Several years ago, I was looking for somewhere unusual to spend New Year’s Eve when I came upon an event at the 4-star Hotel Arctic in Ilulissat, Greenland. Ilulissat is located on Greenland’s west coast near the Ilulissat lce Fjord, A UNESCO world heritage site. The photos were stunning: towering icebergs, deep blue fjords, expanses of white and Crayola-colored houses dotting the icy landless landscape. It was enchanting. And probably very cold.
That trip didn’t happen for multiple reasons, not least because I couldn’t find anyone to go with me (surprise). But I was intrigued. I hadn’t thought of Greenland since eighth-grade geography class, as I’m sure is true for many people. For over a century, however. Greenland has been of strategic interest to major powers who were looking for access to, among other things, the Northwest Passage, a short sea route that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Much has been made of Donald Trump’s thinking-out-loud desire to claim Greenland from Denmark. While it simultaneously sounds outrageous and makes strategic sense, the United States has considered, and made, several attempts to purchase the island of Greenland from Denmark in the past, the first time in 1867. Notable Americans who have advocated for the acquisition include American secretaries of state William H. Seward and James F. Byrnes, and privately by vice president Nelson Rockefeller, The most recent attempt was a secret offer made after the Second World War.
Now Greenland’s rich deposits of oil and rare minerals have amped up its geopolitical importance: an estimated 17.5 billion barrels of offshore crude oil, 4.19 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, and the largest deposits of rare-earth elements outside China.
It seems like a good idea to learn more about Greenland. And what better way than through crime novels?
The Arctic Noir of Christoffer Petersen
“Greenland is the new frontier,” observes Konstabel Fenna Brongaard in In the Shadow of the Mountain, the middle book of Petersen’s Greenland Trilogy. “…all eyes are now firmly on Greenland and the lands around the Pole,” another character notes. “It’s like the Great Game of Central Asia in the 1800s, but further north, and more nations are involved.”
Christoffer Petersen is the author of more than 300 crime books and thrillers set in Greenland, the Arctic, and Scandinavia. His books are an excellent way to begin to understand Greenland. He spent 7 years there, living and working in small communities in the far north, including two years just 800 miles from the North Pole.
The Greenland Trilogy is typical of the way Petersen blends his experience of living in the High Arctic together with current political events, elements of the Greenlandic culture, and an adrenaline-fueled injection of action and adventure.
The Ice Star, book 1 in the trilogy, an action-packed and adrenaline-fueled conspiracy thriller set in the modern Arctic introduces us to Konstabel Fenna Brongaard, the elite Sirius Sledge Patrol’s first female patroller. On a time-sensitive mission to retrieve a crashed spy satellite in Greenland she has to dig deep into everything she has learned and experienced to survive the Arctic and a team of ruthless mercenaries.
The action continues with In the Shadow of the Mountain (book 2). Fenna returns to Greenland as a shadow agent connected to the Danish national intelligence and security authority, PET, as Arctic and non-Arctic nations alike lay claim to the greatest prize in the High Arctic: The North Pole.
The trilogy concludes in The Shaman’s House (book 3), where Fenna must enter the United States in the wake of a Presidential assassination, with one clear goal: to get the assassin out of North America and to a safe house in a remote country: Greenland.
“The writing is so visual, that I can feel the chill of the Arctic and sense the terror of the chase,” writes an enthusiastic Amazon reviewer.
All three books are available individually, or in the collected edition.
Other books by Petersen
Petersen’s prolific output is admirable, especially considering the consistently positive reviews his books receive and the various lead characters he has developed.
- The Greenland Crime series, with retired Police Constable David Maratse, includes the popular “Seven Graves One Winter” (2018), “Blood Floe” (2018), “We Shall Be Monsters” (2018), and others.
- The Greenland Missing Persons series, which introduces Constable Petra Jensen, is Petersen’s most extensive and popular series of 33 books beginning in 2020
- A series of stand-alone Missing Persons novels featuring Constable Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen, starting with “Crocodile Beat” (2022)
Target Greenland, Petersen’s most recent book, looks at the changing of the guard in Washington and renewed focus on Greenland—not only by America.
“As Greenland votes on independence, and Denmark struggles to meet the military demands necessary to maintain a sovereign presence, deals are struck in the shadows, and the world shudders at the bold moves of competing nations,” is how the story is described.
Target Greenland will be released in August 2025 and is available for pre-order, so don’t miss it.
Christoffer Petersen’s website is at christoffer-petersen.com and his Substack is at christofferpetersen.substack.com .
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