I didn't love this book- it was slow and felt like it just kind of ended without any build up. It focuses on Detective Lena Lorenzen, who is a detective called to investigate the disappearance of a 14 year old girl, Maria, on a remote island. They soon find the girl's body and Lena believes it's a murder rather than a suicide. The girl's parents are part of a religious sect and may or may not be holding secrets, causing them to not be that helpful to the investigation. Apart from the ugly circumstances around Maria's death, also exposed are the community's prejudices, bullying, and less than stellar police work. On the Beach (2023 theatre production) a play adapted by artistic director Kip Williams and playwright Tommy Murphy for the Sydney Theatre Company. [17]

Death on the Beach (An Island Mystery Book 2) Kindle Edition Death on the Beach (An Island Mystery Book 2) Kindle Edition

DI Lena Lorenzen is the lead investigator who holds it all together with her personal links to the locations and her thorough police methods. Managing and leading her team with passion, diligence and long hours of hard work. Classic Serial: On the Beach (November 2008), BBC Radio 4 broadcast a full-cast audio dramatization in two-hour-long episodes, as part of their Classic Serial strand. [16]A solid, enjoyable, Scandi noir read! Detective Lena Lorenzen is called out to the suicide of a fourteen-year-old girl on the small island of Föhrn part of the North Frisian islands. An area Lena is very aware of, an island she grew up on and left long ago. The 2000 film ends with a quote from Walt Whitman's poem "On the Beach at Night", describing how a father comforts his small daughter who is frightened as an approaching cloud bank blots out the evening stars one by one. [7] Although Whitman's poem resembles the plot of Shute's novel, the book does not reference it, as it does Eliot's poem. It is interesting to note that Lena’s own complicated private life becomes entangled in her professional investigation, which for me added to the enjoyment of the plot. Throughout it all, Lena showed her tenacious character to finally reveal who committed this heinous crime. There are several red herrings, leading to a dramatic conclusion.

On the Beach (novel) - Wikipedia On the Beach (novel) - Wikipedia

The case turns out to be a complex one with enquiries leading them in new directions and further questioning ensues. It appears that Maria Logener was not who everyone thought she was...but of course the investigation can't move forward without the victimology. Soon witnesses become persons of interest - teachers, friends, students - as the last days of Maria's life is slowly revealed. A 14 year old girl, Maria Logener, has gone missing on the island of Fohr. Her parents belong to an extreme conservative free church known as the Bretheren which is locally considered a cult by most of the islanders. Due to her local knowledge of the islands, DSU Warnke entrusts Lena with the investigation knowing that she will deal with it sensitively and avoiding any negative publicity. As it is, their working relationship has improved since the previous case and Warnke allows Lena a wide scope of resources to be hers for the asking as and when she needs them. The mystery of what happened to Maria is suspenseful and the procedural elements of the book are very well done. Even when I didn’t understand some of the things Lena did in her personal life, I loved the way she handled the investigation and all the complications which arose. The investigation goes in circles for a little bit since so many of the local residents didn’t want to tell the police the truth. When everything finally comes out, it was a bit of a letdown considering the build-up throughout the book. However, I enjoyed the characters and the unique setting, and I would love to read additional books in this series.

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The reason, I didn’t make this a 4 🌟, is simply that I felt the end was rushed. The body of the book was excellent but I felt like when it came to exposing the killer, the author was ready to hang up her hat. I needed a bit more at the end. That taaaa-daaaa moment you remember about the book weeks later. Death on the Beach is a second book by German author Anna Johannsen in her Island Mystery series featuring detective Lena Lorenzen. It has been masterfully translated into the Queen’s English by Jozef Van Der Voort, whose words flow seamlessly. Shute's initial story was published as a four-part series, The Last Days on Earth, in the London weekly periodical Sunday Graphic, in April 1957. For the novel, Shute expanded the storyline. [4] The story has been adapted twice as a film (in 1959 and 2000) and once as a BBC radio broadcast in 2008.