We were here at the beginning for the Áróra Investigates pentalogy by Lilja Sigurðardóttir and we’re here at the end. Cold as Hell saw Áróra start to search for her missing sister Ísafold, drawing together other contemporary scenes. Black as Death brings matters to a conclusion. We find out exactly what happened to Ísafold and some others, and Sigurðardóttir manages to bring in other topics, such as fraud, extortion, drug dealing, smuggling, coercion and domestic abuse. All Icelandic life is here, evidently.

Last time Sigurðardóttir wrote a series, she stuck at three instalments. I realised that I had read the first two Áróras (though had reviewed only the first) but missed three and four. But rather than catch up, I thought I would read the final episode and try to see how it stood up in its own terms.

My feeling is that the tone of Black as Death is quite different to the previous novels, and that figures. It made perfect sense in Cold as Hell to explore isolation and a lack of belonging. But now people have had the chance to settle down. We – and they – need something different, and indeed there are relationships and domesticity, and not only to contrast against the bad kind that we still see all the way through the novel.

Although the subject matter is bleak and the ending not easy to stomach, Sigurðardóttir provides a masterclass in storytelling. It’s all so understated and yet everything is there. You’re barrelling along, blindsided by the chapters racing past (there are 82) and the changes in perspective. You are furious with all of them yet sympathetic to some. You are given a surprising amount of detail on how to undertake money laundering and less surprising detail on how there’s no honour among thieves. You enjoy Lorenza Garcia’s brisk translation. And you get to the end, and think for a moment that Sigurðardóttir has given you thrills but perhaps not spoken up for the voiceless. And then you remember the heart of this novel and its characters.

Heart is literally but more importantly figuratively what this novel is about. Some characters have it. Some think they have. Some lose their way because of bad actors. And some people are just cowards. Sigurðardóttir asks us to find our courage, for ourselves and those around us. That’s the way to end a pentalogy.

Thanks to Orenda Books for the review copy and to Anne Cater for the blog tour invitation.