When a newly promoted police inspector becomes the target of a blackmailer, she struggles to clear her name. But is she fighting for justice-or revenge?

Police inspector Cecilie Mars is a different kind of cop. She has a heavy cocaine habit, fantasizes about vigilante violence, and constantly falls in love with men she shouldn’t. Late one night, while tailing a suspect, Mars makes an ill-fated choice that has far-reaching consequences. Unluckily for her, her misstep has been observed and filmed. Now, an anonymous foe is threatening to reveal the truth unless she submits to his terrifying agenda.

Inexorably, Mars is drawn into a sinister blackmail scheme that could derail her career. At the same time, she’s haunted by the feeling that the shadowy figure behind the threats is well known to her-and growing ever stronger. But who is he? And how far is she willing to go to stop him before she loses everything?

Perfect for fans of The Bridge and Netflix’s The Chestnut Man, Darkness Calls is the first book in a trilogy of hard-hitting, big-city thrillers from Scandinavian King of Crime Michael Katz Krefeld.

Darkness Calls is the first book in a new detective thriller trilogy by author Michael Katz Krefeld. Set in Copenhagen, Denmark, Newly promoted Police Inspector Cecilie Mars has been dealing with a rape case but the judicial system doesn’t seem as eager to put the guilty party away as much as she does.

When the culprit is back on the street Cecilie decides he needs watching 24/7 but doesn’t have the manpower to do it, but that changes when information comes in that he has been killed in a car crash.

Shortly after Cecilie receives an email from ‘Lazarus’ entitled ‘Lies’ in which they tell her what they witnessed and the video evidence they have. The blackmailer has made contact and Cecilie’s career is in jeopardy. Will Cecilie take kindly to being blackmailed? – Definitely not!

Darkness Calls is a dark detective thriller that should have an 18+ warning on it for its sexual content. Police Inspector Cecilie is not your average inspector, she has plenty of vices from alcohol to married men. She is fed up with the judicial system failing women and is on a one-woman mission to stop it. She’s not a particularly likeable character but she certainly cares about the women in her city and wants change for them.

The book was intriguing and fast-paced. It was a bit heavy going in places but gripping too. The blackmailer Lazarus had a god complex and at times I wondered which side they were on but I thoroughly enjoyed their voice.

Overall, a decent start to a new Scandi series that had a sinister tone the whole way through.

Michael Katz Krefeld was born in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. He’s the grandchild of crime novelist Hermann Krefeld (The Leopard’s Claw and Death Plays Solitaire).

Michael started his career directing a series of short films, before he moved on writing scripts for several tv drama-series including the Emmy awarded “Nikolaj & Juliet”

Michael debuted as a novelist with Before the storm (Før Stormen) which won the Danish Crime Academy’s first novel-award in 2007.

Since 2013, Michael has been writing on the bestselling series about the private detective Raven and his dog Murphy. The series has won numerous awards including Crime Book of the year, Mofibo award and has been published in 20 countries with more than one million copies sold alone in Denmark.

At the same time, Michael is also writing a trilogy about crime commissioner Cecilie Mars, in which Darkness Calls and Beast of the nights so far has taken the critics and readers by storm. Last volume Executioners of the Dawn is set to be released in 2023.

In his spare time Michael drives historical race cars and participates in races all over Europe.