thebooktrail88's review against another edition
5.0
: 
Travel to the locations in the book here!
Now is this book or book three? The story is told in reverse you see so this is the start of Hulda’s journey but reveals and adds to what’s in books one and two….
The genius of writing the series in this way really becomes clear with this novel. Hulda is right at the heart of a series of tragedies and chilling goings on. She’s suffering herself after a personal issue and she’s desperately truing to hold herself together.
Not going to be easy when the scene of the crime is an isolate farmhouse. What happened here where visitors and strangers nevercome?Well, that’s just the point. One has arrived – looking for shelter at a remote farmhouse. The farmer and his wife are stunned and reluctantly let the person inside. THAT was not a good idea.
BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Mist
What follows was truly gripping. As the farmer’s wife, Erla starts to talk to the stranger, it’s like watching a human game of chess play out. Who’s going to make the first move? What about checkmate? A sneaky move could change things. Who’s go is it next? The interplay between these characters was like Russian roulette. The tension was palpable and I believed one person and then the next and then neither. It was like a literary stand off. Follow the clues which lead you all the way back to The Darkness ( book one).
This Hidden Iceland series has been brilliantly plotted, majestically executed. The scene setting is chillingly apt and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on more than one occasion. Cold, dark, Hidden Iceland surrounded by mist. What’s not to love?
I come back to the chess analogy I made earlier. This is a slow moving game with tension and chilling winds as extra players. Hold your nerve for grief, loss and pain are on the board and you, the reader, are invited to take part.
Nordic fans get this on your TBR list now.
Travel to the locations in the book here!
Now is this book or book three? The story is told in reverse you see so this is the start of Hulda’s journey but reveals and adds to what’s in books one and two….
The genius of writing the series in this way really becomes clear with this novel. Hulda is right at the heart of a series of tragedies and chilling goings on. She’s suffering herself after a personal issue and she’s desperately truing to hold herself together.
Not going to be easy when the scene of the crime is an isolate farmhouse. What happened here where visitors and strangers nevercome?Well, that’s just the point. One has arrived – looking for shelter at a remote farmhouse. The farmer and his wife are stunned and reluctantly let the person inside. THAT was not a good idea.
BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Mist
What follows was truly gripping. As the farmer’s wife, Erla starts to talk to the stranger, it’s like watching a human game of chess play out. Who’s going to make the first move? What about checkmate? A sneaky move could change things. Who’s go is it next? The interplay between these characters was like Russian roulette. The tension was palpable and I believed one person and then the next and then neither. It was like a literary stand off. Follow the clues which lead you all the way back to The Darkness ( book one).
This Hidden Iceland series has been brilliantly plotted, majestically executed. The scene setting is chillingly apt and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on more than one occasion. Cold, dark, Hidden Iceland surrounded by mist. What’s not to love?
I come back to the chess analogy I made earlier. This is a slow moving game with tension and chilling winds as extra players. Hold your nerve for grief, loss and pain are on the board and you, the reader, are invited to take part.
Nordic fans get this on your TBR list now.
emmap2023's review against another edition
4.0
This is the 3rd book in the Hidden Iceland series and returns us back to the life of Detective Hulda prior to the death of her husband and daughter.
This case starts in 1987 on an isolated farm house in the east of Iceland. A severe ice storm at the start of the Christmas celebrations should have prevented anyone from getting to them however, it didn't.
The couple should never have let him in. But they did. Their unexpected guest is telling them a story that doesn't ring true, why is he there and is he the cause of their death.
So far I have found this series fast paced and beautifully written. Starting with The Darkness we are introduced to the characteristic but far from effervescent Detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir, she is a Detective Inspector forced into early retirement at 64 but who fights her cause and manages to convince her boss to review an old case on the murder of a russian women that washed up on the shore, The amazing and unexpected ending meant I was intrigued to follow her back in time to The Island where she investigates a group of friends who go on an unexpected trip together to an isolated island where the death of one of them will open up an unexpected connection to both a past and future case.
