The Island by Ragnar JónassonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I started reading The Island, Hidden Iceland Series Book 2, I had no idea this is a trilogy written backwards. So, this precedes Book 1 in chronological order and had me confused when I soon encountered Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir. Hang on a minute, isn't she....? And then the penny dropped! Book 3 will no doubt go back even further. It's of no consequence as this reads well as a standalone. And what a cracking read it is as Hulda travels to the isolated island of Elliðaey to investigate the unexplained death of a young woman, one of four friends who had visited the island. There seem to be similarities to a notorious case from ten years ago, another woman found murdered in the equally desolate Westfjords. It doesn't help matters that this earlier case was investigated by her senior colleague, Lýdur. What part did detective Andrés have to play? There is something not quite right here.
Hulda has three suspects and it seems that no one is telling the truth about what really happened on Elliðaey. Do past events have a bearing on this case? Didn't someone confess to the earlier murder and later commit suicide?
Beautifully constructed this haunting tale had me gripped throughout as our tragic protagonist conducts her rôle with persistence to unravel this intriguing mystery. Another excellent piece of Icelandic noir from Ragnar Jónasson and highly recommended.
My thanks to Michael Joseph Penguin UK and NetGalley for this ARC of The Island.
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