**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Double Blind by Sara Winokur was a mystery that held me tight. I loved learning about Icelandic culture and recipes that were mentioned throughout the book. I was confused and shocked at the ending I didn't see coming.

What a fantastic fast paced Scandinavian thriller to close out the month with!

I stayed up to finish it and it was well worth it.

As someone who loves thrillers and noir that have different plot points added in - this one was perfect! Full of forensic science, poisonings, murder, missing people, and much more and I don’t think the plot was bogged down at all with so much going on. Plus, the sense of place was so great that I felt like I was right there in the middle of the investigation. The only things keeping me from giving this five stars was that some of the actions from multiple characters weren’t explained at the end which felt like loose ends to me. Maybe just one more chapter could’ve summed it up a little better, but overall I loved it.

Highly recommend.

The intriguing premise of Double Blind was what attracted me to it.. Being an avid Nordic Noir reader it seemed to have all the elements perfect for a crime novel. It's set in a remote area of Iceland which has the potential for creating an ominous atmosphere. It has a geneticist as main character which is a welcome change from the usual, predictable investigator/journalist/policeman or woman as a lead. There's the mystery of a child disappearing many years ago and of course, the thread of the poems delivered to Brynja hinting at her brother's disappearance and the possibility that he's still alive. And, lastly, the killing of three people by poisoning. Brynja has to figure out who sends her the messages and find the murderer as well as her brother - if he's still alive.

Despite all these seemingly perfect ingredients Double Blind somehow fell short of being a gripping crime fiction novel. I must admit that I read a lot of Nordic Noir, so I might be more demanding and picky than other readers. For someone who hasn't read crime fiction from Iceland, this will be perfectly entertaining. And for the most part it was. But there were certain aspects which made this a frustrating and at times, boring read.

1. Too much information about everything. There's no need to give long paragraphs explaining Icelandic history, how surnames in Iceland works, where the horses come from or recipes. If a reader is interested, they'll find out for themselves. It breaks the flow of the story and unnecessarily makes it sound encyclopedic. I largely just skipped over these parts. This is also the difference between a native Icelandic author who writes about their country and a non-Icelandic author who is an observer and assumes their reader doesn't know anything about the country. Information about a setting is important, but it needs to be worked into the narrative in a subtle way, not as chunks of explanations.
2. Brynja asks a lot of questions as part of her internal dialogue. This is fine, but it's happens too often and there's a great deal of repetition. She's just not convincing or a strong character.
3. Although the story starts with a bang with her brother's disappearance the rest of the book develops extremely slowly. There's little momentum to drive it along and for me, there was a lack of tension.

The details around genetics were interesting, but without a strong, driven plot and well-developed, interesting characters, unfortunately, Double Blind fell short for me.

Brynja and her twin brother attended a local celebration and while Brynja was on the carousel, her brother suddenly disappeared. Twenty years later, Brynja starts receiving poems that are taken from some old manuscripts which were previously held in Denmark, and seem to refer to her missing brother; they give her hope that he is still alive. Brynja is an accomplished forensic geneticist in Iceland, and there is controversy over a DNA database that many are opposed to. Unfortunately, there are some murders occurring, and in her search for her brother, Brynja helps with the investigation. She also is worried about her ailing father and returns to her family home when her work allows, and tries to get information related to her brother’s disappearance and the devastation it had brought upon her family.

One of the best parts of this novel is the cultural aspect; most readers don’t have much of a sense of life in Iceland, and the author is masterful in giving the readers a taste of living in a cold, dark place with a unique history. Winokur does an excellent job of telling a credible story with building suspense. The characters are well-developed, and believable, and the information on DNA research is fascinating. Winokur has obviously done some research herself (it helps that the author has a Ph.D. in molecular genetics), and while fiction, the historical aspects and the DNA information in the novel is factual. There are twists and turns, and Brynja finds herself and others close to her in danger.

