I am absolutely delighted to feature Ragnar Jonasson's The Island on the blog today. Today is Publication Day so it seems even more singular. For me, any new Ragnar Jonasson novel is a special occasion and this book lives up to that billing. The second in the Hidden Iceland series, we get to find out more about Hulda Hermannsdóttir's story.
Four friends visit the island.
But only three return . . .
Detective
Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is sent to the isolated island of
Elliðaey to investigate and soon finds haunting similarities with a
previous case - a young woman found murdered ten years ago in the
equally desolate Westfjords.
Is there a patient killer stalking these barren outposts?
As
Hulda navigates a sinister game constructed of smoke and mirrors she is
convinced that no one is telling the truth, including those closest to
her.
But who will crack first? And what secrets is the island hiding?
Haunting,
suspenseful and as chilling as an Icelandic winter, The Island follows
one woman's journey to find the truth hidden in the darkest shadows, and
shine a light on her own dark past.
My Thoughts
I find the structure of the Hidden Iceland Trilogy to be intriguing and insightful. Reading Hulda's story in reverse makes the series stand apart and you can feel your brain cells straining slightly as it unfolds! It was great to meet up with Hulda again and to find out more about her early life. She is such a great creation.
Ragnar Jonasson shows how he can plot a novel in a complicated but ultimately logical manner. There are so many layers to the story that draw you in and for most of the story, I was thinking that there had to be several candidates for the perpetrators. Of course what makes Ragnar's novels has to be the distinctive atmosphere which is evoked by the setting. In this novel, he has conjured up a wonderfully remote area of Iceland in the west and there is a truly claustrophobic feel to the environment. In this isolation, you feel that anything can happen. For a writer like him, this has to be a gift.
This has to be another brilliant addition to Ragnar Jonasson's collection. It has intrigue, atmosphere and a story which spans the ages. Brilliant!
In short: Nordic Noir at its best
About the Author
Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jónasson was born in Reykjavík, and currently works as a lawyer, while teaching copyright law at the Reykjavík University Law
School. In the past, he’s worked in TV and radio, including
as a newsreporter 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 Reykjavík, and is co-founder of the international crime-writing
festival Iceland Noir. Ragnar’s debut thriller Snowblind
became an almost instant bestseller when it was published in June 2015,
with Nightblind (winner of the Dead Good Reads Most Captivating Crime in
Translation Award) and then Blackout following soon after. To date, Ragnar Jónasson has written five novels in the Dark Iceland series,
which has been optioned for TV by On the Corner, and had rights sold in
fourteen countries. He lives in Reykjavík with his wife and two
daughters.
Thanks to Ragnar Jónasson, and Sriya Varadharajan of Penguin Books for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
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