Again I was pleased to see the curse of a 2nd book was not experienced and I relished reading this so was over the moon when NetGalley and Michael Joseph gave me the opportunity to get an arc copy of The Mist prior to release.
It was interesting to get an insight into Hulda's home and family dynamic, I instantly disliked Jon (her husband) and it was clear early on that there was an element of abuse taking place between he and her daughter Dimma. Hulda clearly has some instinct on her daughters behaviour but despite in her police career, seems unable to face it and push the threat and thought of Jon's actions away. This lack of instinct could well have been as she is younger in these books and that her skills have not yet been honed to such things but to ignore her gut instinct felt somewhat out of character for her.
The home of Erla and Einar isolated in the east of Iceland is not only lonely but feels haunted throughout the course of the story, the arrival of the man at their door has clearly thrown Erla off track and it appears that she is struggling with the feelings of darkness and isolation being on the farm has and craves to return to a more populated environment. Erla is ill at ease with the stranger and throughout the course of this book the tension steadily builds to its climactic conclusion.
I am uncertain if this is the last we will hear of Detective Hulda but I am certain that Ragnar Johannson has now become an author I will seek to read his full back catalogue of work and all future releases.
I will say that of the 3 stories of Hulda to date though the first one keeps pulling me back the masterfull ending has made her now a character I will always enjoy reading.
This case starts in 1987 on an isolated farm house in the east of Iceland. A severe ice storm at the start of the Christmas celebrations should have prevented anyone from getting to them however, it didn't.
The couple should never have let him in. But they did. Their unexpected guest is telling them a story that doesn't ring true, why is he there and is he the cause of their death.
So far I have found this series fast paced and beautifully written. Starting with The Darkness we are introduced to the characteristic but far from effervescent Detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir, she is a Detective Inspector forced into early retirement at 64 but who fights her cause and manages to convince her boss to review an old case on the murder of a russian women that washed up on the shore, The amazing and unexpected ending meant I was intrigued to follow her back in time to The Island where she investigates a group of friends who go on an unexpected trip together to an isolated island where the death of one of them will open up an unexpected connection to both a past and future case.
Again I was pleased to see the curse of a 2nd book was not experienced and I relished reading this so was over the moon when NetGalley and Michael Joseph gave me the opportunity to get an arc copy of The Mist prior to release.
It was interesting to get an insight into Hulda's home and family dynamic, I instantly disliked Jon (her husband) and it was clear early on that there was an element of abuse taking place between he and her daughter Dimma. Hulda clearly has some instinct on her daughters behaviour but despite in her police career, seems unable to face it and push the threat and thought of Jon's actions away. This lack of instinct could well have been as she is younger in these books and that her skills have not yet been honed to such things but to ignore her gut instinct felt somewhat out of character for her.
The home of Erla and Einar isolated in the east of Iceland is not only lonely but feels haunted throughout the course of the story, the arrival of the man at their door has clearly thrown Erla off track and it appears that she is struggling with the feelings of darkness and isolation being on the farm has and craves to return to a more populated environment. Erla is ill at ease with the stranger and throughout the course of this book the tension steadily builds to its climactic conclusion.
I am uncertain if this is the last we will hear of Detective Hulda but I am certain that Ragnar Johannson has now become an author I will seek to read his full back catalogue of work and all future releases.
I will say that of the 3 stories of Hulda to date though the first one keeps pulling me back the masterfull ending has made her now a character I will always enjoy reading.
syren1532's review against another edition
5.0
It’s 1987 and Detective Hulda has returned to work after a period of compassionate leave following the death of her daughter. Before the leave she was investigating a missing person; a young woman traveling around Iceland alone whose parents haven’t heard from since early Autumn. On her return to work she’s given a case in the east of the country - two people found dead in an isolated farmhouse. They’ve been dead for a while as the road to their farm had been blocked by snow since before Christmas. It’s clear to Hulda that the couple must have had a visitor at some point before their deaths and when she an a local inspector find a car in a snow drift it appears that her two cases are linked.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all three of the Hulda series - sucked me in right from the beginning. Couldn’t put it down.
