Dark Island set on Orkney – Daniel Aubrey

Submitted: 16th April 2024

Dark Island – Daniel Aubrey

Dark Island set on Orkney – Daniel Aubrey. Off to the Orkney islands and a crime novel with a difference. This story is told by a neurodivergent journalist, Freya, and is a great way to learn more neurodiversity as well as how this can both help and hinder a police investigation.

Lots to love about this one. With some fantastic scene setting too, Orkney is well and truly on the literary map.

Map of locations in Dark Island

Dark Island set on Orkney - Daniel Aubrey

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : Orkney Islands

Author guide: Daniel Aubrey

Genre: crime fiction

Food and drink to accompany: Something warm!

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A novel to transport you to Orkney

Map of locations in Dark Island

A police procedural with a difference – Freya is neurodivergent and has had a tricky time working for The Herald newspaper on the Scottish mainland. She needs a new start and so is back on the island with husband Tom and dog Luna. (The dog is so cute!)

She’s only been there five minutes when two bodies turn up. The victims are identified as two teenagers who went missing more than 17 years previously. Freya starts working on the case, shadowing more senior reporter Gill. This is when the interesting snippets about her neurodiversity start to show and it’s fascinating to read about. Freya sees things in different ways to other people. She spots things others miss and makes connections others don’t. Now, this causes a few ructions with other members of the press but Freya keeps going. She also has a source that has resurfaced with answers from the past – but can they be trusted?

The setting of Orkney has been crying out for a police procedural like this I think. One that takes the setting as a main character in itself and adds a new angle to it. A story from someone who knows the island inside out and a character who is returning so seeing an old place through new eyes. This mix of seeing old, new and unique angles is something that is fresh and exciting. It opened up my eyes to the complexity of neurodiversity and the novel really mixed it well with plot and setting.

The interesting thing about this book is that it poses more questions than it answers and so we will need a sequel. Freya is yet to fully understand her condition – what degree of neurodiversity are we talking about or is it even something else? I know that I will be standing beside her, along for the ride.