The Darkness is an Icelandic mystery thriller.

The central character, Hulda, is written about and you get a sense of her character such that the final twist is a big surprise. The story is well written and uses Iceland as a key component ov the tale.

The book tells the tale of Hulda as she is, approaching retirement, alongside the story of a young girl and her mother from a time not that long ago that single mum's were a family's dirty secret. The two stories cross paths.

A very enjoyable read and one that I would recommend.

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir of the Iceland police, is 64 years old and soon to retire, but as far as her boss is concerned she may as well go now - he's got a much younger person lined up for her job, and he's male, which just about sums up Hulda's career - never 'one of the boys' quite literally, she's always been treated with derision by her colleagues. So she'll be overjoyed with the prospect of retirement won't she? No, not in the least, it's what gets her out of bed in the morning, what gets her adrenalin going.

However, before she hands in her badge for good, her boss agrees to let her take on one more case - a cold case involving a young female Russian immigrant who was found dead a year ago. Hulda believes her colleague Alexander didn't put much effort into this case, preferring to dismiss it as suicide - Hulda believes there was more to it than that, and is determined to get justice for this girl.

I'd heard great things about this author, so I was excited to read The Darkness. Alas it didn't quite live up to expectations for me. It was an ok read, and I really liked Hulda, but I never felt gripped by the storyline, never felt excited to get back to it.

* Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin UK-Michael Joseph for my ARC. I have given an honest review in exchange*

Not only an Icelandic whodunnit but a whydunnit! A 'Nordic noir meets Agatha Christie' page turner that incorporates a rearview mirror to the past as this unusual story evolves and we follow the sixty-four year old detective inspector, Hulda Hermannsdottir, suddenly cast adrift from the job she lives for, but who is reluctantly allowed a final case before her enforced retirement.
My own bucket list demands a visit to Iceland, but this casts the country of snow and ice in a different, less romantic, more brooding light. As we read, we see the beauty but feel the chill of the landscape and of Hulda's life. The surprise ending comes as a thunderbolt out of the glacial blue.

The descriptive passages in this book brought beautiful Iceland firmly to my mind and the characters were (mainly) true to the perceived Icelandic personality- dour. The lead character has little to endear her to the reader: so cold, so aloof, so isolated and with little or no humour either evidenced or perceived. The story is good but a background look of ‘a’ character then further background looks at others without any clue who one was reading about became confusing until nearly the end of the book..... The story itself was good and used the country as it’s greatest asset.. well written but sadly missed it’s mark for me

Unusual Icelandic detective novel sees the fairly inept detective Hulda Hermannsdottir given permission to investigate her choice of cold case to fill her last few days before a retirement she’s dreading. She chooses the death of a young asylum seeker which was originally dismissed as suicide. The novel switches between Hulda and 2 other unnamed female characters, one a young single mother forced to put her baby in some kind of institution and the other a young woman travelling into the country for an adventure in the snow with a man who’s obviously very dangerous. As the novel explains, premeditated murder is virtually unheard of in Iceland so Hulda doesn’t follow any of the police procedures we are used to in English detective fiction but she still manages to get much further with the case than the incompetent officer who first investigated it. I found the triple narrative a little confusing at first then guessed who the young mother was and where the novel was going but found the plot plodded along very slowly; even when she’s given just 24 hours to get to the bottom of it, after falling out with her boss, she still wasted half of that time getting drunk and oversleeping since she hadn’t even a semblance of urgency. Although the case is solved by the end of the novel, there’s no sense of achievement and I found it very unsatisfying.

A true Nordic murder story. The main character, Hulda is aged 64, this pleased me to see this as I am in this age bracket.
Tackling one last case, a cold case before her retirement. Good story with twists.

I suppose with a title like 'Darkness' and being a translation from an Icelandic book then you should expect a dark, sombre story. This book definitely meets these expectations. However, I would have preferred a little dry, sarcastic humour somewhere in the book but there was nothing I could see, The book is well written, translates well although as usual you have no idea of the place names other than they will be cold and snowy in winter with long days in summer. I enjoyed the book very much. You are given many opportunities to get to know Hulda but you find out even more detail as the book progresses and near the end the biggest surprise of all. From the first part of the book I did not expect the ending but as you progress and digest the wording in later chapters you realise there can only really be one outcome. Nevertheless a great read and very enjoyable.

