The Swell Sets a Cosy Mystery in Chilly Iceland

Author Kat Gordon's novel is a better-than-average genre read that will appeal to the female demographic that is its fan base

- Ong Sor Fern

THE SWELL By Kat Gordon Mystery/Manilla Press/ Hardcover/336 pages/$34.12 ★★★★☆

The chilly landscape of Iceland might seem a counterintuitive setting for a cosy mystery. But that is, essentially, the heart of The Swell – a somewhat thin mystery padded out with atmospherics and feminist-friendly narratives that will appeal to the traditionally female-dominated fan base for cosy mysteries.

The opening paragraphs seem to promise something more than the average genre: "The night before, Gudrun had seen Hidden People fighting in the cove. Two men grappled with each other in the water, but their skin and hair stayed dry and no ripples went out from where they were."

Hidden People, or huldufolk, are a mythical race in Icelandic folklore and, as this chapter unfolds, there is a charming matter-of-factness to how Gudrun, her younger sister Freyja and their father accept the supernatural element in their environment even as they go about their mundane household chores.