Spooky and atmospheric, this is a brilliant and creepy story set in an isolated village. It’ll certainly get your blood pounding and might keep you awake! A fabulous book.

Very atmospheric, as with all Ragnar Jonasson books. This one felt a little different. I took great pleasure in meeting the characters, questioning their present and their past. The writing is slow and leaves time for reflection, which is a good thing as the world and everything around us goes too fast.

I expected to really enjoy The Girl Who Died because I’ve read several Nordic Noir novels and this book promised to be as thrilling as any. Unfortunately it just didn’t win me over. I didn’t particularly like the main character and ultimately struggled to the end. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the first time I've read anything by the author and overall I found this 1980s set standalone an enjoyable and well written read. It's more of a ghost story than a crime thriller, with some twists and a great sense of place. I'd definitely read more by the author.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC. 3.5 stars

What is a better setting for a thriller than the utter edge of the populated world, a village of ten in the midst of an Icelandic winter? Utter isolation, strong loyalties, dark and cold nights, and a newcomer, a stranger; there is the set-up for a brilliant thriller. Thanks to Michael joseph UK and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nordic Noir experiences a major surge of attention a few years ago which, while it hasn't really fizzled, has stagnated a little bit. Readers are a little more familiar with it now, even if most of the "Nordic Noir" they have read perhaps isn't actually Nordic in nature. In the last year or so I have tried to seek out more Scandinavian authors, in translation, to get a taste for what they do. While I, as a mainland European, am easily impressed by fjords, long nights, and deep snow, this is more of a given to these authors and the way they therefore use the landscape is fascinating. It plays a major role in The Girl Who Died, but the novel's real strength comes from its playing with genres. Is this a stone-cold thriller or is this a ghost story? It adds a level of tension to the novel that keeps the reader distrustful. The past and what we do with it is also a major theme throughout the novel, one which very much kept me hooked despite the novel's slow pace.

Una is not loving life. There is really nothing for her in Reykjavik, except a small flat, a stressful job, and tenuous friendships. So when she comes across an ad for a teacher in Skálar she says writes in. Once she arrives in Skálar, however, it is not the fresh start she had hoped for. It is small, truly small, with only ten inhabitants, including her two young students, and utterly isolated. Her host has no TV. The store mostly has fish. Newspapers sometimes don't arrive. It never snows. Una tries to make the best of it, despite beginning to fear her flat is haunted. But then disaster strikes and as Una's fears and anxieties begin to escalate, the dark night closes in. The Girl Who Died is many things. It has straight-forward thriller elements, with unsolved murders, disappearances, and deaths. There is a supernatural overtone, however, with the growing haunting of Una. The novel moves slowly, revealing one card at a time but always keeping the reader guessing. Is Una really in danger or is she losing her mind? Is Skálar really as weird as she makes it out to be or is she simply unhappy? How far should loyalty go? Is the police really here to help you? Will winter ever end? The Girl Who Dies asks more questions than it answers, which I greatly enjoy in a novel.

What really stood out to me about this novel was the way in which Jónasson creates a sense of claustrophobia and dread. He does so not through shock and horror, or through adding jump scares. Instead, he slowly builds up the pressure on Una and on the reader, he slowly stretches out the long nights, until it feels like there is no light anymore. While I enjoyed this slow pace, it definitely might not be for everyone. A thing that didn't work so well for me was the way in which Una's tale is intersected with the story of others. I don't want to say too much about them because spoilers, but the back-and-forth isn't very smooth. The transitions between storylines feel very abrupt and thereby frequently interrupt the tension Jónasson is building in Una's tale. The various storylines also don't tie up very well towards the end so it kind of left me hanging at the end of the book. Victoria Cribb does a brilliant job as a translator, however, really bringing to life the starkness of Jónasson's style and landscapes.

While I did enjoy The Girl Who Died, some of Jónasson's choices didn't entirely work for me. However, his style and feel for tension does make me eager to read more works by him.

3.5 stars

I have read and loved Jónasson’s previous work and I particularly loved his Hidden Iceland series, which started with The Darkness. As with those books, Iceland here is a character in itself - cold, forbidding, dangerous and beautiful.

This is a standalone novel and is part crime fiction, part ghost story, which I liked. I had been anticipating a police procedural novel but was open to something new and a bit different.

I’m not sure this work quite achieves the the heights of the Hidden Iceland series, which I have encouraged others to read. The pace is not the same - it’s a bit slower. Having said that, I love the Henry James and DuMaurier so I don’t mind a bit of lengthy foreboding-ness.

I would encourage readers to start with the really strong work in the Hidden Iceland series and come to this work if you want something a little different to the standard Scandi-noir.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I'm a big fan of Ragnar's novels, and once again this one doesn't disappoint. He paints a picture of the Icelandic landscape, and you can feel the pictures through his words. The book was well written and I can't wait for the next one.

I thoroughly enjoyed this atmospheric exploration into an Icelandic community and the intricacies of their isolated lifestyle whilst following a complex self made investigator struggle to discover what or whom is haunting her.
It was spooky, but not too much so and I would say this is suitable for the younger adult reader as well as the general public so will be advertising it out to our older students to give it a go.

Teacher Una is struggling to make ends meet in 1980s Reykjavik, her father's suicide and the distance from her mother mean that she drinks to forget and has few friends and little future. Following up on a advert for a teacher in a remote community Una finds herself in Langanes teaching two students in a small village. However the setting is bleak and the community hostile. Then Una finds herself haunted by a ghost and one of her pupils dies in mysterious circumstances.
I have really loved Jonasson's previous novels but this one I found disappointing. All the elements are there but the focus is more on the haunting and Una, who is not a particularly likeable character. There is a great little crime story hidden away here but it rushes in towards the end. This is a stand-alone novel and hopefully Jonasson will be back on form with the next.

