The pandemic has hit Iceland hard, and half the police force is in isolation.

Reykjavík detective Soffía finds herself struggling to cope with a single-handed investigation into a spate of malicious acts taking place across the city, and enlists help from an unexpected direction.

Her psychologist  ex-husband Adam has advised the police before, but with Covid raging in the city, would prefer to stay holed up in his basement flat as he deals with challenges in both his working and private life.

He grudgingly agrees to work with Soffía, as the stakes in the investigation are continually raised.

Working out who bears a grudge that goes deep enough to lead to murder, they unravel complex family ties, lingering enmities and a dark past that the victims would prefer to keep secret, while Adam encounters a young woman in a race against the clock to find the father she has never seen, but for what purpose?

Deceit is Jónína Leósdóttir’s first novel to appear in English.