Title: Winterkill
Author: Ragnar Jonasson
Series: Dark Iceland, #6
Published: December 2020, Orenda Books
Format: ARC E-copy, 276 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
When the body of a
nineteen-year-old girl is found on the main street of Siglufjörður,
Police Inspector Ari Thór battles a violent Icelandic storm in an
increasingly dangerous hunt for her killer … The chilling,
claustrophobic finale to the international bestselling Dark Iceland
series.
Easter weekend is approaching, and snow is gently falling
in Siglufjörður, the northernmost town in Iceland, as crowds of
tourists arrive to visit the majestic ski slopes.
Ari Thór Arason
is now a police inspector, but he’s separated from his girlfriend, who
lives in Sweden with their three-year-old son. A family reunion is
planned for the holiday, but a violent blizzard is threatening and there
is an unsettling chill in the air.
Three days before Easter, a
nineteen-year-old local girl falls to her death from the balcony of a
house on the main street. A perplexing entry in her diary suggests that
this may not be an accident, and when an old man in a local nursing home
writes ‘She was murdered’ again and again on the wall of his room,
there is every suggestion that something more sinister lies at the heart
of her death…
As the extreme weather closes in, cutting the
power and access to Siglufjörður, Ari Thór must piece together the
puzzle to reveal a horrible truth … one that will leave no one
unscathed.
Chilling, claustrophobic and disturbing, Winterkill
marks the startling conclusion to the million-copy bestselling Dark
Iceland series and cements Ragnar Jónasson as one of the most exciting
authors in crime fiction.
My thoughts: This is the 6th, and final, book in Ragnar Jonasson’s Dark Iceland series and it has been one of my favorite series to read. I have found that while these books are not fast-paced thrillers by any means, they are completely all-consuming and I find myself totally engaged from start to finish and usually end up reading the book in a day or so.
This latest installment, which takes place three years after the last book, finds Ari Thor as the police inspector, which is quite the jump if you remember when we first met Ari Thor way back in book 1. He has really come into himself, settled into Siglufjordur and is no longer considered a complete outsider. While personally, he has suffered from setbacks with his relationship with Kristin, professionally things seem to be working out.
This book finds him expecting a visit from Kristin and his son during the holiday weekend and Ari Thor has cleared his diary so that he can spend time with them. Of course, things don’t go to plan as a case pops up right before the expected visit and Ari Thor is needed.
I love that in this final series, the mystery is set right in town and that is just as complex and complicated as we have come to expect from this author. Nothing is straightforward and as Ari Thor starts digging, he comes up with more questions than answers, and finds more secrets than he would like. On top of that, we once again are treated to the harsh climate that Iceland is known for, the blizzard becoming a character itself, creating the claustrophobic atmosphere we have come to expect with these books. This just adds to what is already a tense and dark read.
Ari Thor is such an intriguing character and we have seen such a fantastic level of character growth throughout this series. Even within this book, we see him struggle with balancing his work and personal life, knowing that this personal life is at somewhat of a crossroad right now, especially when an old friend comes back into the picture.
I loved this book and reading it was a little bittersweet knowing it was the last time I would be reunited with these characters. This is why I love reading series – being able to stay with characters over multiple books. I am eager to see what comes next from Ragnar Jonasson, though. Maybe we will see Ari Thor again in the future and maybe we won’t, but whatever it is that this author writes, I know I will for sure be reading as I love his writing!!!
Books in this series:
- Snowblind
- Nightblind
- Black Out
- Rupture
- White Out
- Winterkill – December 2020 (e-book) / March 2021 (Paperback)
About the author: Icelandic crime writer Ragnar Jónasson was born in Reykjavík, and currently works as a lawyer, while teacher copyright law at the Reykjavík University Law School. In the past, he’s worked in TV and radio, including as a news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Before embarking on a writing career, Ragnar translated fourteen Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic, and has had several short stories published in German, English and Icelandic literary magazines. Ragnar set up the first overseas chapter of the CWA (Crime Writers’ Association) in Reykjavík, and is co-founder of the International crime-writing festival Iceland Noir. Ragnar’s debut thriller, Snowblind became an almost instant bestseller when it was published in June 2015n with Nightblind (winner of the Dead Good Reads Most Captivating Crime in Translation Award) and then Blackout, Rupture and Whiteout following soon after. To date, Ragnar Jónasson has written five novels in the Dark Iceland series, which has been optioned for TV by On the Corner. He lives in Reykjavík with his wife and two daughters.
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