Thriller set in SICILY

6th July 2026

Under the Blazing Sun by Jenny Lund Madsen, thriller set in SICILY

TR: Paul Russel Garrett

No.2 in the Murder By The Book series

For me, Under the Blazing Sun by Jenny Lund Madsen is an enjoyable read but one that doesn’t quite measure up to its publicity. True, it is at times quite thrilling and the plot is clever. I didn’t find it ‘hilarious’, however, and struggled to raise much more than a smile. The book is advertised as satirising crime fiction, but I found certain elements to be frustrating, rather than comical.

Buy Now

Let’s deal with the plus points. The book is a crime fiction novel in the tradition of Scandi Noir but set in blazing sun of Sicily. It has a strong female character – Hannah – even if her actions are often ill-advised. And the plot ticks along at a reasonable pace. I was quite fond of one or two of the characters but beware! The author has some surprises in store.

The location is sketched broadly, rather than being rooted in a particular place, but you certainly get the flavour of a hot Mediterranean climate, which is ‘abroad’ as far as the main character is concerned. There’s an element of glamour, with the main location being a flashy second home belonging to rich Scandinavians. Think gated mansion, plenty of marble, designer furniture and a cool blue pool with a sea view. This is contrasted with the simpler life of the local people, the wild mountain roads and the slower pace of life. The Sicilian police don’t come out of the book unscathed, with plenty of criticism of their approach to solving the crime.

The protagonist of Under the Blazing Sun is Hannah Krause-Bendix, a successful Danish author who has previously written a crime novel and is contracted to come up with the ‘difficult second book’ in the series. The character’s situation mirrors Madsen’s own, in a way; Blazing Sun is a follow-up to a successful crime novel, with the same characters in a different setting. It all becomes a bit meta when Hannah is confronted with a murder, and a crime she thinks she should solve. She contemplates overcoming her reluctance to write the next crime book by using this crime as inspiration. She even employs a term for this: reality fiction, where the author stars in her own novel.

Hannah’s antics in Madsen’s first book are relevant throughout, with many recurring characters. Not having read that book, I struggled to enjoy the sub-plot about Hannah’s on/off relationship with her Icelandic lover, or to feel the appropriate reaction when Hannah’s rival author turns up. Reading the books in order would probably have helped me to enjoy Blazing Sun more.

Hannah herself is indecisive and verging on dipsomania – at any and all critical points in the book she chooses drinking a large glass of wine over other potential actions. The book relies heavily on the rather jaded trope that Sicily equals The Mafia, but it treats the threat of their involvement lightly. Quite frankly, I wanted to throttle Hannah more than once for her cavalier disregard of the peril she is in! (But maybe that’s where the humour comes in?)

In summary: read Thirty Days of Darkness first, then I’m sure you will find Under the Blazing Sun a perfect escapist read.

Sue for the TripFiction Team

Buy Now

Catch our reviewer Sue on TwitterX 

Join team TripFiction on Social Media:

Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction) and BlueSky(tripfiction.bsky.social) and Threads (@tripfiction)

Subscribe to future blog posts