The Martha Krogh Series
Stavanger, Norway. The raw, untamed landscapes stand in stark contrast to ocean spritzes and the noveue riche. It is here, in this region that is a brooding, ever-present force in itself, that Martha Krogh works as a police officer.
Martha is young and fiercely determined. She has spent her career chasing the legacy of her late father, a highly acclaimed officer in the Stavanger police force. Every case she takes on is a step toward making him proud, but his sudden, gut-wrenching suicide still lingers over her. To quiet the storm in her mind, she occasionally turns to alcohol and fleeting encounters – a temporary escape from a grief that never truly fades.
Meanwhile, in the quiet town of Eikhaug, Erik Gjerde serves as a police officer. Erik has chosen his own path, far from the life his parents envisioned for him on their family farm. Despite his confident exterior, he carries a deep burden – an unrelenting worry for his troubled brother Håkon. Their relationship has been fractured for years, as Håkon has drifted in and out of rehab, never managing to break free from his self-destruction. Erik is constantly torn between duty and family, a tension that reaches a breaking point at the end of the first book when an old flame reappears, revealing that she is pregnant with his child.
Martha feels drawn to Erik, finding solace in his warm and comforting demeanor which dampens her own turmoil. However, by the second book, Martha pulls away from those around her as she becomes ensnared in a dangerous addiction to Tramadol – a dependency that draws her into the orbit of the notorious MC gang Jæren Syndicate. Headstrong and unyielding, she refuses to play by the rules, often pushing too far and finding herself in trouble. Eventually, her morally grey choices land her at a point of no return.
When Martha finds new evidence regarding her father’s death, it is impossible to deny corruption within the precinct. Martha becomes further isolated, feeling as though she stands alone in the eye of a raging storm. Was her father’s death really a suicide? And who can she really trust when it seems everyone is hiding something?
Kaja Nygaard’s debut novel A Darker Water was instantly hailed as a suspense novel of highest class and secured Nygaard the Maurits Hansen Debut Prize. With unflinching precision, Nygaard explores the tangled web of human relationships and the darkness lurking beneath, while crafting a compelling main character.
