onsdag den 2. juni 2010

Jógvan Isaksen, Korsmesse (2009)


Denne færøske krimi er den tredje i serien om Hannis Martinsson, journalist og konsulent i Torshavn. Jeg lånte den på biblioteket.

Historien begynder med et grindedrab. Alle færinger i nærheden smider, hvad de har i hænderne, og styrter ned til bugten, mens både driver hvalerne ind mod stranden.

”Grindedrabet var overstået på ti minutter. Selvom hvalflokken ikke var stor, var det alligevel gået langsomt med at drive den ind imod vigen i Sandárgerdi. Men da den først var på rette kurs, svømmede flokken uden videre op på stranden. Et stort antal grindemænd vadede ud og skar halsen over på hvalerne. Lidt efter lidt farvedes havet rødt.”

To engelske miljøaktivister, Jenny McEwan og Stewart Peters, er travlt optaget af at fotografere, men samme aften bliver de fundet myrdet og efterladt til parade sammen med de slagtede hvaler.

Miljøaktivister og dyreværnsorganisationer kaster sig ud i kampen for at forbyde grindedrab på Færøerne, og før bølgerne har lagt sig, bliver Hannis Martinsson hyret af et britisk medlem af organisationen Guardians of the Sea til at opklare mordet på de to. Den filosofiske, ensomme ulv kaster sig ud i sagen, og selvfølgelig klarer han sig bedre end det lokale politi.

Udmærket krimi om kultursammenstødet mellem dyreaktivister og lokale færinger, som kæmper for at overleve i det lille øsamfund, og man mærker, at forfatteren kender sit miljø indefra, men også er i stand til at se det udefra.

Jógvan Isaksen, Cross Mass.
This Faroese crime novel (a library book) has not been translated into English. It is the third in the series about Hannis Martinsson, journalist and consultant in Torshavn, the capital of the islands.

The story begins with a ´grindadráp´ (pilot whale killing). All Faroese drop what they have in their hands and run down to the bay while boats drive the whales ashore.

“The pilot whale killing was over in ten minutes. Even though the school of whales wasn´t large, it had taken a long time to drive them towards the bay in Sandárgerdi. But when it was on the right course, the school swam up on the beach without further ado. A large number of whalers waded out to cut the throats of the whales. Little by little the sea was coloured red.”

Two English environmentalists, Jenny McEwan and Stewart Peters, are busy photographing the scene, but later the same evening they are found murdered, left on parade together with the slaughtered whales.

Environmentalists and animals rights groups engage in the fight to forbid pilot whale killings in the Faroe Islands, and soon Martinsson is hired by a British member of the organization Guardians of the Sea to solve the murder of the two. The philosophical lone wolf engages in the case, and of course he gets better results than the local police.

A fine crime novel about the culture clash between environmentalists and local Faroese who fight for survival in the small island community, and it is clear that the writer knows the environment from the inside but is also able to look at it from without.

3 kommentarer:

Jose Ignacio Escribano sagde ...

It sounds appealing to me the clash between environmentalist and locals.

Bernadette sagde ...

How annoying that I'm so useless with languages as I love it when my two interests - crime fiction and the environment - meet up. Oh well, maybe one day.

Dorte H sagde ...

Jose: and the writer does it so convincingly because he is local but has been away for some years.

Bernadette: I hope this one will be translated!