In the past year, I have been discovering and reading more and more Nordic noir authors, but this is my first Icelandic novel. I find Nordic noir different from the thrillers I am used to, for the plot, the atmosphere, the writing (compelling, but I think that some descriptions are too graphic and gruesome) and the names that I can’t pronounce. I was drawn to this author because I have been hearing a lot about him from other bloggers and I was really curious to see for myself and I have to say that I am sorry I haven’t read his novels before.

The protagonist of his latest novel is Detective Hulda Hermannsdottir. She is sixty-five years old and, even though she is a good detective and she is respected by her colleagues, she is forced into early retirement to make room for the youngest generation. Throughout the entire novel, the author explores in details Hulda’s feelings towards her retirement which she finds hard to accept as she can’t envisage a future in which she doesn’t work. She is been allowed, as her last job, to work on a cold case of her choice, so she decides to investigate the death of Elena, a 27-year-old refugee from Russia whose body was found in a cave. The detective who had investigated the death ruled it out as a suicide, but Hulda is convinced that there is something more to it.

I found the character of Hulda flawed, but very intriguing. She is strong and determined. When she puts her head into something she goes through it even if she has to compete not only with a younger generation who thinks she is now past her time, but also with her male colleagues who don’t think she is as smart as them. I liked how she fights for the weakest, not necessarily victims, even if it often leads her to trouble. And she has a painful and dark past that it slowly unravels through the novel, and it’s her past that made me want to read and found out more about this character.

The pace of the novel is not too fast, not too slow, the good amount to keep the suspense high and to keep you glued to the page. I really loved the evocative and atmospheric descriptions of the Icelandic landscape, with its white snow and frozen lakes that make you dream of hot chocolate and fireside (which, by the way, I think it’s the best way to read this book!)

The ending was a complete surprise, not at all what I expected. Without giving any spoilers away, it’s not the ending I wished for, but I think it fitted perfectly with the story and with the character of Hulda.

The first of what promises to be an excellent series of Icelandic Crime Thrillers
"The Darkness" is an atmospheric crime thriller set in a very cold and dark Iceland. It continues in the tradition of other Icelandic authors such as Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Arnaldur Indridason. The novel encapsulates the permanent night of winter in its dark and creepy narrative.
D.I. Hulda Hermansnsdottir is aged 64 and about to be forced into early retirement. Before she takes her leave of the police force, she is allowed two weeks to solve a cold case of her choice. She picks the case of a young Russian girl, whose body was found washed up on the shore. The death was considered a suicide. This was even although she had only recently been granted residency rights and thus suicide would have appeared a very unlikely explanation. The police were not too keen on spending time investing the death of an immigrant even although, having been granted residency rights, she was one of their own. Hulda soon spots leads and witnesses that were not investigated at the time. And pursues her new investigation with vigour and determination. This determination however has some side-effects as Hulda inadvertently wrecks an undercover police operation and as a result her disgruntled and ever so sexist boss reduces her time to find more convincing evidence to a mere 24 hours to solve the crime. Can she do it? This is hidden Iceland and the author is determined to be unpredictable. The novel has what can only be described as a stunning ending. I'm sure most readers will be totally surprised.
I look forward to reading the next novel by this highly talented author. The reader is made to feel empathy with Hulda who suffers from pressures in both her career and personal life. I enjoyed the novel and was caught out by the ending. Great! A really original storyline which promises the reader even more surprises as we progress further into this Series of books.

If Ragnar Jónasson was a painter, he’d be a meticulous minimalist, quietly capturing the essence of commonplace events in a low-key life – and then revealing a dazzling, broad canvas which weeps with compassion for the human condition. The Darkness, a standalone investigation set in Iceland, may easily be his best work yet translated into English. It’s unpretentiously powerful and deeply poignant, and presents a genuinely shocking ending, one which demands you take seriously the events that precede it.

