One review on 18 Nov 2021

First Published: 2012

Fiction

Rupture

Author: Ragnar Jonasson 

Summary: Dark Iceland (book 4 in English series)

Original Language:
Icelandic

Other Production Roles

  • TranslatorQuentin Bates 
Date first read: Thu 18th Nov 2021

Format:   Kindle

Catalogued: 18th Nov 2021

Synopsis

Parallel strands in Siglufjörður and Reykjavik as police deputy Ari Thor tries to uncover what happened in isolated Hedinsfjörður 50 years ago when two couples moved there and a baby was born. In Reykjavik ambitious Ísrún, a reporter in television news, interviews Ari about an infectious disease outbreak in Siglufjörður that has caused the town to be locked down and isolated and gets interested in the old case and offers to help.

Meanwhile the son of a senior retired politician is found dead by a hit and run - suspected murder, drug related. The son was also childhood friends with the prime minister who came to lead his party when the senior man stepped down for "personal reasons".

Across town a young couple have their baby abducted from the pushchair outside a cafe - a massive search ensues which ultimately ties together the threads. Except for the Hedinsfjörður mystery which turns out to have a strange (for 1955) element.

All four elements (Hedinsfjörður,  Siglufjörður, Isrun, and the child abduction) turn on an emotional relationship issue.

Reviews

An engrossing tale from dark Iceland

by rogerco on Thu 18th Nov 2021.

It gets pretty engrossing, although some of the threads seem a bit disconnected - in particular the old events in Hedinsfjörður which Ari Thor starts investigating in an idle moment during a medical lockdown (many years pre Covid!) don't really seem to be connected to the goings on in Reykjavik with politicians drugs murder and child abduction.

Ultimately perhaps the link is that all of the stories concern more or less broken people and their relationships.

Having said that it is a good read and keeps you more or less guessing over some of the twists and turns as the cases evolve.