Quick Review: Three of the Dark Iceland novels by Ragnar Jónasson

Posted on July 8, 2025 by Kate

While there are six novels in this series, there were only three available as audiobooks from my local library, so this is going to be a quick review of the three that I have read. I’ve read 1,2, and 5, so while I’ll eventually get to the others, and that was definitely notable. So, spoilers ahead.

black text on a white and blue background with a bloody slice through it. Text: Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson — Cover of Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson

Snowblind follows the story of Ari Þór Arason. He is a newly minted police officer, fresh out of the academy, who takes a job in the town of Siglufjorour near the Arctic circle. Siglufjorour is the kind of place that has cruise ships of tourists stopping in the summer and is potentially cut off from other places because of snow in the winter. In his first big case in town, a young woman is found unconscious and bleeding in snow and then a writer, who is a national treasure, is found dead. Ari Þór starts uncovering local secrets in a place where no one locks their doors. He has to decide who he can trust and who he should believe, while also juggling upheaval in his personal life as his girlfriend, back in Reykjavík, isn’t thrilled by his move North. This was an interesting tale and I liked a lot of the side characters, but I wasn’t sold on Ari Þór as a character.

Next on a black background that is interrupted by a streak of green northern lights. text reads: Ragnar Jonasson. Black-Out — Cover of Blackout by Ragnar Jónasson

Blackout is set in the summer when one can expect 24 hours of light in the Northern town of Siglufjorour. However, a volcanic eruption’s ash cloud turns that bright summer days into twilight. A man is found beaten to death near a fjord and Ari Þór and the other member’s of the police force are set out to investigate. A young journalist relocates North from Reykjavík in order to investigate as well. This is a dark and twisty kind of story where pieces of the past are uncovered while our main characters are dealing with both personal horror and the ongoing horror of the murder. I liked the introduction of the reporter and her perspective, although I’m still kind of meh on Ari Þór.

Background is a river at night. text reads Ragnar Jónasson, Night-blind — Cover of Nightblind by Ragnar Jónasson

Okay, so this one took a huge leap into the future because I didn’t realize at the time it was book 5 in the series. Oof. But this might be my favorite of the bunch. One of Ari Þór’s colleagues is murdered. The setting of the murder raises questions, the local politics of it all raises questions, Ari Þór’s uneasy relationship with the locals is a bit of a sticky point. There are lots of elements of human tragedy in this novel, and it kept me hooked and also really pulled on my heart strings.

Overall, I would say that this is an enjoyable series, but if I had to recommend just one of the Jónasson’s series, I would recommend the Hidden Iceland series. There is something about Ari Þór that just kind of rubs me the wrong way. I was a bit annoyed by the number of his problems that were entirely of his own making. But, the main character in Hidden Iceland is a middle aged woman, who it might just be that I have more in common with her than I have with a brand new police dude. So, if you a brand new police officer patrolling the fjords and snow-covered roads of Northern Iceland sounds interesting to you, or if you just like murder in a small town tales, then these are for you.

Quick Review: Reykjavík by Ragnar Jònasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir

Posted on July 3, 2025 by Kate

woman wit long hair in a jean jacket and red skirt walking away from the viewer towards a horizon with mountains and water — Cover of Reykjavík by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir

Another excellent find from my local library. Told from two perspectives, it follows the story of a journalist and his sister as they unravel a cold case of a missing girl. Set in and around the city of Reykjavik, in 1956 a young girl named Lára goes missing after working the summer for a couple on an island near Iceland’s capital. The case becomes infamous and on its 30th anniversary (which happens to be the same year as city of Reykjavík’s 200th anniversary) a journalist decides to profile the case. It’s a great choice for selling papers, but as he uncovers more of the story, it becomes clear that it might not be a great choice for his health and safety.

Ragnar Jónasson’s story structures have a bit of Agatha Christie about them and they also have the noir vibe of really digging into the pain and cruelty and darkness of human existence. I thought the ending was clever, but it did raise some questions for me but earlier investigations which have been fun to think about.

So, if you like noir or mystery or political thrillers or, like me, you’re just obsessed with thinking about Iceland (in my defense, I live in the desert so it could not be further from my everyday environment), I recommend this.

Oh, also one last thing, Katrín Jakobsdóttir is a former prime minister of Iceland and that tickles me. I love it.

Review: I Remember You, A Ghost Story by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir (Read by Lucy Paterson)

Posted on July 1, 2025 by Kate

Cover of I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

You know when you get sucked into a creepy story and you don’t want to put it down and then you realize it’s nearly 3 a.m. and you do, in fact, have to work in the morning and you’re annoyed you have to put it down? Just me? Anyway, this is a creepy tale that starts off seeming like two very unrelated stories, except that they are sort of happening in the same place, the West fjords in Iceland. (Except they aren’t because they are taking place in the winter in the West fjords so at least part of the story is happening in an isolated location that is hard to reach.) So, while creepy ghost stuff is happening, you are also trying to work out, “How are these two lines of narrative at all related?” But, as the story unfolds, you come to realize how they are related and it is heartbreaking and infuriating.

So, one of the narratives follows Freyr, a psychiatrist who has moved to the West fjords following the disappearance and presumed death of his son and his subsequent divorce from his wife. As the only psychiatrist in the area, he sometimes consults with the police on crime. Freyr is called in when a preschool is vandalized. Speaking with one of his patients later in the day, he comes to find out that there had been a similar incident of vandalism decades before. He and his cop friend start digging into the earlier incident when a woman who turns up dead of an apparent suicide also seems related to the case and to Freyr’s missing son.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned village across the fjord, three friends arrive to begin renovations on a house they bought, hoping to turn it into a summer guesthouse. They… don’t seem like people who should be doing renovation work, but who am I to judge? As they work, and explore the abandoned village, it becomes clear that they are not alone. But who or what is there with them is the question.

The two stories are well integrated; I was interested in both plot lines. I had guesses about what would happen next and I was proved right a couple times, which is a feeling I enjoy. The setting was atmospheric. I could very easily picture the grey Icelandic setting and put myself in the situations the characters were in. The resolution was mostly satisfying. I’m happy with how it ended, although there was at least one character who I would have liked to see a bit more of a comeuppance and at least one character whose ending bummed me out. I enjoyed this and I’m already on the lookout for more books translated into English by this author. So, if you’re into a creepy tale of mystery, betrayal, ghosts, and the search for justice, this is a book you should try!