This novel was good but I felt like it lacked the punch I was looking for in a normal thriller. The characters were just okay, unfortunately I figured out whodunnit early on and was pretty let down by that.

Island Mystery Series #2
I did not read the first one. It can be read without knowledge of the first book.

 I was pulled in from the first page. The investigation is complex due to everyone being tight-lipped. Lena is also, dealing with some personal issues. There's plenty of twists in this gripping read. The whole police procedural part of the book is captivating, and it’s not a book you want to put down. It, unfortunately, all leads to quite an anticlimactic ending, making the reader feel like he spent time working to solve the puzzle for nothing. Not that it isn’t realistic, in a police investigation sense, but really doesn’t always make for good crime book endings.

I may go back and read the first one now

This is the second book in this series and it was an enjoyable, but predictable read.  Since there are only three books in this series, I will read the last one to see how the series ends.

This story takes place on The Wadden Islands in Northern Friesland (Germany) and is excellently translated from German.
DI Lena Lorenzen works for the CID in Kiel and is about to start her holiday on Amrum (the island she was born and raised on) with her childhood love Erick, with whom she only recently reconnected when she receives a call from her DSU. On Fohr, the neighbouring island, a 14-year-old girl has disappeared and he wants her on the case. It’s a delicate matter as the family belongs to a very strict Mennonite church and community. It’s the sister that left the island when she was 18 that reported the girl missing, not the parents. Those behave very hostile towards the authorities. Later, the girl is found with slit wrists on the beach but it’s clear that a third party is involved.

This is a well-constructed but complex story. The characters are well developed and realistic. They have problems and doubts and don’t always agree on procedure or lines of investigation, but Lena steers a tight ship and has the last word on those things. Usually, she’s right, as well. She has her own personal problems on the islands though. There’s her father with whom she hasn’t spoken in years that wants her forgiveness. Her island boyfriend may want to move their relationship up to the next level, as long-distance relations are far from ideal, but Lena is not quite ready for this. On top of that, a former one-night-stand joins her team for the investigation and he also might want more. She can relate very well to the victim, being brought up on the secluded islands that can feel as a prison and without the religious content though.
The problems brought on by such a strict religious community are better understood by DS Johann Grasmann who was raised in a similar strict catholic village. He connects a bit too well to the victim’s sister but is honest enough to admit this when Lena confronts him about it. He’s happy that he can work again with her and is a good, clever policeman and a skilled researcher. His hunches may not always be right but he usually knows when someone isn’t telling the whole truth.
I didn’t know that there are still Mennonites living in Germany, but it shouldn’t surprise me as Switzerland and Germany are the places where they originated. I think that their community is fairly depicted. Showing both the positive sides of community sense and family values as well as the difficulties of growing up in those circumstances, the anti-society/authority sentiment, arranged marriages at too young ages, distrust of outsiders and all-over secrecy.
All the elements are presented as they occur and you’re never certain if a person is only a witness or a suspect after all. The smells of sea and salt on the islands are mentioned on several occasions, as are the culinary delights but I miss the visual descriptions of both nature and village. But of course, it’s not a tourist guide or documentary. I certainly want to read more books from this writer and it’s a shame that they haven’t been translated into Dutch (to my knowledge) as the other half of the Wadden Sea belongs to The Netherlands. Not that they’re not good enough to merit a translation on quality alone.
I thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for their free ARC; this is my honest and unbiased review of it.

This is a really good and interesting read. The setting was atmospheric and I thought that the storyline was really good and believable. I read the first book in this series and enjoyed it as well. I hope there are more books to come.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Death on the Beach by Anna Johannsen is the second in the series of police procedurals, which take place in islands off the coast of Germany. The detective in charge is Lena Lorenzen who arrives as a consultant in the case of a missing girl and quickly becomes the head of a team searching for a murderer. It's a difficult investigation primarily because the girl's parents won't cooperate: they are members of a small, conservative church community who eschews cell phones and normal teenager things. The girl, Maria, was fourteen years old and already her parents were on the verge of arranging a marriage for her. Her best friend, Lisa, has her own secrets, as does her drama teacher and friend. Other islanders are reluctant to talk and reveal the thinly disguised prejudice against these people, making it nearly impossible to make headway. Maria has an older sister who has escaped the community but her own life had kept her from her sister of late and so she could be of little assistance. Lena's own situation with her boyfriend, Erck, on another island close by, makes concentrating all the more difficult. 

