The Girl without Skin (Matthew Cave Thriller Book 1)

The Girl Without Skin begins with what seems to be an important historical find, a Norse mummy in a crevasse. A police officer left to guard the body is murdered, his body flensed and eviscerated with an ulu, as though the murderer was skinning a seal. When journalist Matthew Cave begins to invesigate the murder, he is told about a series of four murders back in the 1970s that were uncannily similar–four men all flensed and eviscerated.

Matthew is given a notebook kept by Jacob, the man who investigated the murders in the Seventies. He is captivated by the man’s writing, poetic and emotionally rich descriptions of the land, and intrigued by the case.The forty-year-old mystery is centered on the abuse of young Greenlander girls. Their fathers are murdered, but Jacob comes to suspect there is a connection to Greenland’s most powerful leaders. Matthew soon learns they are involved again as he is threatened directly.

The police are certain a recently released woman named Tupaarnaq is involved in the new murders. She was convicted of killing her mother, sisters, and father and has the kind of powerful self-possession of Lisbeth Salander. Matthew is fascinated, awed, and certain she is innocent. They work together to solve the case.

Mads Peder Nordbo creates a vivid environment, cold, damp, and fog-bound. He makes the environment an integral component of the story. Even the murders grow out of the customs of Greenland. The flaying of the murder victims with an ulu is a skill many learned when hunting seals. The sense of place is strong enough to bring me back to read the rest of the series when it is available even though I have some serious criticims of the book.

There are too many plots in The Girl Without Skin. There are the four murders in the Seventies, the disappearance of investigator Jakob, the sexual abuse of young girls, medical experiments, government corruption, the murder of Tupaarnaq’s family, the current murders, and the disappearance of the corpse in the crevasse.

While I recognize that many of the Danes are portrayed as corrupt, this book suffers from the “white savior” syndrome. The Inuit portrayed are consistently as complicit in the crimes and Matthew and Jakob, the white saviors seeking justice. If Tupaarnaq were centered as the hero, the story would be more interesting, but instead she is exoticised by Matthew. The Danish/Greenlander relationship is fraught with the same biases of all colonial relationships and they permeate the book.

I received an e-galley of The Girl Without Skin from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Girl Without Skin at Text Publishing Company
Mads Peder Nordbo author site

A mystery thriller set in Greenland. A mummified corpse thought to be Viking is discovered in the ice near the town of Nuuk. Journalist Matthew Cave is sent to investigate and report on the find.

I generally enjoy the Nordic mystery/thriller genre but this didn't always gel. There are a lot of twists and turns with this story and one in particular I found to be totally unbelievable and just jarred. This is a gritty mystery with some dark themes at play, incest being one of them.

There were some shades of Lisbeth Salander in Tupaarnaq, the female lead but I thought she was a well written character, strong but at the same time vulnerable.

I really enjoyed the setting of Greenland and some insight into the Inuit culture, particularly the Inuit women.

Could see that the author was setting up for a series with character development but the ending to this first book felt rushed and the resolution to the mystery felt hasty.

This book have me the impression i was going to read about a fossilized Viking several years old, which was an exciting concept and full of lovely potential because i am fascinated with The Vikings! (Oh yes, I binge watch the show on Prime😊). So when the book started out in the arctics in the Greenlands with the "perfectly preserved Viking" found, I couldn't be more excited! But as with all great mystery thrillers the book took on a totally unexpected turn. You see, this fossil was gutted like a seal,and then the officer assigned to guard it overnight was found gutted in the same manner and then several more bodies turn up gutted the exact same way. This , of course, less to lots of detective work in a search for a killer. Not to mention a journalist named Matthew who is the main protagonist is leading his own investigation and makes an unlikely ally with a young lady named Tuparnaq, who has recently been released from prison where she spent 12 years at the young age of 15 for murdering her family and killing her father in the same manner. She is the police forces number one suspect in the rash of new killings. One clue, one lead at a time,eventually concludes with solving this extremely well written mystery thriller that you definitely will not see coming!
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK! It was a very interesting, fast paced book. The characters of Matthew and Tarpanaq were we written and likeable.

