The Harbor

Danish author Katrine Engberg carries forward the characters from her previous books, The Butterfly House and The Tenant, and, although you don't have to have read them to appreciate this one, you will definitely have a different understanding of the two main characters, Copenhagen detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner. When the teenage son (Oscar) of a prominent family goes missing, Jeppe and Anette begin the hunt. The only clue is a note left on the dining room table that turns out to be a quote from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, but no ransom demand is every made. With each passing day, the chances of finding Oscar alive diminish and we are privy, in random chapters, to Oscar's own morbid ruminations in his dark and damp captivity. When Oscar's Danish teacher is murdered, Jeppe and Anette are convinced the two events are related. It turns out there is quite a convoluted history of family dishonestly and betrayal that underlies both Oscar's disappearance and the teacher's death, but I never suspected the main culprit before it was revealed in the book. 

Publishers Weekly says the supporting cast of characters is "delightfully fleshed out" and that the "plot takes some unexpected turns as the detectives unearth some shocking secrets involving fraud and pornography en route to the satisfying conclusion." The New York Times favorably says, " Her characters are complex and prone to making bad but understandable personal decisions. Her writing is crisp and efficient; the pace, while brisk, still leaves room for third-act surprises."