All told, this is an excellent thriller. It has enough scenarios going on to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and many will find themselves staying up late to keep reading. Hopefully there will be more thrillers set in Iceland by this author.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Anchor House Publishing for the ARC of this book in exchange for my own opinion.

This book was so good, I didn't want it to end. I was a little tired of reading books about killers but I'm so glad I read this book.

I absolutely loved the Danish and Icelandic culture, the science and forensics and the whole puzzle of this book.

I absolutely recommend.

5 stars!

Promising! Brynja's search for her brother can be felt at a personal level. The author, a molecular geneticist herself, gives life to a believable story filled with cliffhangers.

Double Blind was a phenomenal debut novel.
A young boy disappears in Iceland. Twenty years later, a cryptic parchment containing clues to his disappearance finds its way onto the desk of his twin sister, Brynja, a forensic geneticist. As Brynja races to solve the mystery of her brothers disappearance, and clings to hope that he is still alive after twenty years, it is evident that someone will stop at nothing, even murder, to keep Brynja from the truth.

Author Sara Winokur is a geneticist herself, a fact that is evident as she easily explains the foundations of DNA and RNA and how they help in solving cases throughout the book. The science was solid, the characters were well rounded with some rough edges, and the setting was gorgeous. Interested in seeing more from this author in years to come.

* I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Brynja Pálsdóttir's twin brother, Lukas disappeared when they were children, which has haunted Brynja ever since. 20 years after Lukas's disappearance, Brynja is the head of forensics for a genetics company and works with the police analyzing DNA research to help solve crimes. When she receives an anonymous poem at work that seems to have clues to her brother's whereabouts and referencing a valuable Icelandic manuscript, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a poisoner who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the information. Will she be able to find her brother and solve the case before her time runs out?

Double Blind is full of Icelandic culture and genetic research. Winokur does a great job explaining the genetics in an understandable and exciting way. The overall story is good, but at times repetitive. The plot is interesting enough that it doesn't get bogged down by history between Iceland and Denmark. The mystery had plenty of twists and turns and kept me guessing until the end. I look forward to seeing what Sara Winokur writes in the future.

I've always been interested in crime shows like Unsolved Mysteries and Forensic Files, so I wanted to start reading books in the same genre. I simply loved this book, to the point where I was staying up at night reading page after page dying to know what would happen next. If you're going to read one crime/forensic/mystery book this year, let this one be it.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

I was excited to read this especially for the setting, but I didn't really like the main character and the story dragged.

When Brynja was little, she lost sight of her twin brother Lukas at a funfair, and he disappeared. As an adult, she is still haunted by this event, and determined to find out what happened to her brother. Then, one day, a mysterious poem is delivered to her, which references the Icelandic sagas to give her a hint that Lukas may still be alive. As the head of Iceland's forensic genetics department, she is in the perfect position to discreetly follow-up on this poem and try to determine its source.

While she does so, things begin to take a dark turn. A cake arrives for her, which she does not eat due to being a coeliac, and the man who does so is hospitalised. Brynja finds a threatening message in the packaging, again referencing the sagas, but this time written written on different parchment and with different ink. She also sends this for analysis, and is caught between wondering why she would be receiving hints to look for Lukas, as well as threats not to.

Winokur has a good concept here of a series of murders tied to Iceland's most treasured cultural artefacts, but it is let down in her execution. She acknowledges in an afterword that some of the plot elements could not possibly happen in real life, so why put them in at all? It is also just a bit much to swallow that Brynja's secret boyfriend is the PM of Iceland. I also found it a bit patronising, in a book centred on genetics, that the author kept pointing out that Lukas and Brynja were fraternal twins, as if it could be otherwise.

This is a semi- police procedural based in Iceland. I knew nothing about the deeper issues between Denmark and Iceland, but I got a full lesson here! The story itself was interesting but felt like a second book type material instead of a first. Every person we encounter has a back story that we only get glimpses of until it forms a complete picture.

