The Owl Always Hunts At Night by Samuel Bjork – Blog Tour Review.

About the Book

When a young woman is found dead, the police are quick to respond. But what they find at the murder site is unexpected. The body is posed, the scene meticulously set. And there is almost no forensic evidence to be found.

Detective Mia Krüger is a woman on the edge – she has been signed off work pending psychological assessment. But her boss has less regard for the rules than he should. Desperate to get Mia back in the office, Holger Munch offers her an unofficial deal.

But the usually brilliant Mia is struggling and the team are unable to close the case. Until a young hacker uncovers something that forces the team to confront the scope of the murderer’s plans and face the possibility that he may already be on the hunt for a second victim.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.
I hadn’t read the previous book in the series, I’m Travelling Alone but I found I could easily read this without knowing any of the back story.
The small team of detectives are baffled by the murder of the young woman found in the countryside. Even though she is identified quickly enough they can’t work out why she was staged so elaborately or the conditions that she must have been kept in. Holger realises early in the investigation that his best option is to bring Mia back in from suspension. Even with all her problems: borderline mental health issues, heavy drinking and substance abuse she is still the best person to solve the case. There is no denying she has a talent, she can see things in an investigation that nobody else would even think of looking at. But she is a risk, and at times I wondered how she still had a career.
She isn’t the only member of the team who had problems. Broken marriages, gambling and financial issues are all highlighted. In fact the only members of the team who seemed to have no problems were the most recent recruits. It is also the newer recruits who are the most likeable. It made me think how true to life this could be. How many police officers, no matter what country they live in, have personal problems caused by their career?
It is a crime story with an almost overwhelming sense of loneliness. The only members of the team who seemed to understand each other were Holger and Mia but they still kept each other at arm’s length.
Whilst the murder scene is practically dreamlike the events that led to it is the stuff of nightmares. It is different to what I have read before, and whilst it is only a small section of the novel it had an impact. I hope that this is something that never happens in real life but I feel that it probably has. A terrifying side to the modern world.

This is a series that I would be interested in following, there is definitely a continuing storyline set around some fascinating characters.

You can purchase the book here