Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurdardottir Translated by Quentin Bates #Review #Giveaway AnAroraInvestigationBook2

Today we have a wonderful piece of Icelandic Noir, the second in the Arora Investigation series by Lilja Sigurdardottir. Red as Blood is published by Orenda on October 13th. I also have a great giveaway with the chance to win a print copy of Red as Blood. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.

Forbidden from contacting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.

Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel continue the puzzling, devastating search for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing. 

Chilling, twisty and unbearably tense, Red as Blood is the second instalment in the riveting, addictive An Áróra Investigation series, and everything is at stake…

My Thoughts

 The pace of the book zips along as you are taken along  at quite a speed. I read this as a standalone but I am sure that if you have read the first in the series, you would get even more from Arora's investigations. She is continuing to search for her missing sister and at the same time, gets involved in an investigation into the disappearance of Gudrun, the wife of Flosi, a millionaire businessman. Relationships between Flosi and his family turn out to complicated and deceptive which throws several red herrings into the mix.

    I loved the Icelandic setting which lent itself to the uncompromising nature of the missing woman. The local detective, Daniel reappears alongside Arora in the investigations and their friendship adds a layer to the storyline. This is very readable crime novel with some interesting characters and a genuine mystery to uncover. The author manages to wrongfoot the reader and lead you through the story to a satisfying ending.

In short: true icelandic noir

   

About the Author

Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurdardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written four crime novels, with Snare, the first in a new series, hitting bestseller lists worldwide. Translation rights have been sold in eight countries to date, and film rights have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. Lilja has a background in education and has worked in evaluation and quality control for preschools in recent years. She lives in Reykjavík with her partner. 

You can connect with Lilja here: Twitter  |  Website

 

 Book links: Amazon UK

 

Thanks to Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books  for a copy of the book and a place on the blog tour.

Don't forget to check out these other great bloggers! 

Giveaway (UK only)

 

To win a print copy of Red as Blood, just Follow and Retweet the pinned tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!

Closing date is 30th October 2022 and there is one winner.    

 

*Terms and Conditions –  UK only.  The winner will be selected at random via Tweetdraw from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

 

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