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir’s face doesn’t fit in the modern day Reykjavík police force. She’s being nudged – none too nicely – into early retirement. Given a single week to wrap up an old, cold case (basically, to keep her out of trouble while the paperwork is processed), she chooses to investigate an overlooked death of an immigrant asylum seeker. No one else, it appears, cares about the death of this young woman on a windswept shoreline – which means that her killer could be free to stalk and snare his next victim…

Or not. It might be that this death was nothing more than a sad accident, and Hulda is bullishly pursuing it to avoid facing the reality of her situation. The Darkness reveals almost unbearable insights into the lonely world of an isolated older woman, caught at one of life’s critical turning points.

Hulda might be on the brink of a new relationship, with distant horizons stretching before her. But instead she seems shackled by the unresolved pain of her childhood, and bitter secrets from her married years. Distressed and distracted, she blunders through her awkward investigation, making new enemies at every turn.

I can’t say that reading this book was an entirely enjoyable experience… but I couldn’t tear myself away from Hulda’s continuing cascade of mistakes and their horrible consequences.

The Darkness makes a great companion piece to Leif Persson’s The Dying Detective, which features another experienced police officer at the end of his career. But the two couldn’t be more different in style; Ragnar Jónasson writes with stark simplicity, and his Icelandic noir has all the more impact for its lack of unnecessary embellishment.

8/10

I've not read any Icelandic noir before so I was very intrigued - and hopeful - when I started <i>The Darkness</i>. Unfortunately, for me, the book just didn't really get off the ground - the pace was slow, there wasn't much atmosphere and a lot of the characters felt like caricatures and stereotypes.

While I appreciated the author building Hulda's character through flashbacks to her past and childhood, it felt like there were too many backstories flitting in and out of the narrative and it drastically slowed down any sense of urgency to the book.

As for how the book ended - I skipped over the final chapter because I honestly couldn't bear it. Sorry! I know there's a sequel (which is a huge spoiler for the ending, by the way) but I don't think I'll be picking it up.

At the age of sixty-four, Detective inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir of the Reykjavik Police is about to take on her last case before she retires. A young woman, an asylum seeker from Russia, found murdered on the seaweed rocks of the Vatnsleysustrand in Iceland. When Hulda starts to ask questions, it isn't long before she realises that no one can be trusted, and that no one is telling the whole truth.

By the end of this book I felt I had been and seen the Islandic landscape. I do prefer a book that has a bit more twists and grit to it though. The ending I did not see coming and I was surprised to find I was finished the book. I did enjoy this story

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well ... This book has taken me a bit by surprise to be fair. I wasn't expecting that ending, that's for sure. With all of the hallmark elements which typify Ragnar Jonasson's writing, the brilliant use of setting, the quiet development of plot through pace, and characters that you can't help but be engaged by, the Hidden Iceland series looks set to be another corker. So sald I already have book two on preorder (not out until next year but I will be patient).

While Ari Thor was a man very much at the start of his career with the police when we first met him in Snow Blind, Hulda Hermannsdóttir is very (very) much at the end of hers. Set for retirement by year end, she finds her time with the Police brought to a very abrupt close when her boss tells her that her replacement is due to start and she is surplus to requirements. Upon her insistence he offers her the chance to review a cold case of her choosing, little expecting she will actually do it. Hulda takes him at his word, choosing a case which has played on her conscience for over a year, one which a colleague and former rival failed to resolve to her satisfaction.

Now I don't want to go into plot much more than that as the blurb tells you all you need to know. But hopefully you can tell from this that Hulda is not a woman who is looking forward to retirement. On her own since her husband died, she has little other than work to occupy her mind. There is a suggestion of a potential love interest, an avenue which she hasn't properly explored but really the woman lives for her work. I really grew to like Hulda and could understand her frustration at being forced into retiring but also her reluctance to let the case go, no matter how much trouble it brought her, and boy does it ever. She is tenacious if a little distracted, but her gradual acceptance of her lot does lead her to make rash decisions, ones she may come to regret.

