Reviews

Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurðardóttir

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

Finished reading: February 16th 2024

"Every time life punches you to the ground, it knocks away some of the arrogance and the illusion of self-importance, and that makes it easier to understand the circumstances others find themselves in."

Lilja Sigurðardóttir is without a doubt one of my favorite Icelandic noir authors, and I'm still not sure why it took me this long to finally pick up the An Áróra Investigation series. I loved my time with the first book earlier this year, and I decided to continue with the series ASAP. Red As Blood is book number two, and I loved it just as much as the first one. It's the perfect dose of Nordic noir! There is just something highly addictive about her writing, and I literally couldn't stop reading. The short chapters only added to the speed, and I enjoyed how the plot offered you multiple POVs to help explore all the different angles. One of the things I love about this series is the fact that the main character Áróra isn't a detective, but instead a freelance financial investigator. This means that she doesn't exactly follow the rules, and it gives the series in general an unique touch. I do have to say that it is important to read the books in order, because you will find major spoilers for the developments in Áróra's personal life otherwise... That said, I liked those developments, and with how everything ended I'm already looking forward to pick up the next book. The case itself in Red As Blood has its predictable side and it's kind of hard to properly feel sorry for Flosi, but he does make for an interesting character. The plot twists themselves are well handled, and there were definitely some I didn't see coming. If you are looking for an excellent dose of Nordic noir, I can highly recommend this series!

Content Warnings

sitruunaperhonen's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this_works_now's review

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mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

emily_bg's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

raila_h's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

kellyvandamme's review against another edition

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5.0

Red as Blood is the second instalment in the Áróra Investigation series that kicked off last year with Cold as Ice, which introduced the Nordic Noir lover to Áróra, a financial investigator with an Icelandic father and a British mother.

If you haven’t read Cold as Ice and you want to jump in here, I’d say go for it if you’re in it for the mystery of this missing person case and you don’t need a lot of background to enjoy a story. However, if you’re anything like me and you want your main characters to have a history, a backstory that allows you relate to them better, to understand them and their motivations, I’d advise you to start at the beginning. Red as Blood is easy enough to follow and it will draw you in regardless of prior knowledge, but it does jump right in and doesn’t rehash information provided in the previous book, so if you want to know what Áróra is all about, don’t jump in here.

Anyway, we’re back in Iceland, and Áróra is still there, still trying to find a trace of her missing sister, when she gets roped into a missing person investigation. I found myself immersed from the get-go, and when I had to come up for air (read: a bathroom break), I was surprised to note that I was already 20% in. Time and pages do fly when you’re reading a good book!

At the start, I had this rather outlandish theory about who might be responsible for the abduction of Gudrun. As the story progresses, Áróra and Daniel keep adding to the suspect list instead of scratching suspects off, while I kept building on my initial theory, considering and reconsidering it in the light of new information gathered. Imagine my utter astonishment when it turned out that I was right all along! Still, Lilja had plenty of other twists up her sleeve to wipe the smugness right off my face