When a teenager goes missing, the parents call the police to investigate. But when the teenager is Oscar Dreyer-Hoff, and his parents own an auction house that had some rumors of dirty dealing, then you need the masterful Copenhagen detectives Korner and Werner on the case.
Annette Werner is back from her maternity leave and fit and ready to go. She is excited to be back at work and ready to take on this case. Jeppe Korner is almost living full-time with his girlfriend, fellow investigator Sara, and her two daughters. He’s been assigned to lead the investigation into the missing teenager, but he doesn’t yet know all the twists the case will take.
When Korner and Werner go to interview the parents for the first time, they find out that the family is a little unusual. Malin Dreyer-Hoff, Oscar’s mother, is an artist as well as working at the auction house. Oscar is 15, with an older brother and a younger sister. His father, Henrik, works a lot, trying to salvage the business after the rumors and lawsuits accusing them of impropriety. Friday night, Oscar was supposed to be out with his friend Iben, but he never showed up at her house. When they interview her, she says that she thought he’d just changed his mind. It wasn’t until he didn’t come home on Saturday that his parents realized something was wrong and called the police.
As the detectives start to investigate Oscar’s life, where he may have gone on Friday and who he may have been spending time with, they find themselves drawn into other crimes that could potentially be related. There was a letter left behind that Malin thinks is like the threats they had gotten back with all those legal problems with the auction house. A small boat belonging to the Dreyer-Hoffs goes missing. One of Oscar’s teachers shows up in an unexpected place. There are rumors of a possible sexual assault and bullying at the school Oscar and his brother go to. It seems like the more time goes by without them finding Oscar, the more potentially twisted the possibilities become. Will Korner and Werner be able to put all the pieces together in a cohesive plan? Will they find Oscar before it’s too late? Or will they put themselves in the crosshairs of a killer?
The Harbor is Katrine Engberg’s third novel with these stalwart Danish detectives, and it’s my favorite so far. These twisty procedurals stand alone or can be read in order, but either way they are fantastic. They are beautifully plotted, with realistic characters, and suspenseful crime-solving. These detectives have lives outside of their investigations, and readers get drawn into their lives and their minds, giving these main characters depth and humanity.
There is so much more that I wanted to say about the plot of this book, but these twists go deep. The copy from the publisher doesn’t give much away, so I didn’t want to either, but please understand that the missing teenager is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s going on in this story. There are so many levels of conflict and drama, so many suspects and questions, that going into more detail here would probably just confuse you. You have to sit with this lovely book, chapter by chapter, and let it all unfold slowly or you will end up feeling like you have whiplash. Instead, make yourself a hot chocolate (maybe with a drop of something more than marshmallow), and get ready for a Danish trip that you will not forget.
Egalleys for The Harbor were provided by Gallery Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
