Take a photo of a barcode or cover
I selected this as my pick for the "Nordic noir" prompt in the 2018 PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge. I had a copy sitting in one of my TBR bookshelves thanks to the fact that my Mom had shared her FirstReads win with me, so this was a perfect opportunity to read it. This is the first in a series set in Iceland featuring rookie policeman Ari Thór Arason. Siglufjördur, the quiet fishing village in northern Iceland that serves as the setting for the story, is shaken to its core when a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in a local theater. This is not the quiet, sleepy village that Ari Thór was expecting after deciding to move north from Reykjavik. The brutal weather is a character unto itself and brings an extra layer of suspense to the story that leaves the reader chilled to the bone.
This Icelandic mystery is not as dark as other Nordic noir offerings, as the violence happens off-screen, but it features a somewhat brooding, imperfect policeman with a messy personal life that seems to be one of the hallmarks of that genre. It also include many elements of a traditional mystery that will be familiar to fans who might not have ventured out beyond the English countryside before -- a remote village, countless suspects, an outsider investigator, and a mystery from the past that has bearing on the present. Even more importantly, it plays fair with the reader. If you're looking for a non-England setting for a traditional mystery but aren't ready for a darker Scandinavian offering, this would be an excellent introduction to the genre. I look forward to reading more in this series and am grateful to have discovered it thanks to my Mom's FirstReads win!
This Icelandic mystery is not as dark as other Nordic noir offerings, as the violence happens off-screen, but it features a somewhat brooding, imperfect policeman with a messy personal life that seems to be one of the hallmarks of that genre. It also include many elements of a traditional mystery that will be familiar to fans who might not have ventured out beyond the English countryside before -- a remote village, countless suspects, an outsider investigator, and a mystery from the past that has bearing on the present. Even more importantly, it plays fair with the reader. If you're looking for a non-England setting for a traditional mystery but aren't ready for a darker Scandinavian offering, this would be an excellent introduction to the genre. I look forward to reading more in this series and am grateful to have discovered it thanks to my Mom's FirstReads win!