When the editors at Reykjavik-based The Afternoon News decide to expand the newspaper into northern Iceland—with their crime writer Einar as its sole reporter on location—the journalist feels as though he has stepped back in time. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the capital, where the nation’s economic and social crises rear their heads on a daily basis, the small town of Akureyri feels slow, quiet, and terribly old-fashioned.
So it’s only fitting that one of Einar’s first assignments is to cover a college theater production of Loftur the Sorcerer, an Icelandic folktale of ambition and greed. But that supposedly ancient history becomes ominously relevant when a local woman dies after falling overboard during a corporate boating retreat. All evidence indicates an accident, but when the victim’s mother cries foul play, kindhearted Einar agrees to investigate. Just days later, the lead actor in Loftur vanishes, leaving the locals reeling—and Einar unconvinced that a single village could be so accident prone. Keenly perceptive and hungry for the truth, Einar begins to chip away at the quaint small-town facade, uncovering a tangled web of power and greed that threatens to devour the historic community for good.
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"This book was an unexpected surprise! It wasn't the most thrilling or exciting book I read this year but the dialogues were good and the main character, Einar, is funny and sympathetic. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author..." — Antonette (4 out of 5 stars)
"This book was an unexpected surprise! It wasn't the most thrilling or exciting book I read this year but the dialogues were good and the main character, Einar, is funny and sympathetic. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author..."
" I enjoy this - an icelandic murder mystery solved by a down at heart newspaper reporter. "
" toll - mal was ganz Anderes als Indridasson "
" So here's an oddity: a fairly upbeat Scandinavian murder mystery. Added bonus: no car chases, and the book does not end with the hero implausibly alone confronting a homicidal maniac. By Icelandic terms, a cozy. I'd read another. "
" HB -- library -- just too slow and too simple. Awful. maybe for a young audience. I do not understand why an author from a country without crime or an army creates crime and murder. why not chose something mystical or historical. "
" I've really got into Icelandic thrillers but this was a bit disappointing. Still like the atmosphere it conjures up of Icealnd.. but Michael Ridpath is so much better. "
" I enjoyed this murder mystery. The author keeps you guessing as to how the murders are linked and resolved until the end. "
Jeff Cummings, as an audiobook narrator, has won both an Earphones Award and the prestigious Audie Award in 2015 for Best Narration in Science and Technology. He is also a twenty-year veteran of the stage, having worked at many regional theaters across the country, from A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle and the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta to the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and the International Mystery Writers’ Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky. He also spent seven seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
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