Rupture by Ragnar Jónasson

Rupture: An Ari Thor Thriller by Ragnar Jónasson; translated from the Icelandic by Quentin Bates --- 246 pages including Author's Note, Pronunciation Guide, maps, and Acknowledgements. Book 4 in the Dark Iceland Series.

The residents of Siglufjörður are in a panic because a traveler has brought haemorrhagic fever to their small community. The man dies; but then others in the town fall ill. There are more deaths; the town is quarantined and the residents are ordered to stay isolated in their homes for the duration. Local police officer Ari Thor is one of the few people who are allowed to go out; mostly to insure the quarantine is maintained.

Other than that, he has little to do but brood, so when he is contacted by Hedinn, a man with some questions about an old and mysterious family photograph, he welcomes the distraction. 

Meanwhile Isrun, a television reporter in Reykjavik, is looking for a big story that can advance her career. When a young child is kidnapped from his pram, Isrun thinks she's found her story: the boy friend of the child's mother has drawn the attention of the police. Then, in what seems at first like an unrelated incident, a politician's son is killed by a hit and run driver.

What links these two different plot lines is the motive: retribution. In both cases, old betrayals have festered and burst into cold, deliberate acts of revenge.

Jonasson combines intricate plots and evocative language to create an intensity that catches the reader imagination and will not let go. Piece by piece he drops his clues and challenges you to put them together before the final revelation. 

A classic murder mystery with a Nordic Noir twist, and perfect for a cold winter night's  entertainment.  Jonasson is the third of the new Icelandic trilogy of Nordic Noir, along with Arnaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardóttir.

The Dark Iceland series in order: Snowblind, Nightblind, Blackout, Rupture.

Click HERE to read the review from The Crime Review.com.

Click HERE to read the review from Novel Gossip.com.

Click HERE to read the review from Crime by the Book.com.

Nightblind by Ragnar Jonasson

Nightblind: A Thriller by Ragnar Jonasson; translated from the Icelandic by Quentin Bates --- 210 pages including Author's Note.

Book 2 in the Dark Iceland Series. Ari Thór Arason is a policeman in the far northern village of Siglufjordur. Once the village was prosperous, in the days when the locals could make a good living fishing and processing herring. But the herring have long since disappeared from the seas off Siglufjordur. A new tunnel and highway under the looming mountains means the village is no longer cut off from the rest of Iceland (at least, not during the short summer season), so the villagers are hoping summer tourists will revitalize the local economy. Ari Thor is an outsider, shut out of the ties that bind the villagers together, but he cannot help but be aware of the simmering tensions beneath the surface. The villagers like to boast that no one locks their doors in Siglufjordur --- but Ari Thor knows better.

Then the seeming peace is shattered by murder. Ari Thor's boss, Inspector Herjolfur, is lured to a derelict house, ambushed and left to die in pouring rain in the dead of night. Suddenly all Iceland's attention is focused on Siglufjordur. As the arctic winter closes in, Ari Thor pursues a murderer through the maze of local politics, illicit drugs, deep-buried family secrets, and victims driven to kill their tormenters.

Another tour de force from a formidable new talent.

Click HERE to read Jonasson discussing the background of his novels and his family connection to the village of Siglufjordur in an essay published by the Irish Times.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Mystery Tribune.

Click HERE to read the review from The Crime Review.

Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson

Snowblind: A Thriller by Ragnar Jonasson; translated from the Icelandic by Quetin Bates

Snowblind is the first book in the Dark Iceland series of crime thrillers by a talented new author.   Jonasson, an attorney  and literary enthusiast, writes classic, intricately plotted mysteries with a minimalist Nordic Noir vibe. That's not surprising for a writer who cites Christie (he's translated fourteen of her books into Icelandic) and P.D.James as major influences. Jonasson combines this with firsthand knowledge and family connections to the brooding isolation of rural Iceland in winter. As the snows come howling and the sun disappears for months on end, a small fishing village fallen on hard times becomes a locked room where rookie police officer Ari Thor Arason is trapped along with all his suspects when what seemed an accident morphs relentlessly into murder.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from the UK Independent.