Review: I Will Miss You Tomorrow by Heine Bakkeid

It’s safe to say that Thorkild Aske has hit rock bottom. The former Internal Affairs investigator not only lost his job, but attempted suicide and ended up in a psychiatric hospital for a while. However, now that he’s served his time for accidental death he caused, it’s time for him to once again join the world. Though he is banned from police work for life, he somehow gets roped into a private investigation into the disappearance of a young Dane. As he delves into the investigation and goes in search of the missing diver, he comes face to face with his past, and memories the spirited woman who was key to his downfall.

I Will Miss You Tomorrow makes superb use of the unreliable narrator. In his near constant drug-addled state, Thorkild spends his days balancing on the edge of a very thin divide between truth and fantasy – between witnesses and hallucinations. Despite this, he seems convinced of the truth, even though the doctors and police have their reservations. With a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Thorkild seeks not only the truth, but the redemption that accompanies it.

An interesting mix of fantasy and gritty dark crime drama, this book is an unexpected treat that seeks to humanize the detective genre, and the stone-hearted people who create the face of the genre. 

Despite his flaws, his dependency on anti-psychotics and pain medication, and his hesitancy to actually investigate, Thorkild proves himself to be an excellent detective, and a decent human being.

I Will Miss You Tomorrow is the first of a series, and while the protagonist seems to lack the staying power we generally associate with series, I can’t help but feel excited to see what happens next. If you like your whodunnits to have as much heart as they do grim reality, this book is for you. An easy read that transports you to the cold and storm north of the world, it’s a great adventure, and worth every second.

I Will Miss You Tomorrow by Heine Bakkeid is published by Raven Books, a Bloomsbury company, and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.