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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Back by popular demand, Winterkill marks the culmination of the excellent Dark Iceland series. Ragnar Jonasson will not let us part ways with police inspector Ari Thór Arason without one last tricky case to test him with, as a blizzard threatens Siglufjörður, and Arason undergoes his own personal reckoning…
Jonasson has a wonderful knack of putting a dark, sordid crime at the heart of his books but never fails to leave you with a more overriding final impression of the essential goodness of his central character, police inspector Ari Thór Arason. Grappling with the repercussions of his relationship break up, the temptation of a revived dalliance, the seeming lack of respect afforded to him despite his promotion, and a case of suicide that leads to a nasty conclusion, Arason has more than enough on his plate. However, once again, through Jonasson’s meticulous characterisation of Arason, we traverse his own personal and professional highs and lows, wanting to give him a good shake at some points, or a reassuring hug at others. His parting from his former boss Tomas (now based in Reykjavik) provides moments of pure pathos, but somehow lessens the impetus of the book, as the way they worked together and bounced ideas arounds added a nice little frisson to their investigations. In matters of the heart, Arason remains largely floundering as usual, unsure as to whether his former relationship with the mother of his child has any chance of being resurrected, or whether to pursue an old flame, the flames of which had seemingly been doused near the beginning of the series. It is these ruminations on his future happiness that do rather slow the book down at times, but at least it sets our minds at rest that there is some hope of a new life and fresh beginnings for our earnest police officer.
Once again, the rugged and at time inhospitable landscape of Siglufjörður permeates the book, where even an upcoming religious festival cannot curtail the inclemency of the climate, and the particular difficulties it places on its inhabitants. Although Arason has one eye on a new posting in Reykjavik, he himself recognises the way that this remote little town has exerted its influence on him both in a real and metaphorical sense, ” By now, he felt a strong sense of connection to Siglufjörður. Something was keeping him here, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what. It was almost as if the place didn’t want him to leave… he had grown to love the isolation and tranquillity of the place.”
Although with this backdrop of Arason’s emotional back and forth, the central crime is a little linear in its progression, it is a sordid enough little mystery, for Jonasson to expose the darkness that lies behind the veneer of respectability. Having just discovered that Winterkill was written mainly because of popular demand for another book in the pretty much faultless Dark Iceland series, I did find it a little more slight compared to the others. However, it is still worth a look as the strength of his characterisation, and beautiful sense of place holds true throughout.
Jonasson has a wonderful knack of putting a dark, sordid crime at the heart of his books but never fails to leave you with a more overriding final impression of the essential goodness of his central character, police inspector Ari Thór Arason. Grappling with the repercussions of his relationship break up, the temptation of a revived dalliance, the seeming lack of respect afforded to him despite his promotion, and a case of suicide that leads to a nasty conclusion, Arason has more than enough on his plate. However, once again, through Jonasson’s meticulous characterisation of Arason, we traverse his own personal and professional highs and lows, wanting to give him a good shake at some points, or a reassuring hug at others. His parting from his former boss Tomas (now based in Reykjavik) provides moments of pure pathos, but somehow lessens the impetus of the book, as the way they worked together and bounced ideas arounds added a nice little frisson to their investigations. In matters of the heart, Arason remains largely floundering as usual, unsure as to whether his former relationship with the mother of his child has any chance of being resurrected, or whether to pursue an old flame, the flames of which had seemingly been doused near the beginning of the series. It is these ruminations on his future happiness that do rather slow the book down at times, but at least it sets our minds at rest that there is some hope of a new life and fresh beginnings for our earnest police officer.
Once again, the rugged and at time inhospitable landscape of Siglufjörður permeates the book, where even an upcoming religious festival cannot curtail the inclemency of the climate, and the particular difficulties it places on its inhabitants. Although Arason has one eye on a new posting in Reykjavik, he himself recognises the way that this remote little town has exerted its influence on him both in a real and metaphorical sense, ” By now, he felt a strong sense of connection to Siglufjörður. Something was keeping him here, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what. It was almost as if the place didn’t want him to leave… he had grown to love the isolation and tranquillity of the place.”