This was an excellent novel, all the better because of the fine job of translating by Josef van der Voort. Too often translating ruins the book. It did not. Lena is a complex character, as are most people by their early thirties. She loves her career, despite it being a bit odd for a young woman. She misses her mother, who has been dead for years and she hates her father, with whom she has lost touch. She has recently rekindled a romance that had been dead since her teen years, but she is not sure that is what she wants, either. She loves the puzzle she has to figure out. He colleagues respect her and for the most part, cooperate with her. She has "friends" in to backup offices used by her department: forensics, the morgue, a computer expert, all of whom make her job doable. It was an excellent example of the genre. I enjoyed reading this book and hope to read more. I recommend it. 

I received a free copy of Death on the Beach from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own.  #netgalley  #deathonthebeach

Death in remote Northern Freisland!

A solid, enjoyable, Scandi noir read! Detective Lena Lorenzen is called out to the suicide of a fourteen-year-old girl on the small island of Föhrn part of the North Frisian islands. An area Lena is very aware of, an island she grew up on and left long ago.
It's the beginning of her leave. Six days she was going to spend with Erck. A relationship that's only be rekindled for a few weeks after a fourteen year break. A call from her boss Detective Superintendent Warnke puts paid to that. Warnke has asked for a favor. The girl was a member of a strictly devout free church that the rest of community views as a cult and has little time for.
On the surface Maria Logener death is a suicide. Something bothers Lena about it and she has a forensic team flown over with autopsy findings fast tracked. That suicide is a murder.
Meanwhile on the personal level Lena is having trouble with committing long term to Erck. And then when additional members are added to the investigation from the mainland, a former officer Lena met at a conference and had a one night stand with, turns up as part of the team. Complications indeed!
A death has occurred. The religious group Maria was part of is unhelpfully set against any outsiders, the rest of the island community are starting to feel their reservations about the group are justified and things could go very badly very quickly.
Apart from the ugly circumstances around Maria's death, also exposed are the community's prejudices, bullying, and less than stellar police work.

An Amazon UK ARC via NetGalley

Review of Death on the Beach

Firstly, I would like to thank Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

It is the second book featuring Inspector Lena Lorenzen, and it was a stand alone story, so not having read the first one did not detract from the enjoyment of the book. I would perhaps have learnt more about the main character if I had read the first one. I didn’t find her romance with Erck very exciting – I thought he was a bit boring – so wasn’t surprised when she was tempted by a colleague!

It follows police procedures in the investigation of the death of an 14 year old girl on an island off the coast of Germany. It was subsequently established that she had been murdered.  I read it in two sittings as I found it quite gripping, and I wanted to find out whodunnit!  My only gripe, if you could call  it that, was that the culprit turned out to be a character who was introduced into the book quite late, but as soon as he’s mentioned, I felt you knew it was going to be him. I prefer the culprit to be someone who has been there all along, and there is a “eureka” moment when they are exposed! 

I would certainly read further books written by this author, and featuring the same characters.

DI Lena Lorenzen is on holiday with her boyfriend on the North Frisian island of Amrum when her boss calls. DS Warnke requests her help to look for a missing teenage girl. Maria Logener seems to have disappeared from a nearby island and Warnke’s wife is acquainted with her parents. The case is sensitive because the Logener family are members of a very conservative church which many consider to be a cult. Nobody on the small island of Föhr, especially Maria’s parents, are cooperative in the investigation and Lena runs into one obstacle after another. However, she sees herself in the fourteen-year-old and won’t give up until she gets to the truth about what really happened to Maria. 

This book is the second in a series, but I didn’t read the first one. I feel I missed out on some of Lena’s background, but was still able to enjoy the book. Lena is a complicated character. She is a caring and excellent detective, but sometimes makes questionable choices in her personal life. I don’t always like Lena, but I do respect her intelligence and her strength. I wasn’t familiar with the setting of the book, the Northern Frisian Islands, but I enjoyed learning about this area of the world. 