The Darkness is a textbook crime novel, for better or worse. During the dark and cold months of Iceland, we meet Hulda Hermannsdóttir, a detective inspector who is about to take on her last case before retirement. A young woman, an asylum seeker from Russia, found murdered on the shores. It doesn't take long for Hulda to realise that there is more to the cold case than meets the eye and that not everyone is telling the whole truth.

I have a personal fascination with Iceland as a place and culture, having learned the language for multiple years. This was my first encounter with Ragnar Jónasson and I approached it with a fair portion of excitement. The Darkness turned out to be a simple and satisfying read, that however didn't manage to surprise me. The language is not the most sophisticated, but clear and precise. The narrative has some surprises to offer, but all of them unfold in such a linear and step-by-step manner that I never felt fully gripped by the crime aspects of the story.

The true gem of this story is the story of Hulda - a woman who lost both her husband and daughter and who, at the age of 64, has a fear of being lonely and dying on her own. It's a touching and relatable fear and set against the backdrop of such a cold place it ended up being an atmospheric winter read. Ultimately I felt well entertained, but wasn't left with the desire for more, either.

This book reminded me of an old fashioned whodunnit. It's the first novel I've read by Ragnar Jonasson and I will definitely read more.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

The Darkness is not the first book I've read by the author, and as such, it suffers from the same problems. It is very bluntly written, others might think this a reflection of the starkness of Iceland, but I think it's just the author's writing style, and while it makes for a ridiculously easy read it is not necessarily a good thing as there is a lack of description other than what the weather is doing and everything feels 'half-formed' and also, 'too easy'. The causality of the book throws up few surprises.

There are three intermingling stories told in this incredibly short tale, and while they all eventually resolve into some sort of coherence, I didn't find the resolution satisfying or indeed, that convincing.

I always want to enjoy these books set in Iceland, I am drawn to the bleakness of it all, but I am, sadly, often left disappointed, and this is the same for this book. There just needs to be 'more' to these stories, and even the unconventional ending is ultimately disappointing while also being bold, a strange this to say, but true all the same.

An unusual police thriller with an unconventional heroine. Forced to retire our heroine decides to look into a cold case wrongly described as closed. She upsets her superior but doggedly continues until she is found out for letting off a woman guilty of a hit and run with good reason. Told to finish straight away she decides to finish her investigation with a devastating result. Recommended!

https://www.librarything.com/work/20853434

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavik Police has always found herself a bit out of step with the predominantly male dominated force that she works in. Things have been a little fraught lately and when Hulda is suddenly forced into early retirement she manages to negotiate herself an extra week or so to work on the cold case of her choice.

Hulda knows straight away which case she will focus on. A young Russian woman had been found dead on a remote beach. She had been seeking asylum in Iceland and after a very brief investigation her death had been ruled a suicide.

After a couple of days of asking questions Hulda is certain that the young woman's death was murder. No-one seems to be telling her the whole truth and it looks likely that she wasn't the only young woman to go missing in that area.

If you've read any of Jónasson's Dark Iceland series you'll recognise his distinctive writing style. His books tend to weave several stories together in the background. These ancillary stories give depth and humanity to the main feature and make you think more about what is happening in the foreground.

Ultimately "The Darkness" reaches an unexpected and very dramatic ending. By the last few pages you find that you forget to breathe as its reaches its shocking finale.

Supplied by Net Galley and Penguin in exchange for an honest review.