Although with this backdrop of Arason’s emotional back and forth, the central crime is a little linear in its progression, it is a sordid enough little mystery, for Jonasson to expose the darkness that lies behind the veneer of respectability. Having just discovered that Winterkill was written mainly because of popular demand for another book in the pretty much faultless Dark Iceland series, I did find it a little more slight compared to the others. However, it is still worth a look as the strength of his characterisation, and beautiful sense of place holds true throughout.
The final instalment in this series which ended satisfactorily. Ari Thor, the main protagonist throughout the series, is at the beginning of a new relationship and the reader hopes that this will work out for him. The plot was good but at 210 pages this really was novella with quite a lot of repetition describing events that occurred in the previous books. This was unnecessary padding even for those who haven't read the earlier novels. Well written, the Icelandic scenery and weather beautifully described as always.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Reminded me of old mystery books I used to read in school. Not like page turning crazy at the end of every chapter, but I thought it was good. I enjoyed it.
I will say I really wished Ari would have covered the mother’s murder up because fuck that dude. But is what it is
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The writing style felt awkward, presumably because English is not the author’s first language. It took some effort to overlook this and get to the solution of the mystery at the end which I thought, based on reviews I had seen of this book, would be surprising and complicated. But it definitely wasn’t! The most obvious suspect turned out to be the culprit and there was way too much focus on the main character’s very boring personal life. The “big reveal” fell totally flat with me and I felt almost silly for bothering to finish the book.
Jag vet faktiskt inte varför jag envisas att läsa Jónasson längre. Efter 6 böcker som jag gett ljumma treor borde jag väl veta bättre...? Nåja, nu blir det faktiskt en tvåa, och så kanske jag lär mig till nästa gång hans namn dyker upp på bibliotekslistan...?
Jag gissar visserligen att det varken är hans halvdana intriger eller stela karaktärer som gör att jag återvänder: det är miljön. För visst är väl Island galet passande för kyliga deckare ändå...?
Grejen är, vilket jag inser nu under läsning av den sjunde boken, att språket och känslorna är minst lika kyliga som omgivningarna. Jag vet att Jónasson är Christie-fantast, och visst har den brittiska ladyn också tendens att skriva något kantiga figurer... men hos henne blir de liksom genuina. Det finns saker mellan raderna, saker som saknas här. Eller, annorlunda uttryckt: jag skiter i hur det går för Ari Thor. Och jag blir tokig på att hans författare envisas med att upprepa och re-introducera både personer och händelser ständigt - trots att bokens korthet gör att den läses på ett par timmar. (Jo, jag minns att Ari och Kristins förhållande tagit slut och att han velar vad han vill, tack - för 15:e gången...).
I den här boken är mysteriet inte ens ett mysterium, och tar slut mer än löses. Återigen något Agatha hade kunnat göra, men med mer finess.
Tur för Jónasson att Island är Island!
Jag gissar visserligen att det varken är hans halvdana intriger eller stela karaktärer som gör att jag återvänder: det är miljön. För visst är väl Island galet passande för kyliga deckare ändå...?
Grejen är, vilket jag inser nu under läsning av den sjunde boken, att språket och känslorna är minst lika kyliga som omgivningarna. Jag vet att Jónasson är Christie-fantast, och visst har den brittiska ladyn också tendens att skriva något kantiga figurer... men hos henne blir de liksom genuina. Det finns saker mellan raderna, saker som saknas här. Eller, annorlunda uttryckt: jag skiter i hur det går för Ari Thor. Och jag blir tokig på att hans författare envisas med att upprepa och re-introducera både personer och händelser ständigt - trots att bokens korthet gör att den läses på ett par timmar. (Jo, jag minns att Ari och Kristins förhållande tagit slut och att han velar vad han vill, tack - för 15:e gången...).
I den här boken är mysteriet inte ens ett mysterium, och tar slut mer än löses. Återigen något Agatha hade kunnat göra, men med mer finess.
Tur för Jónasson att Island är Island!
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A dark, claustrophobic, slow burn of a book, with a satisfying conclusion. More on the blog
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes