Translated by Quentin Bates.
Published 5th March 2026 by Corylus Books.
From the cover of the book:
Sometimes murder runs in the family. Or does it?
When a well-known artist is found in Snorri's Pool with an axe buried deep in his chest, Stella Blómkvist is immediately thrown in at the deep end, brought in to defend the apparently harmless young man the police have in their sights as the killer.
The man's mother had spent time prison, convicted of the killing of a personal trainer, despite her protestations of innocence. Stella can't help being drawn into both the cold case and this fresh murder, with a trail of guilt that stretches half-way around the world.
As if she doesn't have enough to keep her busy, Stella's pursuing a political high-flyer suspected of being a serial rapist, and defending a senior police officer on corruption charges that have all the hallmarks of a vendetta. But the toughest challenges Stella faces are among her own loved ones…
With a razor-sharp tongue and a moral compass all of her own, Stella Blómkvist has a talent for attracting trouble. Her trademark explosive mix of murder, intrigue and surprise has made this of Iceland's best-loved crime series.
***********
With a lot on her mind, controversial Icelandic lawyer Stella Blómkvist goes for a night-time stroll, only to come across the body of a well-known artist in Snorri's Pool. It is immediately obvious that the man is dead, given the axe buried deep in his chest.
Already in the process of helping a woman prove her innocence over a conviction that had her imprisoned for the murder of her personal trainer lover years before, Stella now finds herself also defending the woman's young son - who the police believe is guilty of the brutal crime after acting as a model for the artist.
Meanwhile, Stella is also trying to bring down a powerful political advisor whose reign as a serial rapist has been allowed to continuing unchallenged, and defending a senior policeman from serious charges of bribery and collusion with the Icelandic criminal fraternity.
It is business as usual for Stella Blómkvist...
Stella Blómkvist, the ball-busting legal creation of the mysterious best-selling author of the same name, is back with her fourth gripping adventure, translated into English by Quentin Bates. And this time she has more on her drama-laden plate than ever.
Stella's new-found happiness with her wife, Rannveig, is clouded with worries, but the pressure of work is not about to let up for an instant. Stella finds herself in the midst of several tricky investigations at the same time, all of which have links with secrets and lies from the past - some of which touch Stella's own fiery encounters with very bad criminal types and the upper echelons of political and business circles.
The separate threads of murder, sexual misconduct, corruption, and revenge become increasingly tangled together, and Stella is off ruffling feathers; using her contacts to ferret out dirt; dropping hints into all the right ears; flying about in her silver merc; and using her forthright attitude to her advantage. The action comes thick and fast, punctuated by tense courtroom scenes, and there are many exciting twists and turns on the the way to hidden truths on several fronts.
Without a doubt, this is Stella's most complicated story to date. With so many parallel cases there is a lot to keep track of, particularly when it comes to remembering who's who in the rogues gallery. However, a Stella Blómkvist story is always a gritty fun-ride, with bags of suspense, and this is no exception. Stella's uncompromising attitude keeps you entertained throughout, and drives the plot onwards to satisfying conclusions (and intriguing moral dilemmas). I really enjoyed how many faces from the previous books made appearances, and Blómkvist makes excellent use of the echoing themes of dysfunctional families, ambition, sexual abuse, vendettas, and double-dealing.
A one-sitting read - superbly translated by Quentin Bates, as always. I am already looking forward to book five!
The Murder Pool is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.
Thank you to Corylus Books for sending me an ecopy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Ewa Sherman for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
With a devoted following in Iceland where the Stella Blómkvist books have been a bestselling series since their appearance in the 1990s, the books have been published under a pseudonym – and the author’s identity remains a firmly under wraps.
Who is behind Nordic Noir’s best-kept secret is a question that crops up regularly, but it looks like it’s going to remain a mystery...
About the translator:
Quentin Bates escaped English suburbia as a teenager, jumping at the chance of a gap year working in Iceland. For a variety of reasons, the gap year stretched to become a gap decade, during which time he went native in the north of Iceland, acquiring a new language, a new profession and a family…
He is the author of a series of crime novels set in present-day Iceland – and as a translator he has worked with some of Iceland’s coolest writers, including Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Stella Blómkvist, Einar Kárason, Ragnar Jónasson, Jónína Leósdóttir, Óskar Guðmundsson and more.
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