Compelling and intelligent Nordic Noir
Ragnar Jonasson’s first novel in the Hidden Iceland series, The Darkness, confirmed that the
Icelandic winter is the perfect backdrop to pure Nordic Noir but in Book 2, The Island, Jonasson goes a step further
to locate the action, in part at least, to an even more isolated setting.
Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir is back this time investigating a death amongst a
small group of friends who had gathered to commemorate the murder of another
friend 10 years earlier. Jonasson ramps up the tension with a great cast of
suspects each with a foot (and a story) both today and in the past.
But it is Hulda who steals the show. As an experienced
detective she is unrivaled and as a woman in her sixties she has the emotional intelligence to land
at the nub of an issue quicker than everyone else. In The Island we continue to learn more about Hulda, this time
following her attempt to connect with her father who had been a US soldier
based in Iceland in the years after World War II.
The Island is a
compelling and intelligent slice of Nordic Noir with the optimum amount of
light and shade to appeal to both crime and literary fiction fans in equal
measure. Jonasson makes crime fiction look easy, but painting by numbers this
isn’t, pick up plenty of other Nordic Noir and you’ll realise just how good
Ragnar Jonasson is.
We need more from Hilda please Mr Jonasson 5
The Island: Hidden Iceland Series Book 2 by Ragnar Jonasson, translated by Victoria Cribb, published by Michael Joseph 352 pages
Book 1 review here
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