If you’re one of the many lovers of Scandinavian crime fiction who was sorry to hear that Strange Shores brought an end to Arnaldur Indridason’s Detective Erlendur series, this should cheer you up. For what you see in the image above is an early copy of Reykjavik Nights, a new Elrendur mystery.

Reykjavik Nights doesn’t follow on from Strange Shores, though. It’s the first of three planned books which cover Erlendur’s early years as a detective – a little like the Endeavour TV series is to Inspector Morse.

Originally published in Icelandic in 2012, this book finds Erlendur at the bottom of the heap. Yes, he’s a traffic officer and as such his nightly intake covers car accidents, robberies, street fights and drunks. When a homeless man he knows drowns, and a young woman on her way home from a nightclub disappears, the police let the cases go cold.

However, we all know how dogged a Nordic cop like Erlendur can be. He’s not yet a detective but he feels compelled to find out what happened to both these poor souls. Dark. Cold. Unnerving. Reykjavik Nights promises all these Indridason trademarks, and more. It’s released 18 September as a hardback and for Kindle.

You can read more about Detective Erlendur in our guide, here.

And here’s a quick peek inside… Watch for our review soon on Crime Fiction Lover.