Ragnar Jonasson is a highly acclaimed Icelandic writer who I had never heard of before reading The Girl who Died.

Una has taken a job as a school teacher in a remote Icelandic community to escape from her stifling life in Reykavik. the only problem is that the tiny village only has 10 residents and they are both unnaturally close to each other and unfriendly to outsiders. Una struggles to assimilate or to build a relationship with her two pupils. She has brief sightings of an unknown girl that no one acknowledges but perhaps she has been drinking too much.

Then a young girl is found dead and with only 9 people left in the village suspicion starts to grow.

This is dark and sort of scandi atmospheric but overall it is unsatisfying, I pressed on to the end but didn’t really care how it would resolve.

Rating 3.5 stars

Una sees an advert seeking a teacher for two girls in the tiny village of Skálar - population of ten - on the storm-battered north coast of the Iceland, she uses it as a chance to escape: she is struggling to deal with her father's sudden, tragic suicide when she was a child and now spends her nights drinking alone in Reykjavik, stricken with thoughts that she might one day follow in his footsteps.

But once she arrives in the tiny remote village, Una quickly realises nothing in city life has prepared her for this. The people are unfriendly, the weather is bleak and the nights are long. Plus, she's convinced she hears the ghostly sound of singing from the creaky attic bedroom of the old house where she's living,

Is Una losing her mind and is she just a drunk?

It's an interesting ghostly tale, with the villagers having secrets it doesn't want to share with outsiders. It definitely gives off the atmosphere of isolation in this tiny fishing village. The story is mostly from the view of Una and occasionally it mixed in with a voice that has confessed to a murder. The two are linked but its not until the last few chapters do you see how.

Its written well, though maybe slow paced. There was one part where it felt it was telling now.showing - not sure if thats how its written or how its been translated.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

This book is not for me. I found it very bland, I just did not find it interesting at all. I have not read anything by this author before and I don't think ill be seeking out any future books.

OMG This book this writer the dark and menacing world it is set in the pain and loss and the eternal search for resolution for self and others. Thank you for early access

I love Jonasson's books. His writing is very atmospheric, which goes with the Nordic settings. The characters are interesting, plots are exciting. It's not incredibly fast paces, but definitely, well-written mysteries that unfold in a way that intrigues you. Real page turners. Highly recommended.

I was delighted to receive an ARC of Ragnar's latest book. Having read his stories previously, I was excited to see what he had written this time, especially as a fan of Icelandic noir.

Unfortunately, I was sadly disappointed. The storyline seemed an indulgence, and I struggled to gain any traction with the notion of a schoolteacher in a remote village, nor with the character of Una, who does not carry the story well.

Ragnar's portrayal of a remote, isolated community sticking together rang true to my understanding of these things, but I wasn't sure if this was a ghost story or a crime novel until the very end

While I loved his Dark Iceland series, this stand-alone work did not do it for me.

Una just wants to teach but struggles to get a permanent job in her home city of Reykjavik in the 1980’s.Desperate she accepts a job in Skalar, a remote hamlet in Iceland.
Lonely and with only two little girls to teach Una becomes more troubled in the little town where strangers aren’t welcome.
She has strange dreams, begins drinking more and is convinced she’s seen the ghost of a little girl who mysteriously died in the house Una is now staying in.
This book is more focused on the supernatural than Jonasson’s usual crime/police procedural and whilst I enjoyed it it was not what I was expecting.
The writer builds suspense and atmosphere well but I was disappointed in the ending.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.
3.5 Stars ⭐️

This book did not grab my attention for some reason. Maybe the translation although I've had no problem with other Scandi noir authors. I skipped ahead a bit and saw a hint of the supernatural and that was enough for me to abandon it. Sorry.

I fell in love with Ragnar Jonasson’s writing with his debut Snowblind. It reminded me of Agatha Christie’s storytelling. That’s why I had different expectations when I started reading this book. But this story is quite different, it seems like someone else is the writer. I am used to his writing of winter darkness and loneliness, isolation and the effect of the locked room while you are in the open space. I find all those thing here too, but expecting a police procedural, I got a paranormal story.

The main character is Una, a teacher, with no job and no money. Teaching is her dream job and she won’t give up on it, no matter what. That’s why she accepts the job offer to teach the only two children in the village of Skalar. There are very few people in the isolated village and she is the stranger. People who live here do not have cell phones, just landlines, they read newspapers, barely have internet. She tries to fit in, but some things simply do not go in her favor. The weirdest thing is the piano music she listens at night when she goes to bed, but there is no piano nowhere near by. And there is a little girl who comes near her bed, but she is not one of her students, the only two children in the village.

Overall, I liked the story. It is very different from the other books Mr. Jonasson wrote, but not it isn’t bad at all. It still has his fingerprints on it. The author included mystery death, misterious disappearance and paranormal stuff. And all that surrounded by nordic darkness settled in rural Iceland. I liked Una as a character. I liked her stubbornness to finish things till the end. So, if you are in the mood for a creepy, dark, paranormal story with chilling effects on this heat, this is a story for you.

A chilling thriller expertly told by Jonasson. The author draws us in with his take on a small, bleak village, and carves out the remote landscape for us, so the reader feels as trapped in this remote place as the protagonist. A tense and atmospheric read, with a hint of the supernatural.

Not up to the standard we are used to from Scandinoir. Neither in the structure of the claustrophobic tale, nor the level of the translation. Interesting portrayal of life in a small remote village.