Kalmann by Joachim B. Schmidt

This atmospheric crime thriller laced with humour is set in the village of Raufarhöfn in the far north of Iceland.

Kalmann Odinsson is the self-appointed Sheriff of his town. He is 34, neurodiverse and hunts Arctic foxes and catches gigantic Greenland sharks for a living. He was brought up by his grandfather who taught him how to hunt and fish and “nearly everything else a man needs to know about life”. One of his many dreams is to find a wife. But he must first extricate himself from the mess he gets into when he discovers a frozen pool of human blood in the winter snow.

When it becomes apparent that local bigwig Robert McKenzie has just gone missing, the hunt is on to find McKenzie’s body and his murderer.

About the author

Joachim B. Schmidt, born in 1981, emigrated from Switzerland to Iceland in 2007. He is the author of several novels and short stories and is also a journalist and columnist. Joachim, who is Swiss and Icelandic, lives in Reykjavik with his wife and their two children.

Review

‘Kalmann’ is an intriguing and compelling story that captivated my heart. I fell for Kalmann as a character, such a wonderfully constructed and engaging personality! I could have carried on reading about him for years. Joachim's writing is a treat - it builds such beautiful and visceral scenes and it was a joy to read this book.

Kalmann is the self appointed Sheriff of Raufarhofn - even has the hat, badge and gun to boot. He is also a hunter, both on land and on sea. He is a shark hunter and makes the second best halorf in Iceland, after his granddad. He is neurodiverse and struggles with everyday situations, especially as he now lives alone since his granddad was placed in a care home. When he comes across a huge pool of blood it triggers a hunt for a missing local but no one can locate a body. Is Kalmann responsible in some way?

This book is beautiful. Kalmann as a character was complex, heartwarming and so well written. The location was extremely developed in my conscious which is the sign of a brilliant writer. I thoroughly enjoyed the crime narrative of the story but the real beauty comes from how Kalmann interacted with other characters, his thoughts and dreams, how he coped with living alone and his wonderful relationship with his granddad. As a reader this felt like the author had done a lot of research on the topic of neurodiverse people as Kalmann came across as authentic and very credible.

Let me know if you read this one!