The mystery of what happened to Maria is suspenseful and the procedural elements of the book are very well done. Even when I didn’t understand some of the things Lena did in her personal life, I loved the way she handled the investigation and all the complications which arose. The investigation goes in circles for a little bit since so many of the local residents didn’t want to tell the police the truth. When everything finally comes out, it was a bit of a letdown considering the build-up throughout the book. However, I enjoyed the characters and the unique setting, and I would love to read additional books in this series. 

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of Thomas and Mercer. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book which is the second is the series.  It is mainly  set in the Frisian Islands.  Detective Inspector, Lena Lorenzen is part of the Kiel CiD in Schleswig-Holstein.  Lena goes to spend a few days with her boyfriend on the island of Fohr.  Her break is interrupted by news of the disappearance of a schoolgirl, Maria.  Lena  starts to investigate.  Maria’s body turns up on a beach a couple of days later.  At first it appears to be suicide but Lena is not convinced.  Maria and her parents belong to a religious cult connected to the Mennonites.  There are many suspects.  Can Lena find out what happened?

I knew nothing about this part of the world and found all the descriptions of  Fohr and Amrum islands so interesting..  I would now like to visit them.  The author has excellent characterisation skills.  I felt I knew everyone.  I kept suspecting so many people but I was  wrong.   It was a roller-coaster ride.  I shall now buy book 1.  I am grateful to Net Galley for introducing me to this author and this part of the world.

Review 

Death on the Beach by Anna Johannsen

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟💫

I’m a bit of an armchair sleuth.  I love a good mystery or police procedural show.  Much to my husband’s dismay, I often holler out who I am certain the culprit is when we are only 20% of the way through the program.  If you’re a fellow Nancy Drew, this book was a fun read.  

It follows the murder of Maria, a young girl from a deeply religious family.  Detective Lina investigates the days and weeks before Maria’s death, but is faced with a lot of stonewalling from Maria’s community.  They are used to judgment and aren’t particularly receptive to outsiders.  As Detective Lina is making her rounds through the community, I felt for both her and the community at large.   People often judge that which is different from what they know, and I hurt for the community that they felt scrutinized by virtue of their faith.   

As any fellow detective (that’s me, not Lina) knows, the first 48 hours are critical.  I stayed up until 11 PM last night (this is huge), trying to track down the killer.  My palms were sweating, my pulse was racing and I’m sure my face was flushed (could also be related to the wine).   

The reason, I didn’t make this a 4 🌟, is simply that I felt the end was rushed.  The body of the book was excellent but I felt like when it came to exposing the killer, the author was ready to hang up her hat.  I needed a bit more at the end.  That taaaa-daaaa moment you remember about the book weeks later.  

Either way, I will definitely give this author another read.  It seems this is a series and this particular novel was published today!!!  Thank you to #netgalley and #amazinpublishingUK for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from Amazon Publishing UK, through Netgalley, for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Set in the island of Fohr, Germany, this is part of the DI Lena Lorenzen series. A devoutly religious family is missing their young daughter but have not reported her missing. Their estranged eldest daughter hasn't heard from her sister in days. When a body is discovered on a local beach, this tight knit and closed off community features a host of suspects. I felt it best for the reader to read series in order as I missed some background details. Also it needs the scene for next book. Relationships are deeply plumbed, both familial and romantic. Good and fast read from an author and setting new to me.

Title: Death on the Beach
Author: Anna Johannsen
Publisher: Amazon Publishing UK
ISBN: 9781542018975 
Edition: E-Book
Publication date: 15/05/2020

Content:
Maria, an only fourteen-year-old girl, suddenly disappears on the small Island Föhr. Detective Lena Lorenzen, who is nearby is called in for the investigation. Eventhough the bodie of the girl is found with vicious wounds on the wrist, Lorenzen immediatelly thinks that I can't be suicide and Maria must have been murdered.
None of the local residents, even the girl's parents, want to cooperate with the Detective. The cult, devoutly religious islanders, are definitly hiding something, but what could it be? Has it something to do with the murder?

