the long water

UK hardback

Published 4 July 2024

stef penney

As the search for Daniel widens, the police open a disused mine in the mountains. They find human remains, but this body has been there for decades, its identity a mystery.

The story is told through characters impacted by these events: misanthropic Svea, whose long life in the area stretches back to the heyday of the mines, and beyond. She has cut all ties with her family, except for her granddaughter, Elin, a young misfit. Elin and her friend Benny, both impacted by Daniel while alive, become entangled in the hunt for answers, while Svea has deep, dark secrets of her own.

Nordland. A region in the Norwegian Arctic;

a remote valley that stretches from the sea

up to the mountains and the glacier of the Blue Man.


It is May. In Nordland it's a time of spring and

school-leavers' celebrations - until Daniel, a popular teenage boy, goes missing. Conflicting stories

circulate among his friends, of parties and wild behaviour.