The impressive, distinctive topography of Iceland is interrupted by a cruel shadow that follows all casualties of murder. From police authorities, suspects, loved ones, and victims, a brooding tension trails all those affected for entirely different reasons.

This is a quiet, moody feast that I devoured at every opportunity. It scrutinises an old case and a new case, with police inspectors driven by their own personal motives. The narrative is VERY easy to settle into, and each time I dipped into the text I found myself instantly lost among its pages.

Contemporary crime told with a classic grace.

(P.S. This is book two in the series and although I’ve not read book one I didn’t find this hindered my reading enjoyment in any way.)

The Island is the second book in the Hidden Iceland series by Ragnar Jonasson and it is a well written and superbly translated book that keeps you hooked and entertained throughout.

It is more of a traditional or old fashioned murder mystery in style but that only adds to the enjoyment.

This is fast becoming one of my "look forward to" series and is highly recommended

I couldn’t get on at all with The Island. It sounded intriguing and I like the idea of a mystery set in “Hidden Iceland” but I found it very hard going indeed.

The story is OK, but I found it swamped by plodding descriptions and rather unconvincing characterisation. Hulda is a potentially interesting protagonist, but beset by cliché and overdone Personal Issues. My main problem, though, is the writing, which I found turgid, ridiculously padded with unnecessary detail and plagued by insultingly unnecessary explanation the whole time. The tone is set by a tediously and unnecessarily over-described little incident as a prelude which just felt...well, amateurish to me. Or take this little exchange, early on:
“ ‘I don’t believe in...” He didn’t finish.
‘That’s because you don’t know the whole story, Benni,’ she said softly, her tone hinting at something chilling left unsaid.
‘The whole story?’ he repeated helplessly. “
Every time someone speaks we have to be told more; really good dialogue speaks for itself without incessant explanation. The internal monologues didn’t convince me at all…

Enough. I didn’t like it. I’m sorry to be critical, but The Island didn’t engage or convince me at all and I can’t recommend it.

(My thanks to Penguin Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)

he Island is the second in the Hidden Iceland series of books by Icelandic writer Ragnar Jónasson and continues the story of Hulda Hermannsdóttir, a detective in Reykjavik. I first met her in The Darkness, the first of the trilogy but the final part of Hulda’s tale, because this series of books is being published in reverse order. The Island is the meat in the sandwich if you will, presenting to us a Hulda who is fighting against sexism in the Icelandic police, dealing with the loss of her mother, husband and daughter and is becoming something of a workaholic. When she investigates a death on a small, remote island she uncovers long held secrets which are closer to home than she thinks.

I really enjoyed The Darkness and thought that Hulda was a great character so I was keen to be reunited with her in The Island. This book is set a decade or so before The Darkness and, knowing what comes next made reading The Island a little bittersweet and added both depth and power to the book.

In The Island, the death which Hulda is investigating involves a group of four school friends who have reunited to spend the weekend catching up and reminiscing. When one of them is found dead it is apparent that something has gone horribly wrong but was it foul play and what link does it have to a death that took place a decade before?

Ragnar Jónasson excels at writing locked room mysteries. I believe that he used to translate Agatha Christie books into Icelandic and it shows in his intricate plotting and clever narrative devices. Swinging between the death ten years previously and the present day we are taken along on a multi-layered plot which examines loyalty, friendship and corruption. It is great stuff, there are enough hints and red-herrings to keep you guessing and the twists are ‘of course!’ moments which are refreshing.

Whilst the main plot of the deaths and investigation is intriguing and entertaining, for me, the star of the show is Hulda. I particularly enjoyed her battle to be seen as a detective first and a woman second. Working twice as hard as anybody else and better at her job she is overlooked for a smooth talking man who knows how to walk the walk. The frustration and injustice is clear. Aside from this we have the developments in her personal story and I found some of this heartbreaking to read but it also made me understand her more.

I can’t wait to read the final part of the trilogy and to see further into Hulda’s past. It is such a clever and inventive narrative device which could be showy but is handled with such skill that Hulda becomes somebody you really care about and want the best for. A special mention must go to translator Victoria Cribb who evokes the language and landscape so beautifully.

Dark, moody and atmospheric, this one kept me guessing right to the end.
The plot was brilliantly twisty and well thought out, with red herrings scattered throughout. I would never have guessed the ending, although I thought I had more than once.
The descriptive writing style had me hooked from the beginning, the desolate and unforgiving landscapes adding to the drama of the plot and making it feel just that little bit darker.
The characters were well drawn and believable, with realistic interaction between them and enough backstory to make them come to life.
I really enjoyed this book and will be looking out for more from the author. Great read.

