Nordic Noir November: Spotlight on Icelandic Crime Fiction
Happy Sunday, readers! Welcome back to our weekly spotlight on Scandinavian crime fiction! If you’re new to CBTB, every Sunday this November, I’m spotlighting crime fiction from a particular Nordic country, and sharing a rundown of my personal favorite crime writers from that country. We’ve already explored Norwegian crime fiction, Swedish crime fiction, and Danish crime fiction, and this week, we’re “traveling” to beautiful Iceland! This blog post is going to be shorter than my previous Nordic Noir November posts for a very simple reason: when it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, I have two ride-or-die authors whose work I will literally always read, no matter what, and those are the two authors I want to spotlight for you all today. There are a number of fantastically talented Icelandic crime writers whose work has been translated to English (and many more whose work looks very intriguing, and I hope will be translated to English soon!), but as has been the case with all my previous installments in this series, I want to keep this list focused on highlighting just my personal favorite authors from each country. When it comes to Icelandic crime fiction, that means I’ve got two authors to spotlight for you today! Whether you love creepy, horror-inspired thrillers, modern mysteries with classic crime vibes, or gritty procedurals, my two favorite Icelandic crime writers have a book for you.
For more Scandinavian crime fiction coverage, check out my website’s dedicated Nordic Noir section, including a list of Nordic Noir By Country and lots more! Without further ado, let’s dive on in to today’s feature on Icelandic crime fiction!
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. CBTB may earn a small commission for items ordered through these links.
Spotlight On Icelandic Crime Fiction
My Personal Favorite Icelandic Crime Writers
Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Series & Standalones | Dark & Gritty | Horror Inspiration
Yrsa Sigurdardottir isn’t just one of my favorite Icelandic crime writers, she’s one of my favorite crime writers, period. Yrsa Sigurdardottir is a powerhouse: she is the author of two very popular Icelandic crime series, three ultra-creepy standalone novels, and she works as a civil engineer full-time as well. Over the years, she has become one of my go-to, must-read crime writers, and I’m always on the lookout for her next release. Sigurdardottir is the author of two crime series: the Thora Gudmundsdottir series and the Children’s House series, as well as three excellent standalone crime novels. My personal favorite series of Sigurdardottir’s is her Children’s House series, which has quickly become one of my top favorite mystery series ever. The Children’s House books are dark, gritty, and often quite disturbing crime novels that follow a police officer and a child psychologist as their paths cross in a series of criminal investigations in Reykjavik, Iceland. These books are written in a slow-burning-yet-gritty style, and, thanks to their central police officer character Huldar, they have a strong procedural element to them as well. But these are much more than your run-of-the-mill detective novels. Sigurdardottir weaves into these books biting commentary on abuses of power and failings of society in her native Iceland, and she also uses these stories to explore the lasting impact of childhood trauma. Her series protagonists, Freyja and Huldar, are a delightfully unlikely pair: Freyja is a child psychologist who is brought in as an expert when Huldar finds himself needing to question a child who has been a witness to a crime in the series’ first installment, THE LEGACY. Over the course of this series, their paths cross repeatedly, and their relationship grows and develops. Their partnership isn’t always an easy one, and their banter and bickering bring a welcome dash of humor to an otherwise very dark series. I highly recommend the Children’s House books for anyone who loves dark, gritty, and quite violent crime fiction.
Along with her outstanding series novels, Sigurdardottir is also the author of three utterly chilling standalone books. In her standalone novels, Sigurdardottir leans into elements of horror: her standalone novels range from creepy and spine-tingling to flat-out terrifying. While Sigurdardottir’s dark imagination certainly contributes to her series books, it’s her standalone novels that really put her love of all things scary on full display. I would highly recommend any of her three standalone novels (I REMEMBER YOU, THE UNDESIRED, and WHY DID YOU LIE?) to anyone who wants an extra-creepy and chilling read, but I have to give a special shoutout to my personal favorite standalone of hers, I REMEMBER YOU. This brilliant book weaves together a mystery and a haunted house story to utterly terrifying effect. As an added bonus, an Icelandic film adaptation of it has been made, and it’s great! Read the book before you watch the movie so you get the fullest sense of the story.
Where to begin with Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s work:
For readers who want to dig into a new series: Begin with the first book in Yrsa’s Children’s House series, THE LEGACY, and read the series in order from there. Each book features a standalone case, but you won’t want to miss the development of Yrsa’s series protagonists over the course of the books.
For readers who want a standalone book: Start with I REMEMBER YOU, my personal favorite standalone novel of Yrsa’s! Note that this book does have supernatural elements to it.
