Matthew was lying very still on his back when his mobile rang. Tupaarnaq had gone to shower, but it was now some time since the water had stopped running.
He reached for his mobile and saw that Ottesen was calling him.
‘Yes?’
‘Hello, Matt. Are you free to talk?’
‘Yes,’ Matthew got out of bed and went to the living room, closing the door behind him.
‘It’s about Abelsen.’
‘Go on,’ Matthew said, and looked down at the street. The storm was still hurling the snow about outside.
‘He was shot an hour and a half ago.’
‘What?’ Matthew exclaimed. ‘I thought there was a guard by the door?’
‘Yes, but he was getting coffee. He was only gone a few minutes.’
‘Who shot him?’
‘We don’t know. He was killed with a single shot to the head, and the window lock had also been shot to pieces.’
‘What about Tom?’
‘He’s fine, but we’re posting two men outside his ward now.’
‘Okay…Thank you.’
Matthew hung up and raked a hand through his hair while he peered through the balcony door and down at the big glass jar filled with cigarette butts. He clenched his fists. His mobile lit up in his hand.
You were real.
That was all it said.
Matthew ran back to the bedroom and from there into the bathroom. He already knew what he would find, and every single step felt like wading through treacle. He just had to see for himself that she was gone.
Also by Mads Peder Nordbo
The Girl Without Skin
Cold Fear
MADS PEDER NORDBO is a Danish writer who lives in Greenland and works at the town hall in Nuuk. He holds degrees in literature, communications and philosophy from the University of Southern Denmark and the University of Stockholm. He is the author of seven novels and has been published in eighteen languages. Cold Fear is the second of his books to be translated into English.
CHARLOTTE BARSLUND is a Scandinavian translator. Recent novels translated include The Girl Without Skin by Mads Peder Nordbo, Resin by Ane Riel (shortlisted for the 2019 Petrona Award), and Will and Testament and A House in Norway by Vigdis Hjorth (longlisted for the 2019 International DUBLIN Literary Award). She has worked with writers such as Samuel Bjork, Jo Nesbo, Karin Fossum, Per Petterson, Thomas Enger, Jonas T. Bengtsson, Steffen Jacobsen, Carsten Jensen and Lene Kaaberbøl. She lives in the UK.
PRAISE FOR THE GIRL WITHOUT SKIN
‘A grippingly atmospheric yarn…As danger mounts, the landscape, weather and people of the former Danish colony are piercingly observed. Chilling.’
Sunday Times Crime Club
‘While there are similarities to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, Nordbo’s writing is far more poetic. Though dazzled by the icecap’s beauty, he’s not blinded to the darkness of man.’
SA Weekend
‘This intricate crime novel mixes a grisly plot with interesting insights into Greenland’s history and culture.’
Canberra Weekly
‘A very satisfying thriller. Packed to the brim with grisly murders, corrupt officials, and sinister secrets, all set against the bleak, yet oddly beautiful, Greenlandic landscape.’
AU Review
‘Offer[s] intriguing glimpses of Greenland, its relentless summer light and oppressive winter darkness…Fans of Nordic crime fiction have a new author to follow.’
Kirkus Reviews
‘A complex atmospheric and menacing read…the story is enmeshed in the culture and politics of Greenland.’
NB
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The Text Publishing Company
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The Text Publishing Company (UK) Ltd
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Copyright © Mads Peder Nordbo and JP/Politikens Haus A/S, 2018
Translation copyright © Charlotte Barslund, 2019
The moral right of Mads Peder Nordbo to be identified as the author and Charlotte Barslund as the translator of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright above, no part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
Originally published in Denmark under the title Kold Angst by Politikens Forlag, Copenhagen, 2018
First published in English by The Text Publishing Company, 2019
Cover design by Text
Cover image from iStock
Page design by Jessica Horrocks
Typeset by J&M Typesetting
ISBN: 9781911231301 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781925774849 (ebook)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia
Cold Fear Page 30