Blackout

‘A classic crime story seen through a uniquely Icelandic lens … first rate and highly recommended’ Lee Child

‘Jónasson’s books have breathed new life into Nordic noir’ Jake Kerridge,
Sunday Express

‘British aficionados of Nordic Noir are familiar with two excellent Icelandic writers, Arnaldur Indriðason and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. Here’s a third: Ragnar Jónasson … the darkness and cold are palpable’ Marcel Berlins,
The Times

‘A distinctive blend of Nordic Noir and Golden Age detective fiction … economical and evocative prose, as well as some masterful prestidigitation’ Laura Wilson,
Guardian

‘The best part is the brittle, agonising relationship between Arason and his girlfriend, Kristín: here the temperature really falls to zero’
Spectator

‘Jónasson’s writing is a masterful reinvention of the Golden Age classic style, both contemporary and timeless … enclosed by the poetic beauty of the location’ Crime Review

‘A modern take on an Agatha Christie-style mystery, as twisty as any slalom…’ Ian Rankin

‘A tense and convincing thriller; Jónasson is a welcome addition to the roster of Scandi authors…’ Susan Moody

‘Ragnar Jónasson writes with a chilling, poetic beauty – a must-read addition to the growing canon of Iceland Noir’ Peter James

‘Seductive … an old-fashioned murder mystery with a strong central character and the fascinating background of a small Icelandic town cut off by snow. Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully’ Ann Cleeves

‘His first novel to be translated into English has all the skilful plotting of an old-fashioned whodunnit although it feels bitingly contemporary in setting and tone’ Jake Kerridge,
Sunday Express

‘The people of Siglufjörður and the far north … are all so deftly described in such perfect detail that the dark and the cold and the loneliness of this sub-Arctic region enveloped me from the very start’ Max Easterman, European Literature Network

‘On the face of it,
Snowblind
is a gigantic locked-room mystery, an investigation into murder and other crimes within a closed society with a limited number of suspects … Jónasson plays fair with the reader – his clues are traditional and beautifully finessed – and he keeps you turning the pages.
Snowblind
is morally more equivocal than most traditional whodunnits, and it offers alluring glimpses of darker, and infinitely more threatening horizons’
Independent

‘Ragnar Jónasson’s
Snowblind
is as dazzling a novel as its title implies and the wonderful Ari Thór is a welcome addition to the pantheon of Scandinavian detectives. I can’t wait until the sequel!’ William Ryan

‘A truly chilling debut, perfect for fans of Karin Fossum and Henning Mankell’ Eva Dolan

‘An isolated community, subtle clueing, clever mis-direction and more than a few surprises combine to give a modern day Golden Age whodunnit. Well Done! I look forward to the next in the series’ Dr John Curran

‘
Snowblind
brings you the chill of a snowbound Icelandic fishing village cut off from the outside world, and the warmth of a really well-crafted and translated murder mystery’ Michael Ridpath

‘The complex characters and absorbing plot make
Snowblind
memorable. Its setting – Siglufjörður, a small fishing village isolated in the depths of an Icelandic winter – makes it unforgettable. Let’s hope that more of this Icelandic author’s work will be translated’ Sandra Balzo

‘In Ari Thór Arason, Nordic Noir has a new hero as compelling and interesting as the Northern Icelandic setting’ Nick Quantrill

‘If a Golden Age crime novel was to emerge from a literary deep freeze then you’d hope it would read like this. Jónasson cleverly squeezes this small, isolated town in northern Iceland until it is hard to breathe, ensuring the setting is as claustrophobic as any locked room. If you call your book “Snowblind” then you better make sure it’s chilling. He does.’ Craig Robertson

‘If Arnaldur is the King and Yrsa the Queen of Icelandic crime fiction, then Ragnar is surely the Crown Prince … more please!’ Karen Meek, EuroCrime

‘Ragnar Jónasson brilliantly evokes the claustrophobia of small-town Iceland in this intriguing murder mystery. Let’s hope this is the first of many translations by Quentin Bates’ Zoë Sharp

‘Ragnar Jónasson is simply brilliant at planting a hook and using the magic of a dark Icelandic winter to reel in the story.
Snowblind
screams isolation and darkness in an exploration of the basic Icelandic nature with all its attendant contrasts and extremes, amid a plot filled with twists, turns, and one surprise after another’ Jeffrey Siger