Ragnar Jonasson has a real knack for creating believable and loveable (and detestable) characters, and for hiding the guilty party in plain sight, something he does to perfection once again in this book. He makes the people live and breathe, captures their fears, preoccupations and in some cases perhaps neuroses brilliantly and enables the reader to feel a part of the action. And by action, as is typical of the writing style, it is not fast paced, high stakes, car chase kind of action and yet, through the simplicity of the style, the complexity of the case and the creation of tension which slowly builds throughout, he will still have you on the edged of your seat by the end, scarcely able to believe what you are reading. Loved it,

For me perhaps the greatest character of all, aside from Hulda who I loved and can't wait to hear more from ... the most important protagonist in this story, is Iceland, The way in which the author paints the landscape, using the weather, visual and audio clues in which to create both atmosphere and perhaps even a little suspense, is superb. The simple choices he makes on where to set the key scenes of the book really make the story come alive. also the choice of narrative style, the fragments of story told from the perspective of unidentified young women, add a layer of mystery to the book as you try to figure who they are and how they fit into the tale. All of it, including the main body of the book which follows Hulda's investigation, makes for a brilliant and engaging read which had me hooked from the first page to the very last.

Do I really have to wait a year for the next book? Seriously - that is just plain cruel. So if you are a fan of the Dark Iceland series, or even if you just want to read a brilliant book, with an intriguing mystery at its heart where setting is as important as plotlines, then pick up The Darkness. For an introduction to the wonderful work of Ragnar Jonasson, I have to say it'd be a pretty bloody good place to start.

“A young woman is found dead on a remote Icelandic beach.
She came looking for safety, but instead she found a watery grave.
A hasty police investigation determines her death as suicide . . .
When Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavik police is forced into early retirement, she is told she can investigate one last cold case of her choice - and she knows which one.
What she discovers is far darker than suicide . . . And no one is telling Hulda the whole story.”

This is a really good story and I really felt sorry for Hulda when she was told she had a few days left at work, rather than the rest of the year as she’d thought.
Hulda invests her time looking into a cold case but meets barriers wherever she turns until she is given some information from the hostel where Elena stayed.
Things start to move quickly but soon she is in serious trouble with her boss for speaking to a key player in another investigation.
Hulda is told to finish everything and leave but she has a few hours left of her day so carries on her investigation, with shocking results.
This is a really good book and I’d like to thank Penguin and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

’m a huge fan of Ragnar Jonasson; have been ever since I was lucky enough to read the first in his Detective Ari Thor series.

So it was with a real sense of glee that I discovered that the first book in his new series – Dark Iceland – features a female detective on the brink of retirement. I just love it when an author invests in an older female protagonist and with D.I. Hulda Hermannsdóttir, Jonasson has got it just right.

Hulda is a diligent and more than competent detective but she is also an older woman who has not thrived in a male dominated environment where she has never been ‘one of the boys’ and though things are changing for women in the Reykjavik police force, those changes have come too late for Hulda, who has been repeatedly passed over for promotion in favour of less able male detectives.

She is pondering life after the police force when she finds out that even the choice of when to retire is to be taken out of her hands and her retirement date is brought forward without any reference to what she wants.

So she puts her foot down and says that she will go, but wants some time to transition, despite the fact that her current caseload has already been re-allocated. So with a bit of arm twisting, she gets her boss to agree a stay of execution and the chance to work on the cold case of her choice.

One such case has been in her mind for a while. A young female asylum seeker from Russia was found dead on the seaweed covered rocks in Vatnsleysuströnd; the death ruled a suicide. That decision never sat easily with Hulda and she resolves to get to the bottom of the case in the short time she has left.

It is not long before Hulda discovers that suicide does not make any sense as her victim had been granted asylum and she knew it. Hulda knows that this was a murder and when she finds that Elena was not the only young woman to go missing from the hostel the asylum seekers were staying in, she sets out to get to the truth.

The Darkness is told in three strands; the murder investigation, a mother’s story of the hardships of raising an illegitimate child and a young woman’s disastrous journey into the Iceland’s isolated and snow covered terrain. These strands are deftly woven together by Jonasson and give an added dimension to the central investigation.

I love that Hulda means hidden woman, and that sense of impending surprise about her is maintained throughout the book, even until it’s astonishing and dark ending.

