Publisher's Weekly Review
Isolation and despair undo the characters in Jónasson's exceptional third and final novel featuring Reykjavík Det. Insp. Hulda Hermannsdóttir (after 2019's The Island). In February 1988, Hulda, who has returned to work after time off to deal with an unidentified personal issue, is still struggling to get through the day and perform any meaningful work. She's forced into action by her boss when multiple corpses are found on a farm, with indications that the bodies have been there since around Christmas. Flash back to a snowy day in December 1987. Einar and Erla Einarsson, who live on a remote farm, answer a knock on the door to an unexpected visitor, who introduces himself as Leó. The couple offer Leó shelter for the night, but Erla becomes suspicious of their guest's account of how he arrived at their home. Jónasson ratchets up the nail-biting tension gradually, alternating the developments at the farm along with the events in Hulda's life that led to her traumatic stupor. Fans of dark crime fiction that doesn't pull punches will be amply rewarded. Agent: David Headley, DHH Literary (U.K.). (June)
Kirkus Review
A trio of interlinked horrors unfold in the days leading up to Iceland's celebration of Christmas 1987. Maybe the following February is too soon for Detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir to have returned to work at Reykjavík CID. Assigned to reopen the case of Unnur, a girl from Gardabaet who vanished last autumn during the tour of Iceland she undertook on foot before enrolling in college, Hulda thinks it's the worst possible investigation she could have been handed because she's still reeling from the darkly hinted domestic catastrophe that began with the withdrawn behavior of Dimma, her own teenager, and alienated her from her husband, Jón, over the holidays. As Hulda, who's not "kidding herself that there would be any happy ending," soldiers on in search of the missing Unnur, Jónasson counterpoints her inquiries with excruciatingly paced stages of a flashback to the days before Christmas, when family farmer Einar Einarsson's wife, Erla, opens the door of their house to Leó, a lost stranger who claims to have gotten separated from other members of his hunting party. A wintry storm prevents Leó from leaving, and with every hour that passes, Erla uncovers more discrepancies in his story. Who is he really, why has he come to their isolated home, and what unspeakable plans does he have in mind? Jónasson weaves his suspenseful tales together with remorseless logic up to a climax more nightmarish than the buildup. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The third and final episode of Hidden Iceland (introduced with The Darkness, 2018) reaches back to the winter of 1987 to find Hulda, Reykjavik's lone female police detective, distracting herself from her own family's tragedy with lingering questions about a girl's disappearance and a new investigation of multiple murders. These stories begin coming together in the days before Christmas; Hulda is torn between the temptation of investigative distractions and helplessness against her daughter's deepening depression. She's drawn to the puzzling disappearance of Umma, a free-spirited woman who was backpacking around Iceland, particularly after she learns that the woman's father has also recently disappeared. Meanwhile, at an isolated farmhouse, a stranger's sudden appearance during a blizzard ignites suspicion, fear, and eventual tragedy. Iceland is a small country, which lends credibility to the clever links between the cases, into which Jónasson weaves a haunting thread of parental loss and revenge. Sharp-witted, socially awkward Hulda's story is told in reverse in this series, and readers well acquainted with Hulda will find the backstory of her daughter's death intensely moving.
Library Journal Review
The third in Jónasson's "Hidden Iceland" series (following The Island) features Reykjavík detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir, who is called in to investigate a double murder on a farm deep in the Icelandic countryside while she is still dealing with undisclosed problems with her husband and daughter. Though uncertain that she is ready for such an assignment, Hulda accepts, knowing that if she doesn't, her abilities as a female detective will forever be in question. At the same time, she is haunted by the yet unsolved disappearance of a young woman who set out to explore the country and hasn't been heard from since. The narrative alternates between Christmas 1987, when Hulda's slowly revealed family problems first began and the murders occurred, and February 1988, when the murders are discovered and investigated. VERDICT No one is who they seem to be in this fast-paced, character-rich thriller about murder and isolation during the brutal Icelandic winter. A series novel that works as a stand-alone, it will appeal to fans of Stieg Larsson, Deborah Crombie, and Michelle Sacks. [See Prepub Alert, 11/18/19.]--George Lichman, Rocky River, OH
