This story kicks off with her having a run-in with a rude man on the street, only to find herself an unwitting Youtube sensation when it is caught on film. She decides to take a secluded vacation on the island of Smorregard, while she runs out her forced leave based on the altercation, and wouldn't you know, a murder occurs. To compound matters further, it seems this island has a bit of a reputation when it comes to ghosts, specifically "the girl in the blue coat," a child ghost who has been seen haunting the dock for decades.
The story of the specter stems from a group of children who lived in the orphanage on the north side of the island after WWII. Most of the children were adopted after the war following a tragic storm that took the lives of the parents returning to the island to claim their children. The only child to not be adopted post-WWII was Maija Ruusunen, a young girl who was often seen standing on the dock in her thin blue coat at 2AM and who was considered to be "weird" and mentally unstable. One night she disappeared, never to be seen again, and hence the story of the girl in the blue coat began.
These days, the orphanage has been abandoned and on the south side of the island is a charming vacation spot run by Astrid and her middle-aged son, Ake. A beautiful villa serves as a bed and breakfast, while one half of the converted barn is where Jessica has opted to stay, with a Swedish couple staying in the other half. The island is starkly beautiful, but cold and remote - the perfect getaway for a detective trying to escape her personal life.
Unfortunately, Ake is a bit of a crime buff and he recognizes the high-profile detective, assuming she must be there to write a novel. Jessica doesn't bother to correct him, but hopes she can have some peace. Other guests include a group of elderly people who converge on the island annually for a reunion of sorts and they arrive the day after Jessica does. The "birds of spring," as they are called, are the last remaining WWII orphans who once lived on the island, including a confrontational woman named Elisabeth, a nondescript woman named Eila, and a quiet man with a cane named Armas.
When one of the guests is found the next day, drowned by the docks, it is first ruled accidental, but then the local police officer investigating starts to suspect homicide. Detective Johan Karlsson at first appears very aggressive towards Jessica, but before long, the pair are working together to solve the mystery. Jessica discovers that there were two murders previously on the island, back in the 1980's, the details and method strikingly similar to this new murder. One of the guests swears to Jessica they saw the girl in the blue coat on the lawn the night of the murder, but perhaps the ghost story is just getting to the other guests? Before long, Jessica discovers that no one is who she thought they were and if she has any hope of preventing another murder, she'll have to think fast on her feet or she may find herself falling victim to the killer as well.
The story flips between the present with what is going on in Jessica's life both personally and on the island, and the 1940's when the birds of spring were living at the Smorregard Children's Home. An intricate prank based off of one child snooping into the private letters of another ends up having ramifications for decades. Further, several of the inhabitants of the island had wicked secrets back then and some of those secrets continue to fester into the present. While Smorregard may seem like an idyllic getaway, nothing is as it appears.
Ghost Island is an interesting mystery and a quick read. I felt a bit adrift as far as Jessica's personal life goes between her quarrels with her boss, Hellu, and her confusing relationship with her friend and partner Yusuf, whom she may or may not want date. But I get the feeling Jessica is just as confused by her life as I am, except she knows who the players are. I enjoyed her character and it'll be interesting to see where she goes from here, since she discovered some rather startling information about herself on this sojourn. There were a few spots where some characters had to make some pretty big logical leaps, but it never hampered my enjoyment of the mystery and the tale in general. If you like a moody Nordic mystery, give Ghost Island a whirl.
