Iceland. It’s a land of fire, ice, and some extremely beautiful scenery. One thing they don’t seem to have a lot of is serial killers – until The Valhalla Murders.
Detective Katrin ‘Kata’ Gunnarsdottir (Nína Dögg Filippusdottir) is tough, competent, and firmly committed to her job on the Reykjavik police force. She’s busy up north trying to identify some human bones that have been discovered when she’s called back to town to take on a much more recent murder: a man found dead with his eyes scratched out.
Her team is a small one, and Iceland’s not used to crimes this serious. The pressure’s on, both from within the department (they just passed Kata over for a promotion, which doesn’t leave her feeling like she’s got their full support), and the media, who are treating this as a very big deal. And that’s before a second victim turns up, and a straightforward murder turns into a serial killer case. Time to call in an expert.
Detective ‘Kata’ Gunnarsdottir (Nína Dögg Filippusdottir). Credit: RÚV
...part of the pleasure of this kind of series is seeing an odd couple slowly warm to each other.
So she doesn’t think she needs the help, and he doesn’t seem all that thrilled to be back. It’s not like they have any reason to connect outside of the case. Kata’s a mother raising a teenage son who’s looking for any excuse to rebel. Arnar has more in common with her son than her; his father is currently in a nursing home, and Arnar makes it very, very clear he doesn’t want to talk about it.
Partners that don’t get along (at first) aren’t exactly rare in crime dramas, and part of the pleasure of this kind of series is seeing an odd couple slowly warm to each other. The Valhalla Murders stands out by throwing some serious obstacles in the way of Kata and Arnar: the age gap, their different lifestyles (it’s clear at least part of Arnar’s problems with his family stem from his being gay) – this is a team that doesn’t seem to have much room to connect on a personal level.
Arnar (Björn Thors). Credit: RÚV
Fortunately, their styles as police officers mesh well. Arnar is quiet and thoughtful, a keen observer; Kata is full steam ahead and worry about whose toes she stood on later. It’s a strong team-up that really pushes the story forward. If only they could find a way to click on a personal level.
As the bodies pile up, the case starts to lead in one direction – an old children’s home in the north of Iceland named Valhalla (not at all a creepy name to give a children’s home). It seems the victims were all staff members there a few decades ago. The killer just might be a former resident out for revenge… though no sooner are they heading down that path than they uncover new (or more accurately, old) evidence that muddies the waters.
Let’s be honest: while the children’s home is sinister, its location provides a great excuse for The Valhalla Murders to display some stunning Icelandic scenery. If you’re going to be brutally murdered and dumped in a shed, this is possibly the most beautiful place for it to happen.
It soon becomes clear that while Kata and Arnar are both skilled professionals, they’re both coming at this case from very different directions. She’s a mother who’s increasingly concerned about her son’s behaviour (and how far she might have to go to protect him). He’s a son estranged from his family, whose past just might give him some hard-earned insight into what’s driving the killer.
But figuring out the killer’s motive is only one piece of the puzzle, and with every new body the puzzle gets more complicated. Are they being led towards one suspect just to hide another? Is the system working to give the victims peace, or to brush an increasingly high-profile case under the carpet? And with their personal lives increasingly distracting them from the investigation, will Kata and Arnar see what’s coming for them before it’s too late?
The Valhalla Murders is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Valhalla Murders
