When the snow started falling last Thursday I knew I had to drop whatever I was reading and start this great mystery by a new Icelandic author. We didn’t get nearly as much snow as Siglufjörður, the beautiful fishing village on a northern Icelandic fjord where the book takes places, we didn’t even get what they normally get in one snowfall, but it made the perfect atmosphere to lose myself in the book.
Ari Thor is getting ready to graduate from the police academy while his girlfriend works towards her medical degree. They just moved in together to a Reykjavik apartment. Ari is a bit concerned about getting a job after graduation, especially with rumors that the country is facing an economic collapse, so when he is offered a job at Siglufjörður he jumps at the opportunity. His girlfriend is upset (to say the least) that he’ll be moving across the country but Ari feels that he has to do this. When Ari arrives he instantly begins having second thoughts. Siglufjörður is isolated and nothing ever seems to happen there -- until a suspicious death is closely followed by the discovery of a badly beaten woman unconscious in the snow.
Those who have been reading this blog for a bit know that I love all things Icelandic and this book was no exception. But this is one that any mystery lover will enjoy. The author translated a number of Agatha Christie’s works into Icelandic and the master’s skill with plotting comes through. I sometimes feel that an author is trying too hard to set up a murder in a small town but I didn’t get that feeling at all. Having an inexperienced police officer, one very unfamiliar with the area and far from perfect, helped me empathize with him and learn through his eyes as well. This is the first book in the Dark Iceland series, and while four have already been written, this is the only one available so far in the United States. I can’t wait to travel back to this isolated fjords with this author.