Thanks to Feel weird and the publisher for ARC of this good read!

Absolutely loved this book. Loved the characters, the setting (Greenland), the storyline. Loved it so much, I'm immediately reading the next book, Cold Fear.

Marvelous writer. Extremely talented.

The novel is a solid thriller set in Greenland and with two timelines. A journalist gets involved in a mystery that has its roots 40 years earlier. To me it was a decent read although I would like to warn future readers that there are some rather graphic descriptions and the child abuse in the centre of the story which is quite a sensitive issue.
*Many thanks to Mads Peder Nordbo, Text Publishing and Netgalley for ARC in exchange for my honest review.*

With plenty of gory content, this book is great for readers who love crime and mystery. The brutal murders had just enough detail to make you really cringe. Admittedly, I do not know much about Greenland or Nordic culture but I was able to learn a little bit from this book. Especially in regards to hunting and flaying.

Each character was well thought out and easy to remember. The number of links between each character were pretty wild. The author did a great job keeping tabs on them though so that you did not get muddled. I know that I would have had to literally draw out a graph to keep track. As for the pacing, it was great! There was just enough action to keep you reading but not so much that you found yourself getting lost in it.

I think the only flaw I came across was there were a few words that were used a little too often. "Groin" is one of them that really stuck out to me. There was some repetition (descriptions, phrases, and thoughts) that seemed unnecessary as well. However, overall I did find myself really swept up in the mystery and eager to find out what truly happened.

I have a bit of an obsession with all things Scandinavia/Nordic countries, so when I saw that this book was by a Danish author AND took place in Greenland, I jumped at the chance to read it. This book has all of the necessary components of a good thriller - a remote setting, psychologically damaged protaganists, skeezy politicians, and some rather graphic gore. I think that's what made it just a 3-star book for me (really 3.5). The setting is really the only part of the story that feels new and original. Is it suspenseful? Yes. Is it a good thriller? Yes. Does it have lots of twists and turns? Yes. Is it something completely different? No. If you want to read a good thriller in a unique setting, I highly recommend this. Just don't expect to be blown away by originality.

I didn't know what to expect from this story, but I was pulled in to the storyline immediately. Matthew Cave in sent to Greenland to report on the mummified man found there. Believed to be a Viking, this story could give his career a real boost! Unfortunately, the policeman left to protect the body overnight is found murdered, with his skin removed and split open from top to bottom. This is only the beginning! This crime is very similar to crimes from the 1970's, when four men were found in the same condition. When Matthey is given a diary of a policeman from that time period, he is drawn even deeper into the mystery of what is actually going on and is in danger himself. Very realistic, and some grim death scenes, but I could not put it down!

The Girl Without Skin is the first book in the Matthew Cave series.
He is a journalist working on Greenland, in a town called Nuuk. When a mummified corpse in found on the ice sheet, he is sent to report the finding. But when the corpse disappears and the police officer who guarded it is found brutally murdered things start to turn bad real quick. More dead bodies turn up. As Matt delves deeper and deeper into these murders he finds out about other murders that happened in the 1970s. Those cases and the present ones are connected. But how? Why? Is the perpetrator the same?

I’ve read my fair share of scandinavian crime novels but it seems they can always surprise me with something new. The complexity of the story is astonishing. I coudn’t stop reading it because it truly is captivating.

The main character, Matthew Cave has a troubled past and that determines his way of thinking, the reasons of his decisions. He is a smart, determined and very emotional person, I felt connected to him instantly.
The other main character Tuuparnaq is his complete opposite. She is a loner, very rude. She also has a troubled past, they have that in common. I think that is the reason they work.

Thank you to NetGalley, Text Publishing and Mads Peder Nordbo for my copy. All opinions are my own.

This is a very good Nordic mystery, but not for the faint of heart! A complicated tale of gory killings and child abuse. Takes place in Greenland and is very cold, dark, and atmospheric. Well written characters and also some interesting knowledge of Inuit culture.