Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen

A snowstorm. A country house. Old friends reunited.

It’s going to be murder…

Torben Helle – art historian, Danish expat and owner of several excellent Scandinavian jumpers – has been dragged to a remote Northumbrian mansion for a ten-year reunion with old university friends. But when some shocking revelations from their host, a reclusive and irritating tech entrepreneur, are followed by an apparent suicide, the group faces a test of their wits… and their trust.

Surrounded by enigmatic housekeepers and off-duty police inspectors, suspicion and sarcasm quickly turn to panic. Only by drawing upon all the tricks of Golden Age detectives past will Torben be able to solve the mystery: how much money would it take to turn one of his old friends into a murderer? But he’d better be quick, or someone else might end up dead…

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Helle and Death is a novel that I’ve been wanting to read for a while having seen some excellent reviews for it when it was first published in 2024.  With the publication of a sequel, Helle’s Hound (and I have to say, I do like the titles of these books – Helle gives so much scope for future fun) I felt it was time to get stuck in.  

The premise behind Helle and Death is an interesting one.  A group of friends reunite at a remote Northumbrian mansion for the weekend and friendships are rekindled and some old grievances re-emerge.  They awaken on the second morning, some a little worse for wear, to find their host, Anthony, is dead – an apparent suicide that upon closer look raises some questions and begins to look more like murder.  Cut off from the world by a snowstorm and with no power, the seven guests begin to look at each other in new ways, asking whether one of their number could really be guilty of murder.

Rather than sticking with a Watson-esque type character trailing after a great detective, Jensen moves between the perspectives of the different characters.  I think that this is a bold move when everyone is a suspect, but it works brilliantly, particularly as Jensen makes everyone seem a little nervous and guilty, although not necessarily for Anthony’s murder.  It soon becomes clear that Anthony was a bit of a dick, but on the night of his death, he announced to the group that they will each receive £50,000 upon his death.  It’s a simple mechanism that immediately gives everyone some motivation for the deed, keeping the reader on their toes as there’s no one that you can rule out.  

Despite jumping between different perspectives, Torben Helle stands out as the main character, and he’s one that I quickly warmed to.  As an art historian, he may not be your obvious choice for a detective, but he does have a good eye for detail.  I found him to be a warm and witty character who comes across as friendly and honest, yet with flaws that make him ultimately relatable.  And I do love the occasional Danish phrases that are dotted throughout the text, with a helpful translation at the beginning of the novel.  It’s blowing half a pelican (similar to the idiom it’s raining cats and dogs) might just be my new favourite phrase.

I really enjoyed the golden age vibes of Helle and Death, despite it being set in the present day.  The friends at the reunion have all had their phones confiscated at Anthony’s request, and as they are snowed in with no power, it was very easy to forget that this is a modern novel as any mod cons are rendered useless.  It also adds tension to the novel, particularly as the group begin to question each other, and as those who have appointed themselves investigators hold themselves apart from the others, causing some understandable friction and a “them and us” atmosphere.  And in keeping with the golden age style mystery, there is the traditional gathering of all the characters for the denouement, although Jensen has a little fun with it.

I enjoyed Helle and Death, but did have a few niggles with it, although these were mostly down to personal preference rather than being issues with the narrative as a whole.  And I will most likely read the sequel, Helle’s Hound – I think that there’s a lot of potential in the character of Torben Helle and the novel was good fun.