The job from hell
Still reeling from the loss of her father, when Una sees an advertisement for a teaching job on Iceland’s remote Langanes Peninsula, she decides to swop her city life in Reykjavik for a quiet one in the tiny village of Skálar. Unfortunately, faced with the unforgiving dark and cold winter weather, and a somewhat cool reception from the handful of residents, it is not long before she begins to wonder if she has made a mistake in accepting the job – especially as she only has two pupils to teach. The fact that the house she is lodging in is old and creaky also adds to her feelings of anxiety.
Despite her efforts to make new friends in the village, Una is continually kept at arm’s length. However, when one of her two pupils is found dead, and the villagers begin to close ranks, Una starts to realise there is more to their aloofness than a mere distrust of strangers.
Ragnar Jónasson’s first standalone crime thriller, ‘The Girl Who Died’, is a total departure from the format he usually employs in his successful detective led crime series – Dark Iceland and Hidden Iceland. Not only does it lack any police involvement – apart from a brief appearance of a police officer following up a missing person’s inquiry – but the story also possesses a slight supernatural element, something which I must admit surprised me at first, yet nevertheless did not spoil my enjoyment of the book.
The one thing this novel does have in common with his other novels, is Jónasson’s ability to recreate the cold, dark bleakness of an Icelandic winter within his descriptive prose. This, together with the palpable feeling of isolation of life in a remote village, gives a realistic depth to the story. As with many close-knit communities, it is common for the villagers to view outsiders with suspicion. However, in this case they have good reason to keep them away. With so many dark secrets to unravel, ‘The Girl Who Died’ is definitely worth the read.
Despite her efforts to make new friends in the village, Una is continually kept at arm’s length. However, when one of her two pupils is found dead, and the villagers begin to close ranks, Una starts to realise there is more to their aloofness than a mere distrust of strangers.
Ragnar Jónasson’s first standalone crime thriller, ‘The Girl Who Died’, is a total departure from the format he usually employs in his successful detective led crime series – Dark Iceland and Hidden Iceland. Not only does it lack any police involvement – apart from a brief appearance of a police officer following up a missing person’s inquiry – but the story also possesses a slight supernatural element, something which I must admit surprised me at first, yet nevertheless did not spoil my enjoyment of the book.
The one thing this novel does have in common with his other novels, is Jónasson’s ability to recreate the cold, dark bleakness of an Icelandic winter within his descriptive prose. This, together with the palpable feeling of isolation of life in a remote village, gives a realistic depth to the story. As with many close-knit communities, it is common for the villagers to view outsiders with suspicion. However, in this case they have good reason to keep them away. With so many dark secrets to unravel, ‘The Girl Who Died’ is definitely worth the read.
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