While there is a real sense of darkness to all the themes in this book, what I missed was the same depth of description of Iceland and the very real sense of beauty entwined with a taste of the claustrophobia and oppression of the geography of Iceland that you get from his other books. It is this sense of place that feels just a wee bit less tangible to me and I would have liked more of that darkness to permeate the book.

"...the visions of the past haunting her, the fear of the future looming over her."

I really wanted to like The Darkness, I've never read any Ragnar Jónasson before but have heard good things about the Dark Iceland series. So, when this popped up on NetGalley, part of the new Hidden Iceland series, I thought I'd give it a go.

Don't get me wrong, The Darkness is very atmospheric, very dark, but I didn't feel engaged. The investigation felt dragged out and there were no particular high points, not that I need a shock a minute, but one or two little ones would have helped. The shocks that were there I guessed.

It also didn't feel particularly realistic, while the setting is very real and gritty, the actual case seemed a bit unbelievable, with leads conjured out of no where and perfectly timed revelations.

I did like the premise of the investigator Hulda, it was interesting to get the perspective of a female officer nearing retirement. She did have depth to her but sometimes Jónasson's writing was a little too obvious, a lot of telling, not showing. I also found a few elements of her character unrealistic. And occasionally, she was just too whiny and depressing.

I felt as I was reading, that there seemed to be a past that I was missing, especially in the relationships between Hulda and her colleagues. And actually, I've only just realised that The Darkness is part of a trilogy which is being published backwards. This revelation has made the book make a bit more sense to me, but I still wasn't enthralled by it.

I'd still like to try the Dark Iceland series as I've heard they are quite different to this one.

My Rating: 3 Stars

I received a copy of The Darkness, via Netgalley, in return for an honest review. My thanks to the author and publisher.

Gripping. I read this over an afternoon in one sitting. The writing grabs you from the first page and pullls you along. Set in Iceland, a place I’ve yet to visit, you feel like you are there, feeling the cold, smelling the sea, appreciating the bleak beauty. The main plot concentrates on Hulda’s last case before being unceremoniously put out to pasture by being forced into early retirement. The book moves between this, Hulda’s early childhood and what happened to the victim. I never for a moment guessed who the perpetrator was, nor the brilliant ending.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series of which this is the first
#TheDarkness#NetGalley

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir is very close to retirement and she is not sure if this idea makes her feel good. When she is called to the office of her immediate superior Magnus because "We need to have a little chat about your situation" she is not sure what to expect. It seems her noble boss is eager for her to leave so that her replacement "a real high achiever" can take over her job and a deadline is set for two weeks. In fact the arrogant Magnus is eager for her to depart immediately but .."On full pay, of course" Refusing to be intimidated and not wishing to retire early she eagerly grasps at a throwaway comment made by Magnus..."But you, well, you could always look into a cold case, I suppose. Anything that takes your fancy. How does that grab you?."....The pompous Magnus will live to regret his decision and as Hulda revisits again the unsolved case of refugee Elena "She had come to a foreign country in search of refuge and only found a watery grave. And nobody cared."....she will unravel a murder that was never properly managed, and in the process question the original investigation.

The primary officer in the case Alexander did not suspect murder and closed his findings on a suicide verdict. But DI Hulda questions why a young refugee would take her own life when she had just discovered that very morning her asylum application had been approved. Clearly something had been missed. Magnus had hoped that this old case had been put to rest and he is most unhappy that Hulda is "making waves" and causing problems when she should be retired. We learn of Hulda's traumatic childhood, the tragic events surrounding her daughter Dimma, and the truth concerning her much loved husband, Jon, who died suddenly from heart failure some years ago. Against all this trauma and the approach of a lonely retirement looming ever closer "Retirement was something Hulda had never mentally prepared for.".....she meet Petur a retired doctor and the hope for future friendship, even love, now seems a possibility. Very soon DI Hulda puts herself in mortal danger as the net on the murderer closes and the events that unfold will stay in the memory of the Icelandic police force for many years to come.

