Snowblind

Dark Iceland

By: Ragnar Jónasson

Narrated by: Thor Kristjansson

Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland where no one locks their doors - accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.

Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik - with a past that he’s unable to leave behind.

When a young woman is found lying half naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.

An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge, as curtains begin to twitch, and his investigation becomes increasingly complex, chilling and personal. Past plays tag with the present, and the claustrophobic tension mounts while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness – blinded by snow and with a killer on the loose.

Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent, taking Nordic noir to soaring new heights. Author of the best-selling Dark Iceland crime series, Ragnar Jonasson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1976 and works as a lawyer. He also teaches copyright law at Reykjavik University and has previously worked on radio and television, including as a TV news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.

Before becoming a writer, Ragnar translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic and has had short stories published in international literary magazines. Ragnar is a member of the UK Crime Writers' Association (CWA) and recently set up the first overseas chapter of the CWA, in Reykjavik. He is also the cofounder of the Reykjavik international crime writing festival Iceland Noir, which was selected by the Guardian as one of the 'best crime-writing festivals around the world'. Ragnar has appeared on panels at festivals worldwide, and he lives in Reykjavik with his wife and daughter.

©2015 Ragnar Jonasson (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"Is King Arnaldur looking to his laurels? There is a young pretender beavering away, his eye on the crown: Ragnar Jónasson." (Barry Forshaw)

"Nothing ever happens here."

ArI Thor Season leaves his girlfriend in Reykjavik to start as a rookie policeman in Siglufjordur, a quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, a p!ce, he was told, where nothing ever happens. But during the rehearsals for a n amateur play production, first the body of a famous author is found in the steps to the hall, then another, a woman, blood red in the snow. The village is cut off by an avalanche blockng the only way in: it's down to the tiny police presence in the town to discover exactly what has happened.

Very atmospheric (even read during some of the hottest days known here), the fullness and the aloneness felt by the main protagonist forcefully impact on the reader. The narrator, Thor Kristjansson, himself Icelandic, brought a verisimilitude to the reading with his slight accent and Abu!8th to speak names without hesitation which could have been difficult for someone not fully immersed in the language. However, I personally found the unfamiliar sounding names slightly confusing whilst listening to the story. But that is down to me, not the narration.

There was such a feeling of bleakness and removal that the ending, when it came, was a surprise. I had almost lost track of the crime investigation itself, so caught was I in the character of inhabitants and, more especially, place. Although captivated at the time of reading, in retrospect I doubt that I will read another by Ragnall Jonasson.