Jönasson hooks the reader from the outset with the hint of something untoward. Then, on edge, the reader assumes a supposedly romantic weekend away is not going to end well for the young couple - and is not disappointed. From the beginning we are led to believe the perpetrator must be the man arrested at the time but Jönasson gradually sows the seeds of doubt and worry as, if the wrong person was imprisoned, then who did do it? The finger of guilt points at first one person and then another including, at one stage the guilty one, but the reader is made to guess the truth until the end of the book.
We are taken to the Island with the first murder and then later revisit it as the original group of friends become embroiled in the mystery. Naturally the plot thickens with a second, at first seemingly unconnected, murder and we share the exasperations of the female detective assigned to this case.
Apart from the initial hint of weirdness that the prologue contributed its relevance niggles from time to time as it seems to be forgotten but its role becomes evident later and contributes significantly to the strength of the mystery.
The plot could be quite predictable but Jönasson successfully uses the characters to make this more intriguing, resulting in a compelling detective mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Books for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow really loved this one. Read in a day(which is unheard for this snail pace reader) it’s atmospheric, very well written, well structured, easy to keep track of all the characters and most importantly of all, a hell of a lot of fun to read.

Our main character is Detective Hulda. The story is told in the narratives present day(the 90s) and a decade earlier, jumping back and forth between the two as she investigates the rather seemingly mundane accidental death of one of a group of four friends on a weekend away on an island off the coast of where this story is set - Iceland.
Of course not all is as it seems and and as Hulda investigates more she realizes that the group may be connected to the murde of a girl 10 years previous and that maybe she is not looking at an accidental death but another murder, a murder with its embers born 10 years earlier.

I absolutely loved this one. The second in a trilogy that runs backwards, I haven’t read the first one that I think is set 10 years later but intend to get my hands on it somehow. I literally couldn’t put this book down. Loved the setting, loved the descriptive writing and the story and characters as a whole. I went in totally blind and felt the read was all the better for it. I read this in no time, one day, which is unheard of for me. I was totally engrossed in it.

As easy a five star review as they come. I really want to read the first in the series now straight away and look forward to the final in the series due next year. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Penguin and Ragnar Jónasson for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read The Darkness and absolutely loved it, I adored it’s main character,
Hulda Hermannsdóttir and as soon as I had finished it I immediately picked up this book. Read this series in order to benefit from the chance to get to know a great female lead character and also for the unusual timeline.

Hulda is called into assist and investigate a death, she draws on her experience and uses her instincts to realise that something is not right.

I will say right from the off that this book didn’t grab me in the same way the first one did, instead this book gradually drew me in. This author excels at atmospheric, eerie landscapes that provides a cold and stark backdrop to a plot that intrigues. The investigation is twisted and led me to think it could be anyone of the other characters that were guilty.

So from a slower start, this book also had a different feel that I can’t really put my finger on. It was one that gradually drew me into the plot, I learnt more about Hulda and got a little more insight into her character. I really enjoy the writing style of this author, he has the ability to create wonderful imagery with his words. The character of Hulda is wonderful in so many ways.

This is a series I would recommend reading in order, but I think it would work well as a stand-alone. This is a book that readers of Noir Fiction, Crime, Mystery and Suspense novels would really enjoy. It gets a definitely recommended from me.

I think this was my first Ragnar Jonasson book and I really enjoyed reading it. I loved the writing style as well as the characters. I read this book as a standalone and did not really feel as if I missed anything regarding the main character.
I loved the setting of the book as well as the descriptions given. I would love to have a did in the 'hot tub' it sounds idyllic.
I would recommend this author in the future.

If you are a fan of Nordic noir, then look no further. A past crime re-emerging in connection with a new death gives this book echoes of a camilla lackberg’s novel but with a more eery scenery and claustrophobic ambience. The depth of the characters grips you straight away and you cannot help but wonder what will happen to Hulda in the next instalment. A series to definitely follow closely!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. This book has a great storyline to it. I couldn’t put it down once I opened it. The characters worked well.

I am so sorry but I could not get into this book. Nothing to do with the author but I really struggled to read it

Four friends visit an island and during their time there, one of them ends up dead. Was it an accident or was it murder?

The remaining three friends hold the answer, not only to this present day tragedy but also the full story of a previous death 10 years earlier of another of their group.

Set in Iceland, the story does well to maintain suspense and disguise the final reveal of both the intertwining stories. Even when I thought I had unravelled the mystery, something else came along to challenge my assumptions.

It is book 2 of a series but I have not read book 1 so can confirm that it works very well as a standalone story.

An enjoyable read that I would recommend,

Really enjoyed this story, zipped through it quickly as I was hooked. Loved getting to know the characters involved and didn’t guess the guilty party until very near the reveal. Now want to know more about the main police woman and both her backstory and her future now so will look at what other books the author has done or has planned. I like stories which move along quickly so this one definitely suited me.

