The Butterfly Effect by Pernille Rygg Reviewed by Steve Rudd

Death is nothing to young girls, except as part of the adventure, an exciting secret whispered by a dark lover, not something you meet one evening when you're going home to your movie or father. Such a notion is all about to change though for Igi Heitmann. Coincidentally sharing the same title with an Ashton Kutcher - Hollywood movie, far from being set in America, this naturally intriguing novel in The Butterfly Effect is anchored in and around the stark snowscapes of Norwegian city Oslo and its immediate surroundings. It's always exciting when books are set somewhere else... you know, somewhere other than anywhere in America or Britain.

Especially when the surroundings are so intimately described by Pernille Rygg - and there is even a detailed map of the area provided at the front of the book before the story so that the reader can immediately familiarize themselves with various locations, which is a major plus. Remarkably, this is Pernille's first novel, and she is definitely an exciting new writer in the crime fiction fold given the acclaim that has also surrounded her more recent Golden Section book.

Naturally there is no answer when I knock, but the door swings open when I try the handle. I fumble round for a switch on the wall by the door. The darkness explodes into cold white light, and I find myself staring at a face crises-crossed with angry, blood-red streaks. My scream frightens me but they are my eyes staring at me from behind the brutal slashes. Yep, Igi is staring in the mirror!

The story itself is seen through the wide-open eyes of Igi Heitmann from exhilarating start to satisfying finish, who is coming to terms with her father's sudden death. He was a private investigator and embroiled in a bizarre case when he died - a case that Igi herself takes on in his absence... much to her regret once some nasty secrets disturbingly drift out of the darkness and into her life. The question is, can she handle the truth? Whatever the answer, it's a good thing that dreams are easy to forget. Bad dreams of the nightmarish variety in particular, as Igi admits - I wash them down the plughole as I shower. Which is alright for some.

ISBN 9-780099-449263 Vintage - first published in Norway in 1995

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