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A review by aratecla_the_bookrat
Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen
4.0
I was attracted to this book by its premise, and I have to say it lived up to the expectations, but it also positively surprised me.
Hannah is a revered author, but of a genre that doesn't really sell much, so her fan base is pretty slim. When at a literary event she voices her frustration at the more famous crime genre and at how similar the books in that genre are and how easy it is to write them, she unexpectedly finds herself accepting a bet. She needs to write a crime novel in 30 days.
To find her inspiration she is flown to a small fishing village in Iceland, where the days are characterised by darkness and cold. When a few days after a body is discovered on the shore, she can't believe her luck, could this be her inspiration?
What she thinks is only curiosity to solve the case to use in her book, soon becomes her mission and she gets entangled with the village's people's lives deeper than she expected. What started as a mere bet and a way to prove something to the literary world, also becomes a way to discover herself. All through the twists and turns in her pursuit to find the murderer, more than once risking losing everything.
I sucked in the atmosphere of this book with the bitter and pure Icelandic background, together with the unfiltered, cynical and self-centered character of Hannah. And although to her own admission in the book, she is changed by the events (who wouldn't?), I was pleased to see she retained her humour and cynicism.
I enjoyed this modernisation of Jessica Fletcher (one of my favourite TV shows growing up) and I found the actual murder case and the motives behind it refreshing and credible. As stated in the book this genre is so widespread that the themes are often the same and each book is a regurgitation of the previous ones. So, I will look out for this author's next books.
If you like a different take on the crime genre with a clumsy self-appointed investigator (who doesn't do a really great job to be honest), but that is highly entertaining, then I recommend this one!
Thanks to the author, Orenda Books and Random Things Tours for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
Hannah is a revered author, but of a genre that doesn't really sell much, so her fan base is pretty slim. When at a literary event she voices her frustration at the more famous crime genre and at how similar the books in that genre are and how easy it is to write them, she unexpectedly finds herself accepting a bet. She needs to write a crime novel in 30 days.
To find her inspiration she is flown to a small fishing village in Iceland, where the days are characterised by darkness and cold. When a few days after a body is discovered on the shore, she can't believe her luck, could this be her inspiration?
What she thinks is only curiosity to solve the case to use in her book, soon becomes her mission and she gets entangled with the village's people's lives deeper than she expected. What started as a mere bet and a way to prove something to the literary world, also becomes a way to discover herself. All through the twists and turns in her pursuit to find the murderer, more than once risking losing everything.
I sucked in the atmosphere of this book with the bitter and pure Icelandic background, together with the unfiltered, cynical and self-centered character of Hannah. And although to her own admission in the book, she is changed by the events (who wouldn't?), I was pleased to see she retained her humour and cynicism.
I enjoyed this modernisation of Jessica Fletcher (one of my favourite TV shows growing up) and I found the actual murder case and the motives behind it refreshing and credible. As stated in the book this genre is so widespread that the themes are often the same and each book is a regurgitation of the previous ones. So, I will look out for this author's next books.
If you like a different take on the crime genre with a clumsy self-appointed investigator (who doesn't do a really great job to be honest), but that is highly entertaining, then I recommend this one!
Thanks to the author, Orenda Books and Random Things Tours for a copy and this is my honest opinion.