Skip to main content

BOOK REVIEW: The Mist by Ragnar Jonasson

(Hidden Iceland 3)

This is the 3rd book in the Hidden Iceland series and returns us back to the life of Detective Hulda prior to the death of her husband and daughter.

This case starts in 1987 on an isolated farm house in the east of Iceland.  A severe ice storm at the start of the Christmas celebrations should have prevented anyone from getting to them however, it didn't.

The couple should never have let him in. But they did.  Their unexpected guest is telling them a story that doesn't ring true, why is he there and is he the cause of their death.

So far I have found this series fast paced and beautifully written.  Starting with The Darkness we are introduced to the characteristic but far from effervescent Detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir, she is a Detective Inspector forced into early retirement at 64 but who fights her cause and manages to convince her boss to review an old case on the murder of a russian women that washed up on the shore,  The amazing and unexpected ending meant I was intrigued to follow her back in time to The Island where she investigates a group of friends who go on an unexpected trip together to an isolated island where the death of one of them will open up an unexpected connection to both a past and future case. 

Again I was pleased to see the curse of a 2nd book was not experienced and I relished reading this so was  over the moon when NetGalley and Michael Joseph gave me the opportunity to get an arc copy of The Mist prior to release.  

It was interesting to get an insight into Hulda's home and family dynamic, I instantly disliked Jon (her husband) and it was clear early on that there was an element of abuse taking place between he and her daughter Dimma.  Hulda clearly has some instinct on her daughters behaviour but despite in her police career, seems unable to face it and push the threat and thought of Jon's actions away.  This lack of instinct could well have been as she is younger in these books and that her skills have not yet been honed to such things but to ignore her gut instinct felt somewhat out of character for her.

The home of Erla and Einar isolated in the east of Iceland is not only lonely but feels haunted throughout the course of the story, the arrival of the man at their door has clearly thrown Erla off track and it appears that she is struggling with the feelings of darkness and isolation being on the farm has and craves to return to a more populated environment.  Erla is ill at ease with the stranger and throughout the course of this book the tension steadily builds to its climactic conclusion.

I am uncertain if this is the last we will hear of Detective Hulda but I am certain that Ragnar Johannson has now become an author I will seek to read his full back catalogue of work and all future releases.

I will say that of the 3 stories of Hulda to date though the first one keeps pulling me back the masterfull ending has made her now a character I will always enjoy reading.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: the darkness

the darkness by Ragnar Jónasson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Firstly I would like to thank Michael Joseph for the opportunity to give a true and honest review of this book. This is my first experience of a Nordic Noir Thriller and I have to say I am so glad I started with Ragnar Jonasson. He is a well-respected author from Reykjavik and began his career at the age of 17 translating the works of Agatha Christie into Icelandic. This particular novel was the runner-up of the Novel of the Year Award 2015 in Iceland. This is a start of a new trilogy based around Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir a member of the Reykjavik police force who is being forced into early retirement by her commanding officer. Hulda uses this conversation to utilise her final days investigating the cold case of a young female asylum seeker found dead in the remote countryside. Her death was ruled as a suicide after a short investigation, but it soon becomes clear to Hulda that there is a...
Post a Comment
Read more

September Book Haul - Part 2 inspired by Booktube

There is now an ever growing and much loved community on YouTube referred to as BookTube.  This is now a diverse community not covering just Young Adult but many topics and genres.   There are far too many that I follow to mention however, some of my current haul purchases have been inspired by the following channels and so I wanted to tip my hat so to speak to these in particular and thank them not only for their amazing content but also for the range of books they have brought to my attention. Simon of SavageReads Simon is a charismatic and funny guy, he always shows such enjoyment in reading and sharing his thoughts with us and I have watched all his videos to date.  Both of these books were given 5* reviews and his enthusiasm in describing both the synopsis of the books and his thoughts were contagious creating a must have purchase instinct in me. I have to also say that this is not the first purchase I have had to have from his channel and he has become t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Loving Husband by Christobel Kent

The book starts by introducing Fran Hall and her husband Nathan who have moved to a rural farmhouse to bring up their two children Emme and Ben.   At the opening of this book Fran is awoken by Ben only to find Nathan gone from their bed.  After searching the house she moves outside and discovers his body. After reporting the situation to the police Fran finds herself under suspicion  and we begin to see a side of Fran's past that she may be running away from.  As well as a darker side to her husband Nathan's life that remains unrevealed. Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book.  I read 54% before I just had to surrender. I love a good psychological thriller and have read a few good thrillers this year, so when I saw the synopsis for the story of The Loving Husband, it looked like a compelling fast paced read. Unfortunately I should have followed my gut after the first few chapters.  Straight from the off I found it very hard to associ...
Post a Comment
Read more