Danish author Lone Theil’s debut crime novel Fatal Crossing (Pigerne Fra England-Båden) from 2015 ticks every box for a screen adaptation. The tale of a London-based Danish journalist, written by a former London-based Danish journalist, lends the book a sense of realism.

The Nora Sand series now stretches to six highly successful books, and the first of these has now made the journey to the TV screen in an eight-part series with some major departures from the original work.

The literal English translation of the first book gives us The Girls from the England Boat, and that sets the background to the piece. In 1984, two Danish girls went missing on the Esbjerg to Harwich ferry. Now, 40 years on, their disappearance still haunts the local community.

When well-known national journalist Nora Sand is suspended from her high-profile job after an illicit affair, she returns to her home in rural North Zealand. But when a set of photos of the missing girls is left in her mailbox, she’s unable to resist picking up the journalistic pen again.

With a desk in the corner of the office of the local newspaper, she begins to dig into the cold case files, soon uncovering issues with the initial investigation. Her journalistic instinct tells her something is amiss, and when documents relating to a key suspect are found missing from the archived files, alarm bells begin to ring.

When another local teenage girl goes missing on her way home, similarities between the decades-separated cases pose the question of whether there’s a serial killer still at work in the area.

So far, this is all standard fare for a Nordic police procedural, but writers Kristine Berg and Arne Berggren’s adaptation of the original novel takes a wider look at victim hood, motivation for killing, and the deep scars that impact families, friends, and investigators.

It’s the classic ripple effect, looking at the impact far beyond the initial event, and one that offers plenty of dramatic potential.

The character of Nora Sand herself is a fascinating mix of contradictions. Outwardly, she’s a highly successful, confident international journalist, but inwardly, a shy loner tormented by anxiety and familial secrets. Marie Sandø Jondal excels at drawing out the complexities of Sand, with decision and doubt written clearly on her face. Jondal delivers a performance of subtlety and realism that holds the piece together.

There’s also strong support from Jesper Hagelskær Paasch as local policeman Andreas, trying to follow in his father’s footsteps, but discovering his father has a darker connection to the original case than first thought. The chemistry between Paasch and Jondal is palpable, and there’s clearly a backstory here to explore in future episodes.

Without any spoilers, the perpetrator and motives for the crimes are an unusual twist on the norm, but the reveal of their identity in episode 5 perhaps robs the viewer of a richer denouement. That early reveal also affects the pacing, with the storyline feeling stretched to fill a couple more episodes than the plot ultimately deserves.

Visually, the piece is stunning. Heavy use of hand-held camera work and a brooding soundtrack add atmosphere, and director Magnus Berggren draws beautifully observed performances from his two central characters. However, his work is somewhat hampered by a slowness of pace and directorial decisions to have the cast ponder each individual line, making the series heavy going.

The final two episodes do pick up pace and inject some much-needed menace into the piece, with a couple of genuinely satisfying twists, though the conclusion’s ending ultimately disappoints.

With five more books in the series to go, a compelling central character, and the feeling there’s still plenty of backstory to uncover with Nora Sand, there’s much potential for this to become another long-running Danish TV saga.

Fatal Crossing boxset is available on Walter Presents C4 Streaming on 31st January or on Channel 4 from 2nd February.