I was expecting Icelandic Noir – you know bleak and gritty crime fiction. Instead, I got Icelandic Modern Gothic. Now, this may not have been a thing, but it certainly is now and it works!

Okay, someone may @ me to tell me how this isn’t Gothic, but it totally is. Young woman takes a job in a desolate location teaching two mysterious children. The town is sparsely populated and full of grim people who seems somehow mysteriously wrong. There’s a haunted, dark-haired man who seems to have his own secrets. And, oh, there’s a ghost story attached to the place where she’s staying.

Yep. Totally Gothic.

To be fair, there is a crime, but it’s not the focus of most of the novel.

I loved the book. It was extremely mysterious and chilling. The town is perfectly bleak and there’s something inherently dangerous that seems to seep into every page.

Not noir, but a wonderful story.

*ARC via Net Galley

I am a sucker for an Icelandic mystery, especially one written by Ragnar Jonasson. The setting is the real star of this book for me, an isolated village of ten inhabitants. I love learning about how people cope in these remote settings, and I like how the isolation really brings the reader’s focus to the inhabitants of this town. The story was compelling because I cared about the main character and was interested to see how the parallel story of two murder victims would play into the narrative. I will say the last page was a bit of a disappointment; it was a little,too maudlin for my taste. However, the mystery was satisfying and indulged my fantasy of living in a little pocket of Iceland.

Another chilling read by Ragnar Jonasson.A small town a young woman comes to teach for a year .As as the story unfolds I was drawn more and more into the town the characters and a touch of the paranormal,The story kept me turning the pages faster and faster.Will be recommending.#netgalley #st.martins books

4.5 stars. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to NetGalley and St.Martins Press for this eerie, atmospheric stand-alone thriller by Ragnar Jonasson. I was delighted to receive this ARC by my favourite Nordic (Icelandic) Noir writer. I have read and enjoyed all books in both his series.

His writing evokes a claustrophobic feeling to the isolation and remoteness of small settlements in Iceland's northern parts. The nearby ocean, long hours of winter darkness, and bleak weather makes one feel the chill and the loneliness. Ragnar's previous books have been police procedurals. The setting here is too remote to have any police presence or a hospital. The story takes place in the 1980s without our present-day technology. Serious crime is unknown in this tiny settlement.

30-year-old Una is a teacher from Reykjavik. She has never recovered from her father's tragic suicide near both her birthday and Christmas time. She fears she may have inherited a predisposition for suicide and drinks too much to calm her nerves. She answers an advertisement for a teacher in the tiny settlement of Skalar on the stormy north-east coast of Iceland with its population of 10 inhabitants and only two students, and she feels this would be an opportunity to escape city life.

On arrival, she finds that the villagers do not accept newcomers kindly. She is met by suspicion, rejection and hostility. Her landlady has provided her with a creaky attic apartment in an old home. She has a delightful young daughter who will be one of Una's pupils. The other student is an introverted, sullen girl, and Una finds it difficult to relate to her. While boarding in the home, Una is disturbed by a creepy, ominous feeling. She starts to be disturbed by a piano's sound in a room below and a child singing a lullaby. She believes this is the ghost of a child who died mysteriously in the house almost 60 years earlier. Does she think she has even seen the apparition of the young girl or was her imagination running wild? When she attempts to discuss the possible haunting with anyone, they dismiss the vision and the music due to Una consuming too much wine. The ghost story is well-known folklore in the community.

This element of the supernatural gives the story a menacing, macabre atmosphere. I am not a fan of paranormal is stories, but the author had me believing that ghosts may exist. After being disturbed and frightened, Una has become convinced that the ghost is the result of her imagination and caused by drinking.
There is a sudden, inexplicable, shocking death just before Christmas.


Una is attracted to a pleasant bearded man employed at a farm by an unfriendly, dour older woman. He informs her that a romantic relationship is impossible. She suspects that he may be more than just an employee to the farm owner. A strange man appears at the house, looking for directions to the farm and its female owner. This opens up a criminal subplot that doesn't seem relevant to the story, but it has a major effect on Una and her intent always to follow the correct legal and moral path. Una learns something about the visitor that prompts her to call the city police. Her landlady dismisses the policeman, saying Una's information is a mistake and probably the result of her drinking. Who was the mysterious stranger, and why was he so intent on visiting the remote farm in mid-winter?

Una realizes the villagers harbour deep secrets and have banded together to keep any crimes to themselves. They hold these secrets and keep the awareness of crimes and scandals from unwelcome outsiders and police. This makes the community seem free from any wrongdoings and unpleasantness. Una wants to do the right thing and is increasingly unwelcome and rejected by the villagers. She is distraught and wants to return home and never see Skalar again or its unwelcoming inhabitants. The more she learns, she is caught in a moral dilemma. She begins to feel part of the community and must keep their secrets. And what about the ghost in the house? There are now two of them. How will Una react?

Recommended to anyone who enjoys Nordic Noir containing a mixture of crime and supernatural.

A slow burning thriller that gradually evolves into fast paced. Atmospheric with developed realistic characters, I highly recommend this one.