Forty Days Without Shadow by Olivier Truc

Forty Days Without Shadow

Olivier Truc

Set in Sami, or Lapland as I thought of the area, this book is as much about the conflict between the indigenous reindeer herders and the Scandinavians who colonised them as it is a gripping police procedural centred on murder and serious theft. For me the book succeeded triumphantly on both levels.

Extract
The foreigners would shrug their shoulders at all this and talk about money. They said that for every reindeer lost, the herder would get money. Still, most breeders were unresponsive. And then the strangers would get annoyed. Saying the Sami didn't understand their good fortune, that they risked losing everything, and that the mines would come no matter what.
Parallels
  • The Outlanders by Gil Adamson
  • Burial Rites by Hannah Kent