I found it a little odd reading this after reading the first in the series as the story goes backwards in time. It was a good read but the story was told from many characters view points which was hard to keep track of.

Hulda receives a call asking her to look at a young girls death on a remote island. Four friends were alone on the island for a weekend but only three left alive. We are led through dramatic landscapes and events linking to another death 10 years earlier of another friend. Surely there is a link.

Read this book and enjoy every page. Great depth of plot and character. Enjoy!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an advance copy of The Island, the second novel in the Hidden Island trilogy.

Hulda is asked by the Western Isles police force to help with a death investigation. Four old friends have gone to a remote island for a weekend away and one has died. She knows the remaining three are lying and hiding things, but what? And what is the link to another death ten years before?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Island which is a clever unraveling of secrets and lies. After the shock events of The Darkness I wondered how Mr Jónasson would move his series forward but this novel goes back to an earlier time in Hulda’s career. It is set in 1997 with flashbacks and references to 1987 when Katla was murdered in her family’s summer house. At first the novel is difficult to grab hold of as it switches time and perspective constantly but it soon grabbed hold of me, almost insidiously, and I was hooked. It is quite an old fashioned novel in that there are only three suspects and one detective, Hulda, trying to unravel the secrets to find a culprit, but much more modern in its depiction of Hulda as in older novels the detective detects with little to no character development and the spice of police wrongdoing (no spoilers) which is very well done with a great twist. I like this mixture of old and new as both are interesting in different ways.

Hulda is a great character. She’s fifty years old, widowed and childless after the suicide of her daughter. She is a lonely figure with no close friends and only her work to console her but, even there it’s lonely. She feels that her skills have been overlooked when it comes to promotion but it’s probably due more to glass ceilings and her unwillingness to engage. She’s prickly but dogged. I like her proactive effort to find the father she never knew and the outcome of her search.

The Island is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

The Island is a detective murder mystery based in Iceland. I enjoyed learning about the landscape of the country and the descriptions were very evocative. The novel had a strong plot and the story built to a climax linking the past and the present. While I liked the main character and I believe there are to be further books based on her, I found the novel quite sad and a bit dull. I’m not sure I’d read the next one.

After reading the previous Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir story (The Darkness) of which I really enjoyed, I was pleased to be offered this book to review by Penguin UK (Michael Joseph) via NetGalley. Here's my review:

In The Island Ragnar brings back CID member Hulda of the Reykjavik police with another case to solve. One surrounding four young adults who have decided to take a weekend away in a remote and deserted part of of Elliðaey island off the Icelandic coast. Strange because they'd not seen each other for ten years, and even stranger still, one is married with kids and it's odd that she'd just go on a mini-break with old school friends she'd not seen for years when they hadn't really kept in contact all that time. Stranger still, there's a fatal accident and when they wake up one morning, there's a girl missing. She's only gone and fallen off a cliff and killed herself.

Or was she pushed?

What is the connection between these four people? And why did they decide to meet up after ten years?

Ragnar has written an intriguing and clever plot where two stories (past and present) fold into one. Running along beside Hulda's crime solving antics, there's a chance to discover more about her private life, her dark past, and her wish to find her own father of whom she's never known.

I thoroughly enjoyed solving this crime with Hulda. I found the bittersweet ending (of which more than one character received) was brilliantly crafted. How an author writes a book with so much detail, I'll never know but Jónasson is very good at it!

Nordic fiction can be as bleak as the setting, but that's the beauty of these unforgiving scenes! I love how the isolated island, along with the terrain and the weather, helps to weave suspense and atmosphere into the story, just as much as the characters involved. What an entertaining, and cleverly crafted Nordic Noir! Looking forward to reading The Mist the third of Jónasson's Hidden Iceland series. It can't come fast enough!

This is the second in this Scandi-Noir series ‘Hidden Iceland’ and the first book I’ve read by Ragnar Jónasson.

I enjoyed getting to know Hulda, the detective with the tragic past, a difficult present, and a highly problematic boss. Even though I came in on the second book in the series, I didn’t feel I was missing anything. She was so well drawn, I really felt for her, and her (and the author’s) love of the Icelandic landscape shone through.

For some reason, though, the main storyline didn’t draw me in. Four friends meet up on a remote island on the 10th anniversary of a friend’s death. Only three of them return. Without doubt it’s intricately plotted, and the switching timelines keep you on your toes, but I never quite found myself invested in the lives of the young people or truly believing in their actions/reactions.

So a very mixed read for me, but still a solid 3 stars that kept me reading to the end. Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for inviting me to read and review this title.