Martin Baldysz

The Silence Beneath

Sunnmøre, Autumn 1902. The body of Hedda Fosen — the daughter of a wealthy landowner — is found brutally murdered in the remote valley of Mardalen.

Johan Ryer, a newly appointed senior constable from Ålesund, is sent to investigate. His unlikely assistant? His outspoken and fiercely independent sister, Sonja.

Cradled between fjords and mountains lies a tight-lipped village where what goes unsaid weighs heavier than what’s spoken. Powerful forces clash beneath the surface — and something dark has been set loose.

We follow the unconventional investigator duo Johan and Sonja Ryer — he precise, gentle and detail-oriented; she intuitive, bold, and unimpressed by authority. A classic murder mystery in a historical setting — featuring strong characters, quiet suspense, and the peculiar unease that only a remote Norwegian fjord village can hold.

This is the gripping start to a new historical mystery series, introducing brother-and-sister sleuths Johan and Sonja Ryer.