The Forest Lake Mystery, Paperback

Detective Sergeant Eigil Holst is on holiday in the countryside when the body of a baby is washed up on the banks of a nearby lake. The local magistrate orders the lake to be drained and the body of a young woman is discovered, naked and weighed down with stones tied to her feet and neck. Her identity is a mystery. Holst takes it upon himself to find out where this woman came from, why she was in this remote location and who could have had motive to kill her. His investigations take him across Scandinavia and into central Europe as, gradually, he realizes that the solution to the mystery could have huge implications for his own future. First published in 1903, this is considered the very first Danish crime novel.

Palle Rosenkrantz (1867-1941) was an author, translator and lawyer who became the godfather of Danish crime with his 1903 novel, Hvad Skovs en gemte (The Forest Lake Mystery). The Palle Rosenkrantz Prize is named after him and is awarded each year to the best crime novel published in Danish. David Young started translating from Danish in 2003, assisted by his Danish wife, Lotte. Their translations include graphic novels from Greenland, The Isis Hostage by Puk Damsg rd and two collections of short stories from the period 1880-1930.