Reviews

The Mist by Ragnar Jónasson

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beccajbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I think I'm in a minority in thinking that the first in this series is the best, and that the third one is the least amazing- but amazing all the same :)

As I say, this is the third in the series, and we finally see what happened with Hulda's daughter in detail. It's heart-breaking and sad and has a desolate atmosphere surrounding it. I didn't 'enjoy' reading the Dimma bits, but they were necessary, albeit uncomfortable.

Hulda is working a case alongside dealing with Christmas plans and her daughter's increasingly frequent withdrawal from family life. Two bodies have been found at a remote farmhouse and Hulda must find out what happened.

As a continuation of the series this ended everything well.

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julie_sapienza's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

bookoffimreading's review against another edition

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4.0

The Mist is the third in the Hidden Iceland series but I found it to be an excellent standalone read. Although if I’d had the time before my blog tour date, I would definitely liked to have read the series from the start as the author has very cleverly written them in reverse chronological order, which is so original and intriguing. But like I said, reading The Mist first didn’t take anything away from this fantastic Nordic Noir thriller, which is a genre that I’m really warming up to. I’ve read a couple of books lately which are set in Iceland at Christmas time and I’ve really enjoyed learning about the different traditions, especially that of gifting books on Christmas Eve or St Thorlakur’s Mass and spending the rest of the holiday reading!

Anyhow there’s nothing cosy about this story. It starts in February 1988 where we meet Hulda Hermannsdottir who has returned to work following a dreadful family tragedy. She is clearly depressed and struggling to function but takes on a new case to investigate after bodies are found at an isolated farmhouse. We are then taken back to a few days before Christmas where we are introduced to farmer Einar and his wife Erla. For Einar, farming is in his blood, but Erla feels suffocated by the loneliness and isolation of rural Iceland in the winter as they are snowed in and cut off from the community. The night before Christmas Eve, Erla and Einar are making the last preparations for christmas, and hoping that their daughter can make it through the blizzard to join them the next day, when a stranger knocks at the door looking for refuge. It is in Einar’s nature to be welcoming and helpful but Erla is more apprehensive, made worse by the subsequent power cut. The tension gradually builds as Erla becomes increasingly anxious. Who is this man? Why was he really out in a snow storm the day before Christmas eve?

The story alternates between Einar and Erla and then back to Detective Hulda’s home life as she prepares for Christmas with her husband and daughter and builds up to the tragedy that is alluded to at the beginning.

The author creates an incredible atmosphere in this story with the weather, the darkness, the remote landscape and sensational descriptive writing that I felt a real eeriness and tension as I was reading. And because we know at the beginning that bodies are found and that Hulda suffers a tragedy, I was just waiting for something terrible to happen to all of the characters, which was brilliantly unsettling.

I loved the author’s clean and smart writing style and the plot is so cleverly constructed, with convincing yet troubled characters, that I had no chance of figuring out the mystery. It really had me puzzled and I was gripped right from the start.

Highly recommended, it is the perfect wintery thriller to curl up with this Christmas!

I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, even though I’ll be reading it backwards, as I’m so intrigued by Hulda’s character and I’d like to find out more about her relationship with her husband.

P.S. Make sure to read the author’s notes at the end.