Ragnar Jonasson
Classic Crime Inspired | Two Series | Slow-Burning and Immersive
Ragnar Jonasson is another personal favorite author of mine, and his classic-crime inspired writing style has proven to be a surefire hit for me book after book. Jonasson, a lawyer in Iceland who is also a huge fan of classic crime fiction, blends his love of Golden Age detective stories with modern suspense in his subtle-yet-gripping crime novels. Fun fact: Ragnar Jonasson actually translated a number of Agatha Christie books into Icelandic! The influence of Christie’s work can absolutely be found in Jonasson’s writing, and anyone who loves Christie and wants to find modern novels with a similar vibe simply must check out Ragnar Jonasson’s work, particularly his Dark Iceland books. Jonasson is the author of two series: the Dark Iceland series and the Hidden Iceland series. He also has a standalone novel releasing in the US in the spring of 2021 called THE GIRL WHO DIED, so keep an eye out for that one as well! Jonasson’s style is elegant, subtle, and immersive—his novels deliver compelling and clever mysteries for readers to solve, and wrap readers up the chilling atmosphere and stunning beauty of Iceland.
When it comes to Ragnar Jonasson’s body of work, you basically can’t go wrong—I’ve loved every single book of his that I’ve read so far (and that’s all of them that are currently available in English!) My personal favorite series of Jonasson’s is his Hidden Iceland series, but I frequently recommend his Dark Iceland books as well. Let’s start with a discussion of his Dark Iceland series, his first series to be published. The Dark Iceland books follow a young police officer named Ari Thor, who works in the small town of Siglufjordur. The first book in the Dark Iceland series, SNOWBLIND, puts a fresh spin on a “locked room” style mystery: a snowstorm cuts off the one road leading into and out of the town of Siglufjordur, trapping the town’s residents inside. When a body is found under suspicious circumstances, Ari Thor finds himself investigating a murder and interrogating the residents of Siglufjordur, all the while knowing that the killer must be trapped inside the town, too. With no one able to enter the town and no one able to leave the town, either, it’s up to Ari Thor to solve the case and protect his fellow townspeople. The Dark Iceland books are slow-burning, classic-crime inspired mysteries, perfect for your winter TBR list. As an added bonus, the final installment of this series will be released this winter!
Along with his Dark Iceland books, Ragnar Jonasson is also the author of the outstanding Hidden Iceland trilogy, my personal favorite project of Jonasson’s thus far. The Hidden Iceland trilogy is a truly innovative crime series: this series is actually told chronologically backwards. Following a female police officer in the male-dominated Reykjavik police department, the Hidden Iceland trilogy presents readers with chilling mysteries and a whole lot of intrigue in protagonist Hulda Hermannsdottir’s personal life, too. In the first installment in this trilogy, THE DARKNESS, readers meet Hulda at the end of her career in the police force, as she prepares to tackle one last case before retiring. From the outset of this trilogy, it will be clear to readers that Hulda is a woman with many secrets, and as the trilogy progresses, readers travel back in time to uncover those secrets for themselves. The structure for this trilogy is wildly ambitious, but Jonasson pulls it off flawlessly, delivering one of the most unique reading experiences in any current crime fiction series I can think of. I absolutely love the Hidden Iceland books—each book reveals new facets of protagonist Hulda Hermannsdottir’s life, while also delivering cleverly-plotted mysteries for readers to solve.
Where to begin with Ragnar Jonasson’s work:
For fans of classic crime fiction: begin with SNOWBLIND, the first book in Jonasson’s Dark Iceland series, and read the series in publication order.
For fans of compelling female protagonists: read Ragnar Jonasson’s Hidden Iceland trilogy! Begin with THE DARKNESS and read the trilogy in publication order.
And that’s a wrap on this week’s Spotlight on Icelandic Crime Fiction! Are you a fan of any of these authors? Are any of these books on your TBR list? I’d love to hear from you! And come back next Sunday for our next Nordic Noir spotlight. Happy reading! xx A
Home ownership feel like a distant dream? Zillow listings have you convinced you’ll be renting for the rest of your life? The woman at the heart of Carissa Orlando’s debut The September House feels your pain—and she’s prepared to put up with a lot if it means she and her husband can finally have a place to call their own. In this case, that might just mean living in a house that’s haunted. Playful and irreverent, spine-tingling and spooky, The September House puts a fresh spin on the classic haunted house story, delivering an immersive tale about the secrets lurking within one building’s walls, and within the lives of its inhabitants.