Thanks to Netgalley, Michael Joseph and Ragnar Jonasson for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review,
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all three of the Hulda series - sucked me in right from the beginning. Couldn’t put it down.
Thanks to Netgalley, Michael Joseph and Ragnar Jonasson for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review,
cmoo053's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
read_a_long_'s review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Dark and bleak amid a harsh Icelandic landscape, the arrival of one stranger during a snowstorm, and the events that follow, put an elderly woman and her husband on edge and begin a search for the truth. Great for those who enjoy the Scandinavian noir genre.
katrinkirjat's review against another edition
3.0
Hulda-sarjan kolmasosa oli nopeasti luettu. Synkkä ja viihdyttävä, Islannin miljöö kiehtova.
Kovin suuria yllätyksiä tämäkään ei tarjoillut, mutta tunnelmasta pidin.
Hieman häiritsi se, että 80-luvun lopulle sijoittuvassa tarinassa puhuttiin etätyöstä. Mitenköhän paljon tuolloin on tehty ns. etätöitä? Vai onkohan sana suomentajan valinta ja alkukielellä puhutaan kotitoimistosta tms.? En tiedä, mutta pisti silmään tämä.
Kovin suuria yllätyksiä tämäkään ei tarjoillut, mutta tunnelmasta pidin.
Hieman häiritsi se, että 80-luvun lopulle sijoittuvassa tarinassa puhuttiin etätyöstä. Mitenköhän paljon tuolloin on tehty ns. etätöitä? Vai onkohan sana suomentajan valinta ja alkukielellä puhutaan kotitoimistosta tms.? En tiedä, mutta pisti silmään tämä.
tarabee's review against another edition
4.0
A very atmospheric thriller set in the harsh Icelandic winter. Not a typical or clinched ending. A great read, and difficult to put down.
monty_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.5
markhoh's review against another edition
5.0
Ragnar Jónasson’s The Mist, rounds out the reverse order Hidden Iceland trilogy featuring the tragic detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir. The Mist is the third book in this series and takes the reader back yet another ten years into Hulda’s life in the context of a stand alone dark Nordic Noir tale. Iceland is the perfect backdrop for this genre and Jónasson takes full advantage of a bleak winter, where the light is but for a few short hours a day, in the depths of the remote and rugged Icelandic countryside.
The reverse order concept is relatively new for me and Jónasson uses this really well. I had a number of ‘aha’ moments as I came to understand the events that unfolded for Hulda that fully explain the depth of her tragic circumstance. However, The Mist is not just about Hulda and in fact, front and centre of the story is the unfolding of events in remote dark Iceland on Christmas Eve where Jónasson skilfully weaves together a number of threads (including Hulda’s own tragic tale) to come up with a story that is absolutely riveting. I would say that this is my favourite of the three stories although I am feeling compelled to go back and read the first one (or should I say the last one) again, through a set of fresh eyes to see Hulda propelled twenty years into the future.
I must say, I absolutely love Ragnar Jónasson’s writing, falling in love with it in the Dark Iceland series set in the remote northern town of Siglufjörður.
As an Australian man with Icelandic blood in my veins, this story ticked all the boxes for me. 5 big stars!
The reverse order concept is relatively new for me and Jónasson uses this really well. I had a number of ‘aha’ moments as I came to understand the events that unfolded for Hulda that fully explain the depth of her tragic circumstance. However, The Mist is not just about Hulda and in fact, front and centre of the story is the unfolding of events in remote dark Iceland on Christmas Eve where Jónasson skilfully weaves together a number of threads (including Hulda’s own tragic tale) to come up with a story that is absolutely riveting. I would say that this is my favourite of the three stories although I am feeling compelled to go back and read the first one (or should I say the last one) again, through a set of fresh eyes to see Hulda propelled twenty years into the future.
I must say, I absolutely love Ragnar Jónasson’s writing, falling in love with it in the Dark Iceland series set in the remote northern town of Siglufjörður.
As an Australian man with Icelandic blood in my veins, this story ticked all the boxes for me. 5 big stars!