This was an astounding tale beautifully told and has made me appreciate the great contribution that nordic crime has made over the last few years. Ragnar Jonasson is a very proficient story teller making a simple tale sparkle against the cold Icelandic landscape..."full of hidden volcanic craters and clouds of steam, scarred by the violent forces at work beneath the earth's crust here where Iceland straddled the divide between two continental plates".... I so hoped that Hulda could now find the contentment she so deserved especially as Petur held forth the hand of warmth and friendship. The conclusion of this story was totally unexpected yet brilliantly executed, to reveal more would spoil the enjoyment that awaits you dear reader of my review! Many thanks to the publisher penguin and netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written. A fantastic piece of storytelling brilliantly told and highly highly recommended.

This book really does take you on a journey alongside ageing detective Hulda. The book opens with Hulda being told that she is going to be pensioned off soon, bargaining with her boss she persuades him to let her take on one more case. His only offer is to let her choose a cold case figuring that there is little harm she can cause there. The case she chooses concerns the death of a Russian girl, Elena, who had apparently committed suicide though Hulda feels there is more to this than meets the eye given her antipathy towards the investigating officer known for his lax approach. Her investigation ruffle feathers and she finds herself acting on information received and confronting someone, unbeknownst to her she has blown an investigation that has been ongoing for months. This leads to her retirement being brought forward giving her only 24 hours to solve it. Interspersed through the story are narratives for a mother and her daughter and another for a man and a woman who go off exploring the countryside, all these stories come together to reveal more about the detective and the crime she is solving. Will all be solved or will other things get in the way?

Hulda is an extremely likeable detective but as you read on there is so much more to discover about this 'old bag' from the CID who drives a bright green Skoda. Hulda is a complex character who has worked hard but is she all she seems?

Another great feature of this book is the Icelandic landscape, its presence throughout the narrative adds to the feeling whether it be the dark, brooding mountains or the midnight sun.

This book has twists and turns aplenty and the fast paced narrative keeps you reading on.

#TheDarkness #NetGalley

Hulda Hermannsdóttir, a Detective Inspector in the Reykjavik Police, is nearing retirement, but is really not ready to do so. No matter, because her boss, keen to bring in new blood, forces her to leave early. Not psychologically ready for this, Hulda manages to negotiate for a stay of execution and is granted two weeks in which to work on a case of her choice. Hulda chooses one in which a young Russian woman awaiting asylum was found dead in a remote location. As she begins to dig further into the way the investigation was conducted, Hulda discovers one of her colleagues may have been negligent in his approach to the young woman's actual cause of death and that far from being suicide, her untimely end may have been something far more sinister.
This novel begins very slowly and low key. Hulda has not had the most fortunate life, but has kept going through all the adversity. It now looks as if a close and supportive friend Hilda respects and likes immensely wants to take their relationship to the next step. Indeed, a new and productive retirement appears to be on the horizon. Concluding this final case to Hulda's satisfaction will be the icing on the cake.
Hulda is a likeable, homely character, with a strong sense of right and wrong, particularly when it comes to victims of crime. Do not be fooled by Hulda's placid and apparently mundane character and plodding approach to policing, because Ragnar Jónasson is deliberately trying to lull you into complacency. Reading The Darkness is the authorial equivalent of someone creeping up on you from behind and shouting "Boo". Be in no doubt, set in the chill of this far north and often inhospitable island, The Darkness certainly delivers on its atmospheric title.

Loved this book, had not read anything by this author before, but will make sure that I read all his books. The lead detective was an unusual and interesting woman, and the storyline was compelling. Excellent characterisation all the way through.

This is not the usual predictable police procedural that I expected when I started reading. Being of retirement age myself, I really identified with Hulga's dilemma when faced with the premature end of her career. The underlying tragedies that gradually come to light are quite heartbreaking, and the ending took me completely by surprise. I look forward to further books in this series.

This is an intriguing, well-crafted novel which I hugely enjoyed. I have to admit I haven't read any other novels by Ragnar Jónasson despite hearing so many great things, so I jumped at the chance to review the first book in a new series, as then it doesn't matter if I haven't read others. And I'm so glad to say that The Darkness is was a solid, really enjoyable read!

