Features

MarinaSofia: Top five books of 2015

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For me it’s been such a strong year for debuts and second novels that I’ve compiled a list made up entirely of new blood. Some of them have been mentioned quite a bit in the press this year, but others may have slipped a little under the radar…
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Features

NTN: The five best debuts of 2015

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New Talent November has had its highlights for sure. We met the women authors to watch for in 2016, and some of America’s hottest new crime writers. We interviewed some Brits and some Swedes and a French fellow, who will all do extremely well. And we…
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Book Club

Snowblind

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Our thirst for Scandinavian gloom, death and despair remains unquenched. Ragnar Jónasson takes us to the bleak and suitably isolated town of Siglufjörđur, about as far north-west as it is possible to go in Iceland without falling into the icy waters of the Denmark Strait….
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KindlePrintReviews

Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson

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Translated by Quentin Bates — What expectations do you find yourself harbouring when you pick up a Scandinavian crime novel? Nordic noir is the term that comes to mind. Cold, dark winters, sombre landscapes, a lonely male detective and a plot throbbing with despair and…
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Features

Interview: Ragnar Jonasson

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There has been quite a buzz building up about the young Icelandic author Ragnar Jonasson. The first of his novels to be translated into English, Snowblind, landed in the top 10 ebooks on Amazon, and went to the top of the Scandinavian crime fiction chart. It brings…
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Features

Interview: Quentin Bates

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Quentin Bates moved to Iceland at the end of the 1970s for a gap year which turned into a gap decade, merrily acquiring a new language, family and profession over there. As well as being a commercial fishing expert, he is the author of a series…
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