This is the second book in Jonasson's Dark Iceland series. I read the first book, SNOWBLIND, a couple of years ago and enjoyed it most of all for its setting in a small town in northern Iceland, Siglufjörður. This followup to Snowblind takes place 5 years later and the protagonist of the first book, Ari Thor, is now a police officer there. But then his boss, Herjolfur, is killed by a shotgun blast when he goes to an abandoned house in the middle of the night to investigate some possible drug deals. So Ari, along with his former boss, Tomas, who is called up from Reykjavik, are tasked with the investigation into Herjolfur's murder. The obvious suspects would be the people dealing in drugs from the abandoned house. But is this what really happened?
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did the first novel, Snowblind. Although Nightblind was set in the same location, I don't think it really gave a good feel for the environment of Iceland. The novel did discuss how many people feel that Iceland is one of the safest places to live on Earth. The shotgun death of the police inspector was the first death by gunfire that anyone could remember. But then other forms of violence come into the story including spousal abuse which make Iceland just as vulnerable to violence as most other locations. Overall, I thought the story was only mildly interesting.
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did the first novel, Snowblind. Although Nightblind was set in the same location, I don't think it really gave a good feel for the environment of Iceland. The novel did discuss how many people feel that Iceland is one of the safest places to live on Earth. The shotgun death of the police inspector was the first death by gunfire that anyone could remember. But then other forms of violence come into the story including spousal abuse which make Iceland just as vulnerable to violence as most other locations. Overall, I thought the story was only mildly interesting.
A great intense Icelandic murder in a small fishing village.
Know your neighbor? But do you?
Know your neighbor? But do you?
This is the third of Ragnar Jónasson's Dark Iceland series published in English that I've read, and I've read the books in chronological order rather than by publication date. An earlier book, Blackout, was one of the best books I read in 2017. Jónasson does a stellar job of describing his Icelandic setting and its climate. In Nightblind, a new tunnel has been constructed which prevents the small fishing village from being completely cut off from the outside world during the heavy winter snowfall, but that convenience comes at a price: outsiders are bringing problems and crime to SiglufjörÄur.
The mystery in Nightblind is an interesting one, but it slowly sinks under the weight of all the characters' personal problems.The occasional journal entries that readers are given do tie into the mystery, and there's a slowly developed surprise that's revealed at the end, but all those personal problems sapped my interest in the mystery. Nightblind is still a good read; it's just not on par with Blackout.
The mystery in Nightblind is an interesting one, but it slowly sinks under the weight of all the characters' personal problems.The occasional journal entries that readers are given do tie into the mystery, and there's a slowly developed surprise that's revealed at the end, but all those personal problems sapped my interest in the mystery. Nightblind is still a good read; it's just not on par with Blackout.