‘A chilling, thrilling slice of Icelandic Noir’ Thomas Enger

‘A stunning murder mystery set in the northernmost town in Iceland, written by one of the country’s finest crime writers. Ragnar has Nordic Noir down pat – a remote small-town mystery that is sure to please crime fiction aficionados’ Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

‘
Snowblind
is a brilliantly crafted crime story that gradually unravels old secrets in a small Icelandic town … an excellent debut from a talented Icelandic author. I can’t wait to read more’ Sarah Ward

‘Is King Arnaldur Indriðason looking to his laurels? There is a young pretender beavering away, his eye on the crown: Ragnar Jónasson…’ Barry Forshaw

‘An intricately plotted crime novel,
Snowblind
is a remarkable début. Ragnar Jónasson has delivered an intelligent whodunnit that updates, stretches, and redefines the locked-room mystery format. The author’s cool clean prose constructs atmospheric word pictures that recreate the harshness of an Icelandic winter in the reader’s mind. Destined to be an instant classic’ EuroDrama

‘
Snowblind
is a beautifully written thriller, as tense as it is terrifying – Jónasson is a writer with a big future’ Luca Veste

‘It sometimes feels as if everyone in Iceland is writing crime novels but the first appearance of Ragnar Jonasson in English translation (itself a fluid adaptation by British mystery writer Quentin Bates) is cause for celebration’ Maxim Jakubowski, LoveReading

‘
Snowblind
has given rise to one of the biggest buzzes in the crime fiction world, and refreshingly usurps the cast iron grip of the present obsession with domestic noir … a complex and perplexing case, in a claustrophobic and chilling setting…’ Raven Crime Reads

‘The intricate plotting is reminiscent of the great Christie the setting is very much more modern and darker. There is an increasing tension and threat, that mirrors the developing snow storm and creates a sense of isolation and confinement, ensuring that the story develops strongly once the characters and scene are laid out’ Live Many Lives

‘Jonasson’s prose throughout this entire novel is captivating, and frequently borders on the poetic, constructing something that is both beautiful and uncomfortable for the reader. … a simply stunning piece of prose that will certainly put him in the thick of the crime genre in the United Kingdom’ MadHatter Reviews

‘
Snowblind
uses its stunningly beautiful yet brutally remote setting to create a chilling, atmospheric locked-room mystery. Ragnar Jónasson is an outstanding new voice in Nordic Noir’ Crime Thriller Girl

‘Dark Iceland? This man not only invented it, he rules it. From the opening page, the tension and chilling horror is there. The idyllic snow angel image is no longer full of childhood innocence and the Snowblind of the title covers your eyes with white flurries and clouds of mist that shroud the mystery and intrigue’ The Booktrail

‘
Snowblind
is a subtle, quiet mystery set in the most exquisite landscape – a slow burner that will suck you in and not let you go until you finish the final page’ Reading Room with a View

‘Just when I think I’ve had enough of the frozen north, another promising author shows up. This is a truly enjoyable debut, hinting at much more to come. A charming combination of influences, which feels very fresh and will appeal to those who find cosy crime too twee and Scandinavian noir too depressing’ Crime Fiction Lover

‘
Snowblind
epitomises exactly this sort of exciting, new cross-genre fiction. It is a fusion of Nordic Noir and Golden Age detective fiction, with Christie-esque plotting, characterisation and narrative techniques’ Vicky Newham

‘For a debut novel,
Snowblind
is startlingly confident and sure-footed. The characters and dialogue all ring true, the plot is original and packed with plenty a surprise. Perhaps most pleasingly of all, Jónasson steers clear of hackneyed plot devices and reveals’ Mumbling about Music

‘A damn good thriller’ OMG That Book

‘The plot twists and turns as the investigation uncovers a plethora of old deceits and current intrigues. Festering wounds are opened spilling secrets as dark as the days, as shocking as the blood on the suffocating snow’ Never Imitate

‘There is something almost hauntingly melancholic about this story. The claustrophobia felt by Ari Thor is palpable. You can almost feel the walls of snow caging you in and the sense of almost perpetual winter darkness makes you reach for the light switch’ From First Page to Last

‘Jónasson has bestowed his characters with unique, more importantly believable, personalities, and has made sure that their interactions throughout serve mainly to play on readers’ mind and psychology’ Book Fabulous

‘Ragnar Jonasson’s debut
Snowblind
is a brilliant new thriller with storytelling that is clear and crisp … The plot twists and turns as the tension and intensity builds and we are treated to an excellent ending’ Liz Loves Books

‘The small town mentality juxtaposes with the vastness of the landscape and lends an eeriness to the overall narrative. The prose is delightful with moments of exceptional clarity’ Bleach House Library

‘If you like cold and claustrophobic settings as I do, then this might just be the book for you. Jónasson does a wonderful job placing you right there in the small snowed-in town’ Rebecca Bradley

‘A tiny, segregated town is a superb setting for a crime novel, and Jónasson exploits it well. He builds a layered mystery featuring a series of unhealthy secrets, and past crimes buried deep in the sheltered, almost claustrophobic recesses of family life, which Ari Thor will pay a high price for unravelling’
Thriller Books Journal

‘If the rest of the Dark Iceland series is as accomplished as
Snowblind
, Ragnar Jónasson’s name is poised to become as common place as that of Stieg Larsson’s. Don’t be fooled into thinking Jónasson is a mere imitation. By deconstructing the Golden Age traditional mystery within a foreign setting, Ragnar Jónasson has practically created his own genre. For lack of a better term, let’s call this Cosy Noir’ Bolo Books

‘
Snowblind
– a masterclass in scene setting and subtle tension building … Where Agatha Christie created a murder mystery with a small suspect pool on a fast moving train or within a large country house, Ragnar Jónasson creates the same feel in a whole town’ Grab This Book

‘Siglufjörður is a wonderfully evocative setting; encircled by mountains and cut-off in the winter when the roads are impassable, as the complex web of secrets becomes ever more enmeshed, its small-town, suffocating darkness heightens Ari Thór’s increasing paranoia at being an outsider in his own land.’ Claire Thinking

‘Jónasson evokes an almost timeless feel to his narrative, with only mobile phones and computers reminding us that this is the 21st century. It’s no surprise, either, to discover that Jónasson has translated 14 Agatha Christie novels into Icelandic, as
Snowblind
has echoes of Golden Age stories. Siglufjörður may be light years away from St Mary Mead, but villagers here have secrets to hide’ Sharon Wheeler, Crime Review

‘There are so many things I like about Jónasson’s books – the characters, the sense of place, the way he stays well within the bounds of credibility at all times and, perhaps most of all, the excellent plotting. The books are solid police procedurals that don’t, as so much current crime fiction does, suddenly turn into ridiculous shoot-’em-up thrillers in the last few chapters’ Petrona Remembered

‘… beautifully put together and the uncovering of a shadowy world of secrets is done with fine attention to detail’ JaffaReadsToo

‘Beautifully crafted and just terribly addictive’ Northern Crime

‘Like a good Christie, the information is all there, should you be careful enough to process it. There is no sudden, unexpected and unearned twist. Also like Christie, the language (expertly translated by Quentin Bates) is stripped down: fresh and unflowery. But unlike Christie, you spend your time afterwards thinking not of the plot twists but about the theme of the novel itself. It’s crime with something to say’ Café Thinking

‘As crime fiction goes this is recognisable, though utterly compelling, police procedural drama … hugely readable and dangerously addictive …This is a novel steeped in Icelandic mythology from the isolated and remote settings that capture the wild and other worldly quality of this unique island to the hero detective Ari Thór Arason himself whose name references the hammer wielding Norse god. Jónasson knowingly writes for the domestic audience in Iceland at the same time as appealing to the global market by leveraging Iceland’s idiosyncracies’ Words Shortlist

‘This eagerly-awaited sequel to Jónasson’s debut
Snowblind
doesn’t disappoint … A modern twist on a Christie-style plot, in a vividly atmospheric location, and interesting characters’ Lizzie Hayes, The Mystery People

‘Imagine you could travel back in time, kidnap Agatha Christie, transport her to a remote town in the north of Iceland, pop her in the freezer for a little short of a century then wake her up with a reviving cuppa before pointing her in the direction of the nearest typewriter. The resulting crime drama would not be too far removed from Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series. Yes, it’s that good!’ Hard Book Habit

‘Beautifully written,
Snowblind
comes with great characters; a wonderful sense of place; a cleverly constructed plot; and that introspective, claustrophobic feeling that often appeals to fans of Icelandic and Scandinavian crime fiction. Coupled with a lyrical translation by Quentin Bates there was not an off-key note from start to finish.’ Australian Crime Fiction