Opinion:
In my opinion the book was at the beginning and in the end really thrilling. I was totally in this book and I felt for the Detective. In the middle it was a little boring, but the thrill got back after a while. The protagonists were described more than well and the story itself gave me goose bumps. I felt so sorry for this little girl that I nearly cried. At the same time I got very angry about her parents, especially her father for blocking off the Detective and holding back information that was important for the investigation. 

Conclusion:
All in all, I really liked the book, although the story was pretty tough and sad. I would definitely recomment it to every thriller fan.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Island Mystery Series #2

DI Lena Lorenzen is investigating the disappearance of fourteen year old Maria who lived on the remote island, Fohr. Maria's parents are part of a religious sect. The girls body is soon found and it ,looks like she's been murdered. Lena and her partner DS Johann Grassman are shocked by the lack of cooperation from the religious cult, including the girls parents.

Thenstory is narrated by Lena. I was pulled in from the first page. The investigation is complex due to everyone being tight lipped. Lena is also,dealing with some personal issues. Theres plenty of twists in this gripping read. I did feel a little disappointed with the ending.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and the author Anna Johannsen for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really good book! Although this is book 2 of the series and I have not read it  i was able to follow this book but I do feel that reading book 1 would probably get some insight into her relationship. This is a detective book and the storyline was awesome. There were parts in this book that were slow and boring though. There were no big surprises or wow moments in this book which I did not like all that much. This book also had a love story in it also along with the mystery aspect of it. I felt like the book rushed through the announcement of the murderer. I also felt like the ending was rushed.  However, the majority of the book was great and I did really enjoy it. I look forward to reading the next book.

Death on the Beach was a very intriguing story about murder, mystery and a possible suicide.  This is the second book in the series but I really feel you can read this as a stand alone.
The lead character is Detective Lena Lorenzen.  She has a boyfriend that she can’t make up her mind about....her indecisiveness started to get a bit tiring to read about.  Overall, I really enjoyed the story plot and writing style.  I very much look forward to reading the next book in this series.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and give my honest review about this book.

This is the second book I have read in the series and I have loved both of them. The characters are realistic and you feel empathy for them. When they go visit a family in this book I felt like I was there with them.
A girl goes missing and her very religious family don't know where she has went without letting them know. They soon find out she is dead on the beach.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my review.  Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Death on the Beach is book 2 in Anna Johannsen's Island Murder series.  I hadn't read book 1 in the series, but feel that the story continues well enough that you can read this as a stand alone book.  There were some references to a previous case and previous relationships, probably discussed in the first book, but the book could stand alone.

Lena Lorenzen is a detective in the German police and just starting her vacation time when called in to help search for a  14 year old missing girl, Maria, on the small island of Föhr.  Lena experiences some resistance from the local police force, , but begins organizing searches and conducting interviews.  The missing girl is a child of a family in the Brethren religious organization, similar to the Mennonites in the USA, and her father doesn't seem concerned that his daughter is missing.  When a body is found on the beach, Maria's mother works behind her husband's back to talk to Lena and work with the police force.  While the first impression is that of a suicide, Lena has a feeling there is more to the story, and won't stop until she's got the whole picture.  

I could tell this was part of a series; character descriptions and relationships just seem to be more defined and detailed in a series.  That slowed me down a bit on this book.  And this book is translated from German to English, but as with many books translated out of their native language, some of the word usages and phrasing is a bit awkward, and the story just doesn't flow for me as much.  But overall, this was a good police procedural book, exploring a bit of different cultures, and it was good to see a book in Germany not set in Berlin!  I haven't read others by this author, but I have put book in in this series, The Body on the Beach, on my to be read list.

3 Stars.

This was an entertaining read, but there's nothing exceptional or exciting that stood out here.

A 14 year old girl is found dead on the beach, she's a member of a highly devout religious sect. The police procedural part was what is to be expected. Lena Lorenzen is in charge of the investigation, pulled away from her vacation with her long lost childhood sweetheart. Again, the story was good, but nothing heart pounding that stood out.

I look forward to checking out the next book in the series.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK, and Anna Johannsen for providing me with an ARC.

A slow burn mystery set in the German islands. There is a cult/religious angle that is interesting but  was lacking in details. I also felt that the book could have focused on the investigation and not the detectives personal life..