The Content Reader

The Icelandic crime writers does not disappoint. I have read another book by Ragnar Jónasson, Rupture ,  but The Darkness  is a different kind of story. They are both set against the wild landscape of Iceland and it gives a certain atmosphere to the stories. In a way, I guess, both books are similarly built up, although totally different.  Rupture  is set against and old story, cold case, that pops up out of the blue, and there is a dramatic family story to it.  The Darkness  is slightly different. Huld Hermannsdóttir is about to retire. She feels she has been neglected by her boss and colleagues and not taken seriously. When the boss tells her she should go earlier due to the arrival of a younger colleague, she becomes devastated. She already has problem coming to terms with retirement. The boss tells her to hand over her cases and maybe look into a cold case for her remaining weeks in the office. This leads her to the death of a Russian immigrant g...

As you, who follow me, know, I am a great fan of Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason. Now I have made the acquaintance with another Icelandic crime writer, Ragnar Jónasson. It is a meeting that will lead to more, of this I am sure. As with Indridason, Jónasson works on two levels. One old story that never got an ending and one contemporary murder mystery to solve. I think this is what I really love with these two authors. Their ability to totally engage the reader in an interesting, old story, which most of the time has a very tragic course.  I find that these cold cases sometimes are more interesting than the contemporary story, but in the end they do complement each other. "1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedingsfjördur. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have b...