region, so the Inuit names and culture were unusual and eye-opening to me.

I don't know if it's the translation or the style or just the general layout of the ebook, but it feels like reading a half-worked manuscript. This won't be the first time I read a translation of a novel that was wildly popular in its original language, but didn't come off half as well in English.

The story itself was probably what kept me going, but it could have been executed better.

Gripping! Unputdownable! Read it!

I read this book in two days and it's the best book I've read this year so far. I will definitely re-read it one day and I would recommend it to as many people as possible. Reliable characters and stories. Good job!