Category: Dark Iceland by Ragnar Jonasson

Series: Dark Iceland (Ari Thor)

Book Number: 5

Read this book for: classic whodunnit, Nordic noir, Christmas mystery, cold case, family secrets

Quick Review: Another must-read instalment in the Dark Iceland series; a contained, tense, and clever mystery with the dark atmospheric touch this series is known for.

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Two days before Christmas, a young woman is found dead beneath the cliffs of the deserted village of Kálfshamarvík.  Did she jump, or did something more sinister take place beneath the lighthouse and the abandoned old house on the remote rocky outcrop? With winter closing in and the snow falling relentlessly, Ari Thór Arason discovers that the victim’s mother and young sister also lost their lives in this same spot, twenty-five years earlier. As the dark history and its secrets of the village are unveiled, and the death toll begins to rise, the Siglufjordur detectives must race against the clock to find the killer, before another tragedy takes place. 

Continue reading “REVIEW: Whiteout by Ragnar Jonasson (Dark Iceland #5)” →

Series: Dark Iceland (Ari Thor)

Book Number: 4

Read this book for: realistic police procedure, contemporary mystery, minimalist writing, traditional whodunnit, Scandanavian/Nordic Noir, journalist investigator, multiple storylines

Quick Review: Yet another brilliant addition to a fantastic series, offering both the isolation and claustrophobia of SNOWBLIND with the elements of a semi-political thriller. Put this series on your reading list!

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1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjördur. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later, an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have been alone on the fjord after all. In nearby Siglufjördur, young policeman Ari Thór tries to piece together what really happened that fateful night, in a town where no one wants to know, where secrets are a way of life. He’s assisted by Ísrún, a news reporter in Reykjavik, who is investigating an increasingly chilling case of her own. Things take a sinister turn when a child goes missing in broad daylight. With a stalker on the loose, and the town of Siglufjördur in quarantine, the past might just come back to haunt them.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Rupture by Ragnar Jonasson (Dark Iceland #4)” →

Series: Dark Iceland (Ari Thor)

Book Number: 3

Read this book for: realistic police procedure, contemporary mystery, minimalist writing, traditional whodunnit, Scandanavian/Nordic Noir, journalist investigator

Quick Review: Slightly different from the rest of the series, given that Ari Thor doesn’t do all the investigating, but still a beautifully written and compelling addition to a must-read series. If you’ve read the rest of the Dark Iceland series, pick this one up!

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A man is found near a remote and unoccupied home, brutally and gruesomely killed during the 24-hour light of the Arctic summer. Ari Thor Arason is assigned to help the lead investigators. He throws himself into it, despite being only peripherally connected to the case, partly to distract himself from his problems with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, a journalist who is dealing with her own demons escapes the volcanic ash cloud that hangs over Reykjavik to drive north and begin her own investigation. As they unwind the less-than-legal threads of the victim’s life, neither of them realizes another innocent life hangs in the balance…

Continue reading “REVIEW: Blackout by Ragnar Jonasson (Dark Iceland #3)” →