High summer, and a resident of an island tourist hotspot is found with the back of his head beaten in.  The famous detective Asbjørn Krag is summoned, and as he attempts to solve the mystery of the murder we are taken into his confidence through the eyes of a nameless holiday-maker.  Shenanigans, naturally, ensue.  In many ways — some of which we’ll get to later — this is an archetypal GAD novel of crime and detection, but since we’re a good decade short of the form’s beginning we’re going to diverge from the expected tropes on more than a few occasions.  Think of it as a piece of atmosphere with detective story interruptions for best results.

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