The red stain was like a scream in the silence.
The snow-covered ground was so white that it had almost banished the winter night's darkness, elemental in its purity. It had been snowing since that morning, big, heavy flakes falling gracefully to earth. That evening there was a break in the snowfall and no more had fallen since.
Ari Thor Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik - with a past that he's unable to leave behind.
When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.
An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge. As curtains begin to twitch, his investigation becomes increasingly complex, chilling and personal. Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts, while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness - blinded by snow, and with a killer on the loose.
Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent, taking Nordic Noir to soaring new heights.
***
I am rather late to the party in terms of reading Nordic fiction. There is so much of it on the market that I have not really known where to begin. So, when my son read this book and passed it on to me it was the ideal opportunity for me to finally jump in.
This is the first in the Dark Iceland series and I enjoyed it very much. There are many good things about this book but the atmosphere that the author created was exceptional. His descriptions of the weather and the light were highly evocative and he cleverly created such a feeling of claustrophobia, not just for his main character, but for me as a reader also.
Set in a small mountainous town in the north of Iceland, away from his family and friends, the reader gets a real feel for Ari Thor's isolation, both geographically and emotionally. I enjoyed getting to know his character very much. He is a newly qualified police officer and it was interesting to watch how his confidence in his own intuition grew as the novel progressed.
The other characters were also really well portrayed. Reading the way in which the author gradually fleshed them out and how they interacted in connection with the crimes committed made for excellent reading.
Iceland itself is almost one of the characters and the story unravels alongside the deterioration of the weather. It is very cleverly achieved and well translated by Quentin Bates.
It has been perfectly plotted and is appropriately paced throughout; neither too slow or too fast. The author has pitched it superbly.
There are six books available in the series and I definitely intend to read the next one. Maybe it is time that I grasped the bull by the horns in this genre. What do you think? Have you read any other good Nordic crime books?
ISBN: 978 1910633038
Publisher: Orenda Books
Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jonasson was born in Reykjavik in 1970, and currently works as a lawyer, while teaching copyright law at the Reykjavik University Law School. In the past, he's worked in TV and radio, including as a news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Before embarking on a writing career, Ragnar translated fourteen Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic, and has had several short stories published in German, English and Icelandic literary magazines.
Ragnar set up the first overseas chapter of the CWA (Crime Writers' Association) in Reykjavik, and is co-founder of the international crime-writing festival, Iceland Noir, selected by the Guardian as one of the best crime-writing festivals around the world.
Ragnar Jonasson lives in Reykjavik with his wife and two daughters.
Quentin Bates escaped English suburbia as a teenager, jumping at the chance of a gap year working in Iceland. That year stretched to a decade, during which time he went native in the north of Iceland, acquiring a new language, profession and a family, before returning to England. He is the author of a series of crime novels set in present-day Iceland (Frozen Out, Cold Steal, Chilled to the Bone, Winterlude and Cold Comfort) and translates into English from Icelandic. As well as Snowblind, he has translated Gudlaugur Arason's Bowling into English.
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