Ragnar Jonasson - THE DARKNESS

Plot (via Goodreads):

The body of a young Russian woman washes up on an Icelandic shore. After a cursory investigation, the death is declared a suicide and the case is quietly closed.

Over a year later Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavík police is forced into early retirement at 64. She dreads the loneliness, and the memories of her dark past that threaten to come back to haunt her. But before she leaves she is given two weeks to solve a single cold case of her choice.

She knows which one: the Russian woman whose hope for asylum ended on the dark, cold shore of an unfamiliar country. Soon Hulda discovers that another young woman vanished at the same time, and that no one is telling her the whole story. Even her colleagues in the police seem determined to put the brakes on her investigation. Meanwhile the clock is ticking.

Hulda will find the killer, even if it means putting her own life in danger.

Review:

This novel was my first Ragnar Jonasson book. I've been very interested in checking out his writing, but sometimes I get a little intimidated by series. As a blogger, reading time is limited and we can all agree that bloggers and readers alike will never get through their never-ending TBR...ever. In the vein of Sara Blaedel, Jo Nesbo, and Lars Kepler - I was intrigued and intimidated with trying to pick up another series, but I just cannot get enough of the Nordic Noir that my dear friend Abby (@crimebythebook) introduced me to. When THE DARKNESS was announced as a new series by Jonasson, I found this to be the perfect time to introduce myself to his work and see what he had to offer. Needless to say, I am kind of kicking myself for not picking up one of his novels before. 

Similar to other Nordic Noir novels, Jonasson delivers a dark and twisted story that is cinematic, brilliantly paced, and unapologetic with its rather intimidating characters. What I love about this genre and the style of writing is that I have never been to Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, etc., but I feel like I am there. I can feel the wind whipping around me, feel the land beneath my feet, and sense the chills going up and down my spine when where I am standing is not the safest spot. When I met Hulda, I was pleasantly surprised with the direction Jonasson was going in with this piece of crime fiction. Hulda is a female detective who is within the blink of an eye from retirement. Introducing a character like this in crime fiction is something I have yet to come across, let alone for someone to do it so effectively. She's not some newbie to how things work out with the police force and she's got a fantastic career under her belt. But, there's always going to be another case and this one is one that will stick with me for some time to come. 

The plot to this one is really dark and a slow burning police procedural mystery that I found satisfying and the perfect read to introduce someone to Jonasson's writing style. The novel begins slowly but still gets to the point when Hulda comes across a cold case to basically keep her hands busy until she retires. This is practically to keep her out of her superiors hair until she leaves the building for one final time. What happens next is just devastating and brilliantly executed. I loved how Jonasson told this story with Hulda. This novel is a slow burning police procedural and it's realistic. Reading this novel really showed me that sometimes as a reader, it's not good to just fly through the pages to get to the ending, but to allow yourself to be handcuffed and thrown into the back of a police car along with one of my new favorite detectives. The way Jonasson wrote this novel kept me immersed, but taught me to slow down and smell the roses. I enjoyed taking my time reading this novel and trying to get to the bottom of things - it's like you're standing with Hulda the entire time and kind of reminded me of some of the newer reality shows on Oxygen and Investigation Discovery where these detectives are picking at cold cases and going back over all of the details and adding in some new theories. Small bonus - there are some really chilling smaller chapters from the victim that are terrifying and really kept my interest with this novel. It's like I knew something bad had happened, but putting the pieces together between the victims perspective and Hulda's was such a great way to keep me engrossed with this read. 

This novel is dark and I really loved it. I loved the atmosphere, the characters, and the plot. As for the ending, what a shock. I mean, when I found out what really happened during this cold case, all of my questions were answered and the case was tied up with a bow. Until the last two chapters that were emotionally explosive and jaw-dropping. Even if I didn't like this read for the first 200+ pages, the very end of this novel easily would bump it up to one of the best and most shocking endings I've read in a long time. Needless to say, I am still on pins and needles waiting for the next novel in this series and I will be making time to include more Ragnar Jonasson in my reading future.

Special thanks to Minotaur Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 4/5