The book jumps right into the plot by telling us how a pair of twins get separated when young. The one we have our eyes on, the girl grows up to works as a forensic geneticist and routinely does police investigations as well. She is a woman in a male-dominated field, and that comes with its own set of problems, especially with her recent promotion. She is sent a cryptic poem which indicates that her brother may be alive and well. It spins into a multi-level conspiracy problem and a lot of branches of sub-issues with her life. The local lingo is used with required translations when required, it may be a little distracting to a few readers. It was a pretty solid story, and I almost guessed a part of the twist in the beginning, but I was still surprised with the complete set of revelations, even is I was not wholly invested in the outcome.

A little slow for my taste but it does have an interesting background, and I got to travel to a whole new country.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I looked forward to reading this book because of its setting. I’ve toured Iceland and fell in love with the country. Also, I’m a fan of Nordic crime fiction. Unfortunately, despite its setting and genre, this novel didn’t win me over.

Brynja, a forensic geneticist, receives a cryptic poem which seems to suggest that her twin brother Lúkas, who went missing 20 years earlier, is alive. The poem leads her to become convinced that answers lie in a medieval manuscript of Icelandic sagas. Unfortunately, people connected to the manuscript end up dying, and she receives warnings to stop her search.

In the Author’s Note, Winokur states, “medieval Icelandic manuscripts are Iceland’s most precious treasures and would never be couriered around the country simply for someone to have a look at it [sic].” Why then does she have this done in the book? Using an (openly admitted) unrealistic event does not “enhance the story line”; that event just undermines the credibility of the book.

There are other issues with the book. For instance, there are many information dumps. Some deal with genetics and others deal with things Icelandic. For example, here’s information about Icelandic horses: “her Icelandic horse, her precious Drífa, belonged to an ancient time, a breed of horse lost everywhere but here. Drífa’s genes led back to the Asian steppes, to the Mongolian horses that had carried Genghis Khan to victory. The horses spread to Russia and Norse settlers brought them to Iceland in the ninth and tenth centuries, where they mixed with breeds imported from the British Isles. Along the way, Drífa's forebears had developed mutations which, instead of causing disease, adapted the horse to the harsh conditions of the Icelandic landscape, granting the creature a sure-footed gait, a thick mane and tail, and a double-coated hide for insulation against the cold.” This description, which goes on even longer, may be interesting but is totally irrelevant. Likewise, what is the purpose of including recipes for skyr with bilberries, Iceland moss soup, and horsemeat stew? The medicinal uses of plants may be interesting to an herbalist but including long lists of these plants adds nothing to the plot.

Brynja is not a likeable protagonist. At times, she comes across as an annoying know-it-all. Then at other times, she seems totally dense: she realizes “with a surge of excitement” that she can use RNA to help solve a case. I am not a scientist, but I know that RNA can identify the organ source of human tissue, so why should this be such a revelation to a geneticist? She even has to check a genetics website “to confirm her thinking”?! Brynja is Director of Forensic Sciences but she doesn’t know that her boss is informed whenever anyone accesses a specific database? She has reached her position but still behaves unprofessionally and unethically by thinking of accessing medical information for personal reasons? Brynja’s relationship with Ari is problematic. She is engaged to him, but she doesn’t seem to completely trust him? On the other hand, she has a new intern as an assistant but she trusts her immediately?

There’s a narrative technique which is very annoying: Brynja says she is going to do something but then there is no indication she does this until we are told she did. For example, “She had called the doctor last night and was told he would be in his office at nine. She could call in an hour.” Then, her time is accounted for and she doesn’t make a phone call, though she says later, “’Actually, I called as well. The doctor’s coming by this afternoon.’” These types of inconsistencies happen several times.

And there are other inconsistencies. A person eats half a tart made with yew berries and gets brittle nails and dry skin immediately? Icelandic medical staff makes diagnoses by comparing symptoms found in animals like horses and sheepdogs? Three guards “were stationed in front of the church” but one says, “’I was the only one on duty at the time; the other officers were asleep’”? Brynja must wear cotton gloves to touch an ancient book, but the pastor touches it with his bare hands? Brynja suffers from visual auras and she thinks she must rest “to gain some control over the migraines.” Later she says that some incidents “were a result of migraines and temporary auras.” My research indicates that aura symptoms strike before migraines; Brynja has visual disturbances but never suffers from migraines. A police guard is aware that a crime took place at a location but she thinks she has to call the police and have them rope off the crime scene? A man is admitted into a “Memory Care Home” even though a doctor said “a diagnosis of dementia was premature”? A man has no pulse and Brynja fails to revive him, but she “gasps” when she later learns the man is in a coma? Brynja put the poem “on the nightstand, slipped off the bathrobe, and climbed back into bed” but then “Brynja slipped out of bed, walked to the table, and returned with the poem”?! Elly speaks to a mail clerk and gets some information like, “’He was sure it was posted from a foreign country’” but then Brynja can’t speak with him because “he was away on vacation”? I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point.

Sometimes things seem thrown into the story for little reason. What’s with María’s strange behaviour? Her wanting to sell vegetables from her garden is insufficient explanation for her oddness! Why is there a bizarre interaction between Elly and Rúnar involving Iceland poppy tea? Why does Pastor Dalmann say that the manuscript will “’never leave this church again’” when it is destined for the Akureyri Museum? What’s the point of the animosity between Brynja and Henning? What’s the motive for Rúnar and Henning “meeting so often and in private”?

The motive of the villain is very weak considering all that he does. His obsession just doesn’t adequately explain his actions; as one character say, “’Pretty extreme, though, killing people and all.’” This person who “except for driving the pickup into town for the occasional errand . . . pretty much kept to himself” takes the truck described as an “old bucket of bolts” because “the door’s practically hanging from the hinges” and drives halfway across Iceland to the Westfjords?

As I said at the beginning, I really looked forward to a good Nordic crime novel; unfortunately, this book has so many problems with it that I kept wanting it to just end.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

"A young boy disappears in the chill of North Iceland. Twenty years later, a mysterious poem lands on the desk of his twin sister Brynja, a forensic geneticist, and rekindles her hopes that her brother might be alive. As Brynja unravels the clues, more poems arrive, each bearing dire consequences for those who receive them: the guard of the medieval manuscript of Icelandic sagas that possibly has the answer to her burning question, the prime minister’s secretary, the local pastor."

Language, literature, and murder intertwined to make me one happy reader.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant forensic geneticist Brynja Pálsdóttir has been haunted by the disappearance of her twin brother most of her life. It has driven her to work in concert with the police, using cutting edge DNA research to help them solve crimes. She receives a mysterious poem that seemingly contains clues about her brother and what happened to him. The verse references ancient, valuable Icelandic manuscripts, spurring Brynja into an investigation that will push her boundaries and have her delving deep into Icelandic history and lead her to discover long buried family secrets. The tension mounts with each mysterious poem and death seems to follow Brynja at every turn. Will she be able to solve this case before it’s too late?


My thoughts:

Double Blind is rich in Icelandic culture and full of interesting genetic research. The chilly atmosphere in this story is oppressive and really lends to the tension Ms. Winokur has deftly woven into these pages. The plot is complex, well researched, but it’s really the lyrical, descriptive writing that shines here. I felt almost like I was there. Winokur writes using all the senses and includes details and lore that made me feel as though I was truly learning about Icelandic culture without bogging the story down too much. It’s also very apparent that Winokur knows her stuff about genetic research, as she should given her background.

The mystery was developed enough to hold my attention, though I must admit I figured things out fairly early. I expect Winokur to only get better at this aspect of her novels in the future. All in all, this was a good quick read, I enjoyed. I will be looking forward to more of Sara Winokur’s work in the future. Solid debut.

