Snowblind: A Thriller
SynopsisPlot
Where: A quiet fishing village in northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors. It is accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Who: Ari Thor is a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik. He has a past that he's unable to leave behind. What: A young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed elderly writer falls to his death. Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.
Story
About this book
Snowblind is set in Siglufjörður, a small fishing village in northern Iceland reachable only through a single mountain tunnel. The story follows Ari Thór Arason, a young policeman who has just taken up his first assignment in this remote posting, leaving behind his girlfriend and life in Reykjavik. The isolation of the village, hemmed in by mountains and snow, shapes the atmosphere from the first pages.
Two unsettling events arrive close together. A young woman is discovered half-naked and unconscious in the snow, and an elderly writer, well regarded in the community, dies after a fall at the local theater. Ari finds himself pulled into investigations where the tight-knit residents guard their privacy fiercely. Trust is scarce, and long-held local secrets complicate every line of questioning. The novel belongs to the Dark Iceland series by Ragnar Jónasson, who studied in Siglufjörður and translated Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic before writing his own crime fiction.
The physical setting functions almost as a character in itself. Winter darkness, heavy snowfall, and the single tunnel connecting the village to the outside world create a confined space where suspicion spreads quickly and escape is not simple. Ari also carries unresolved troubles from his own past, which surface as the pressure of the cases grows.