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermansdottir is a short time away from retirement. One of the few women on the detective team, she feels she has worked hard, and is one of the best detectives, dedicating her life to the force. And yet she feels isolated and undervalued. Not looking forward to her retirement, suddenly she is called into her bosses' office to be told that she can leave now, taking her last couple of months as 'leave', and at the very least she has to leave within 2 weeks, as a new young hotshot male detective is arriving and needs her office.
All her cases have been re-assigned and there is nothing left for her to do. In shock, Hulda asks for something to occupy her time for a few more days until she has to leave and is allowed to choose a cold case. She chooses a case of a Russian girl, a 27 year-old called Elena, found dead on some rocks near the beach a few miles away. Her death has been dismissed as probably an accident or suicide. She was a girl no-one really seemed to care about. A mere asylum seeker. Moreover, the investigation into her death was handled by one of her colleagues, Alexander, someone she thinks does sloppy work. A last chance perhaps to show her skills as a good detective, before her inevitable lonely retirement.
As the investigation unfolds, two different stories are told side-by-side. One is the story of a single mother and her attempts to bring up her young daughter, someone we quickly realise is Hulda. This works well to provide some lovely background insight into Hulda's character. The other story, which starts later on in the book, relates to Elena and her disappearance. There is also Hulda's burgeoning relationship with Petur, a friend from the walking club. Both Hulda and Petur lost their partners some time ago, and Peter is clearly interested in developing his relationship with Hulda, and in finding out more about her.
Hulda's character, the way in which she responds to her shock at her enforced early retirement and the subsequent choices she makes, drive this story. She could just relax, spend time with her friend Petur and simply stop and start to enjoy her retirement. Or, she could carry on with her one last case: a decision that will have a critical consequence for Hulda. This is a fascinating story, touched with an underlying sadness that skilfully unveils Hulda's life as she carries out her last investigation.
Submitted to eurocrime.co.uk

This book starts with Hulda being told that she will be forced to retire from the police force and only has a few days to go. She is encouraged to spend those last few days at home but is told she can have a look at a cold case as a bit of a sop. Hulda does not want to retire as her life is not full. The one good thing is a new relationship that isn’t setting her on fire but is comfortable,
Hulda picks the case of a girl called Elena whose murder was poorly investigated. The investigation itself is not that riveting but intertwined with this are several other stories which all turn out to be integrated. There is a single mother, forced to put her child into an institution and a woman who has agreed to go for a trek in the wilderness and is regretting. You also get more information about Hulda’s own life before this date.
My overall feeling is one of total depression having read this book. It is well named as Hulda’s own despair seeps into you. Whilst this probably means that the books is well written, it doesn’t make for an enjoyable read.
I received this copy from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Hulda Hermannsdóttir is operating on borrowed time. A police detective nearing the end of her career, Hulda is forced into early retirement, but is given the chance to solve one last mystery. Opening a cold case, the jaded detective proceeds to step on the toes of her colleagues and invoke the wrath of her superior.

After reading White Out at Christmas, I was keen to dip into another Ragnar Jónasson. The first in a new series, The Darkness is a deceptively simple whodunit that proves exactly why Jónasson is a master of misdirection. Slipping between Hulda’s investigation and the atmospheric last day of the victim’s life, the story unfolds through a series of short, sharp chapters.

Bitter and haunted by her past, it’s fair to say that Hulda isn’t the most sympathetic of characters. Even though we are told that she is a competent officer, she rushes headlong into her last case, making rash decisions that are questionable at best. The investigation is Hulda’s last chance to prove herself. Life has been hard, and in many ways Hulda is as much a victim as the women she investigates.

Published on 15th March by Penguin, The Darkness is a curious blend of nordic noir and golden age detective fiction, although the startling conclusion is anything but cosy.

I’m intrigued to see what happens next…

A dark story about an Icelandic woman Detective inspector who is given early retirement. She is given a week to go and is granted a cold case to investigate as a last favour. This she pursues to the resentment of colleagues and treads on toes following red herrings. As the story unfolds we learn of the trials and tribulations of her upbringing and the disasters resulting from her marriage. There is a new relationship that has a promise of a better future in retirement. So she is half hearted in her investigation of her last case but her pride causes her to press on. She finds leads and believes what was closed as a case of suicide was probably murder. Unfortunately for her as she solves the case it only proves to be her undoing.

For me, the true genius of Jónasson's work rests in his ability to take what appears at first a simple mystery and establish such a tangible sense of setting which elevates the material above all around it. Then the subject complexities, expert plot delivery and nuances of character sweep you in - and surprise you every time. Another fantastic, absorbing novel.

Wow! Although this is crime set in Iceland it was quite different from the previous Ragnor Jonasson novels I've read. We're introduced to a detective at the end of career, looking into one final cold case before she retires. For once, I can honestly say the ending had a twist I really didn't see coming.

A well written book, but one that left me waiting for more to happen. The ticking clock we have when our protagonist is told she is being retired, makes for a great vehicle to drive the pace right from the word go, but I just didn't get that sense of momentum. I'll definitely read more of Ragnar's books as he's clearly a talented writer, but my personal preference is for a little more action/suspense. Also was left a little unsatisfied by the ending - no spoilers, but felt like it fell a little flat right at the death, so to speak.