Discover the asocial world of Shark
Aliisa Tuulikki Ykspetäjä. It’s a mouthful for non-Finns, so it’s helpful everybody knows her as Shark. Thirty-two, one-handed, Finnish, emotionally deplete with a social circle of one. But don’t let that put you off. As a Detective Chief Inspector at Greater Bradford CID, she gets through her cases, her expertise in missing children and murder is second to none. Some would say she’s murder to work with.
Beefy plants his size twelves on the extensive black desk.
‘Why anyone would choose to live out in the sticks, I’ll never know.’
I cough.
‘Yes, Shark, but living out on the bare moors probably reminds you of the empty wastelands of Finland, and you’re certifiably antisocial anyway.’
He means asocial. We asocials get this all the time. We don’t bite, bark at full moons, attack people or eat them. Not often anyway.
The investigations are set in and around West Yorkshire, England, and southern Finland.
If you enjoy the psychological intrigue of Karin Fossum’s “Inspector Konrad Sejer”, the incisive detective nous of Colin Dexter’s “Inspector Morse”, or the dark, acid humour of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö’s “Martin Beck”, you’ll be at home here.
Shark - The Prequel
Aliisa Tuulikki Ykspetäjä sits before the bulk of Superintendent Chris Braithwaite, her would-be boss at Greater Bradford CID, with hopes of being selected for the position of Detective Chief Inspector. Is she able to keep her dark side under wraps while convincing the big man she’s exactly the person he needs? A case turns up, and she’s put to the test.
Shark - the detective series
Sabine
While heavy snow blankets the county of West Yorkshire, Detective Chief Inspector Aliisa Tuulikki Ykspetäjä is tasked with investigating the disappearance of Sabine, the daughter of a celebrated architect couple, Stephanie and Maximilian Moller. Is it just another routine teenage runaway, or something more? Can the asocial Shark navigate the unholy subtleties of human nature to bring Sabine home?
Meanwhile, an ugly murder unsettles the citizens of Bradford.
Silent John
In the early hours, in a guarded hospital room, a suspect is under detention with no clue to his identity, where he came from, where he was going, why he ran down a police officer, and drove his vehicle at speed into a police road block, with devastating consequences – and he’s saying nothing. Can Shark resolve the case with a new partner?
Meantime, the “Costume Killings” continue to cause alarm, with Emily assuming the mantle of “Costume Killer” expert.
Chilled Waters
Finnair flight AY1338 kisses the Helsinki-Vantaa runway, but Shark’s mind is on the past; to find her real mother. She’s come across some harrowing cases, but this might be the most harrowing case yet.
Back in the UK, suspicions are growing over Sadman, who is still missing, and unfriendly eyes are looking Shark’s way.
Meantime, the serial killings continue.
The Nightjar
It seems so simple. A woman found dead on the moors. Is it an innocent accident, or something more murderous? Nothing is ever simple in Shark’s world.
The house is creepy, the people not what they seem, and she’s investigating in what would have been out of her jurisdiction, but she’s free of boundaries and free for work.
But files from an old acquaintance outlining a distinctly familiar and ugly series of murders is luring Shark back to her homeland.
Salo
Salo is where the Samaritans go to commit suicide. Shark should know, it’s where she’s from.
She’s returned because a series of gruesome, Nail-in-the-Neck style copycat killings are beginning to appear across southern Finland.
Shark is invited to make up an unlikely alliance to investigate and stop the murders.
Unfortunately, her re-appearance in Salo opens the eyes of a certain superintendent who believes she’s behind a suspicious death during her previous visit to the city.
All Good Things
There’s no such thing as the perfect murder. That’s what they say.
The search intensifies for the missing detective, the net closing in on the killer, no resources being spared – including Shark’s. But she’s damned if she takes on the case, damned if she doesn’t. Her record is impeccable and she doesn’t want to spoil it.
And while one detective is determined her suspicions will be proved correct, the other is determined to keep out of her clutches.
It’s the end for one of them.
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