3.5/5

This book seemed like it should have been perfect for me - genetics, Iceland, nature, and a mystery all rolled into one. Unfortunately, I found this book a bit frustrating with its convoluted plot and unnatural dialogue (Brynja often sounded like she was reading Wikipedia entries). I have rarely highlighted so many passages on my kindle just because I found them ridiculous or annoying. I thought the relationship between Brynja and her Danish assistant was unbelievable - why would Brynja put so much trust in someone she didn't know when she thought people were "out to get her". And I really disliked that idea that Brynja's boyfriend would somehow be able to make the manuscripts available to for her personal use. I realize that is explained in the end that this would happen, but then it SHOULDNT happen in this book to advance a major plot point. I feel like this book contains every possible Icelandic thing the author could think of, when it would have been a much better book if time would have been spent on character development. An abbreviated review is being posted on goodreads.

I was surprised by how good this book was. Reading it you could tell the author is new and finding her way. But with that said the book is well put together with the way the story weaves in historical facts with scientific facts to make the story more believable and three dimensional. I liked all the tid-bits of Icelandic lore that were peppered throughout the story, I felt like I learned a lot of neat facts that might someday come in handy while watching Jeopardy. There were only a few pacing issues where the story sort of dragged on slightly. If you are looking for a nice simple quick read this would be a great pick.

Thank you NetGalley and Anchor House Publishing for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! Not only did I learn a bit about Icelandic culture, language and history but a bit about herbalism, too. The history of Iceland was the motive for the crimes and the use of herbs were the deadly weapons.

When Brynja was 7 her twin, Lukas, went missing. She has never stopped looking for him or let go of the guilt she has felt for him going missing.

Twenty years later Brynja is the director of Legacy, a national DNA registry that works closely with the police, and is engaged to the Prime Minister of Iceland. She receives a mysterious poem that brings the memory of her missing brother rushing back. The poem is the first of other poems (taken from traditional Icelandic Sagas) that accompany the murders.

The author does a good job of building suspense and leaving clues (some of them misleading). I wasn't sure "who dunnit" until the last few pages.

I've been reading Scandinavian books since 1993 with Høeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow and I highly recommend Sara Winokur's, who's a Molecular Geneticist from the U.S.A., because her book DOUBLE BLIND: The Icelandic Manuscript Murders by Sara Winokur which will be published 31 March 2020, is really, really interesting. Even with the English words put together like German words, I loved this story. It's a about Brynja and Lúkas, who are twins, separated at about 7 years of age. After about 23 years Brynja still was looking her brother. So we see her as a geneticist, she got involved in the Saga's which were sent to her from an unknown sender giving her clues to find Lúkas and also warning her, she might be killed. The warnings were found to be really true in that 3 people were killed or were they warnings. She also had Ari, who was the Prime Minister of Iceland, and her fiance, giving her the right to look at the Saga's with gloves. She also had her lifelong friend, Stína, helping her meet with men who were interested in the Saga's. At work she had Elly as an intern working through the summer, she was from Denmark. All these people were involved with Brynja in finding out who was the killer. Brynja was the first person to come under the radar of genetic's, why? I've purposely left out the many stories that make this book so interesting. Sara uses genetic's to give the story some body and the Saga's to wrap it up. I won't say a word but DOUBLE BLIND: The Icelandic Manuscript Murders.

This murder mystery is a convoluted mess that asks readers not just to suspend their sense of disbelief but to believe in entirely nonsensical things altogether. It could have been a good, straightforward crime novel involving a DNA lab, an ancient manuscript, and politics, but instead the author also included kidnapped siblings, false histories, romantic angst (by the protagonist), breaches of professional ethics (also by the protagonist), science that is treated like magic and misrepresented so badly it would win an award to misrepresentation, old friends with fun sex lives (upon whom the protagonist frowns), utterly implausible procedures in terms of everyday politics and work, horses, farms, and much much, alas, more. I wish this had gone through a heavy development edit; it might have yielded something good.