Firstly, this series (Hidden Iceland #1) looks set to be pretty unique as it's actually the end of a series; subsequent novels will apparently cover previous cases (something I actually didn't realise until I finished this book!). I really like the idea of this, and also Hulda as a character - she's pretty abrupt and may to some seem unlikable, but I did warm to her as the novel went on - you see as you continue reading that she has had a lot to deal with over her lifetime. Plus, the police haven't exactly been great to her - she's being forced into an early retirement because they seem to want to create a younger workforce! I really liked that the main character is someone older as this makes a change from many other books.

The plot isn't overly complex but enjoyable to read, and though there are quite a few people involved in the case it wasn't too confusing. I found the writing really easy to read and raced through this (at under 300 pages it's not too long, either). It's not too gorey but has the right level of darkness and eeriness, making you imagine you're there with Hulda in the Icelandic landscape.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Darkness and it's definitely made want to read both more of this series and other novels by Ragnar Jónasson too!

In the land of Ice and Fire we learn that typically there are two murders a year, unless of course you choose to dig a bit deeper! Aging DI Hulda Hermannsdόttir given a choice between early retirement and investigating a cold case chooses the latter. Hulda (who really should have chosen the former) starts digging and quickly her suspicions are piqued over the supposed suicide of an asylum seeker.
Ragnar Jόnasson in his novel The Darkness shows the Icelandic Police to be inept, lazy and disrespectful. Hulda, seemingly the best of the bunch, investigates in an alcoholic fug and with her wits duly dulled, becomes mortally vulnerable.
An interesting anti-hero novel that doesn’t do the police any favours.

Hurrah - how refreshing to read a novel and be totally surprised by the ending. I have not read any of Ragnar Jónasson's previous novels and this was a pleasant surprise. The plot moved along at a good pace and I couldn't stop reading. In fact I read it in a 2 sittings.
I have never been to Iceland so I cannot comment on how accurate his descriptions of the landscapes and daily life in Iceland are but it worked for me.

This was definitely a slow build story. I liked the fact that there were aspects of the story told from the viewpoint of others, interspersed throughout the book, which all added to the conclusion. I thought the conclusion itself was well-written and a fittingly dark one. I didn't, however, feel that I got to know much about the real Hulda - her character was very wishy-washy and I couldn't work out how she managed to get to Det Inspector rank as her investigative methods were hit-and-miss, at best. I found her passivity in most of the book quite challenging to read and I wanted her to stand up for herself a bit more. Overall, the excellent conclusion didn't quite make up for the rest.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is about to retire a bit sooner than expected or even wanted she is being firmly shown the door by her boss, her current cases have been reassigned, in the time she has left she can investigate any cold case she wants. He’s just placating her but there’s this one case….

It’s the Russian woman, Hulda never thought her colleague did a particularly good job – he rarely does – and no one else seemed to care but Hulda, she does, and she wants to get to the truth.

Hulda is a good detective but last night in what now seems to be her final interview of a suspect in a hit and run case she made a decision…

Hulda starts to investigate the cold case and we begin to learn about her. Her life as a police officer, a wife and mother. We hear her loneliness, her anger, her guilt and maybe a glimmer of hope so that retirement won’t be what she fears. Hulda is a terrific character and you want her to succeed but she does have a dark side to her.

We are in a rainy late spring in Iceland. It is over twelve months since the Russian woman’s body was found. Hulda discovers there is another missing woman. Hulda is persistent and thorough but time is not on her side. Then comes a blow which could scupper her investigation but a possible small breakthrough keeps her going.

This is a well written book, nothing less than one might expect from Ragnar Jónasson, the first of the series, oozing with that unique landscape, that particular way of life that comes from such a landscape. Jónasson builds up the story culminating in a tense and quite shocking end.

If you like Nordic Noir you’ll love this one and everyone else should just try it anyway.

With thanks to Michael Joseph Publisher via NetGalley for this eARC in return for an honest opinion.

Rating: 4*