10th Anniversary Edition

Ragnar Jónasson’s iconic, multi-million-copy bestseller, Snowblind, celebrates its 10th anniversary with a glittering new edition, including a never-before- published prequel, Fadeout…
SNOWBLIND / FADE-OUT

Book blurb

SNOWBLIND
Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors – accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik – with a past that he’s unable to leave behind. When a young woman is found lying half- naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.
An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24- hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge, as curtains begin to twitch, and his investigation becomes increasingly complex, chilling and personal. Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts, while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness – blinded by snow, and with a killer on the loose…

FADEOUT
When Ari Thór Arason receives a staggeringly high bill for a foreign credit card that was taken out in his name, his life takes a turn he never anticipated. The bill in question belongs to his namesake – his father, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances when Ari was only a child.
Seeking answers, Ari Thór travels to London to investigate, hoping to learn the truth about what happened to his father all those years ago, and discovering far more than he could ever have imagined…

My thoughts

Snowblind

I can’t believe I’ve not read any of the Dark Island series so what a great opportunity with this 10th Anniversary event to do so.

Ari Thor has moved his study focus once more and rather than finish his studies he opts to go to the police college and train for a career in the police force. His girlfriend is now living with Ari and happily believes that they will eventually marry and have children together in due course. They seem happily settled until Ari gets a job offer which he has to accept straight away and so, without discussing the matter he agrees. This does not go down very well with his girlfriend, who is training to be a doctor and is dumbfounded by Ari’s actions. Their life is centred in Reykjavik why would Ari decide to move to a small fishing village in Northern Iceland without even discussing it?

Ari is quite annoyed that his girlfriend decides not to accompany him north to Siglufjörður to see him settled into his new job and living quarters. I have to say I thought Ari was quite self absorbed about this not understanding how inconsiderate he had been and indeed he was annoyed that she hadn’t travelled north with him for a few days and that she was upset. He’s a young, somewhat naive man who is sure that having a career in the police is his future, he does have the ability and his work seems to bring out the best in him but perhaps because of his history he can be quite clumsy in his dealings with people.

Siglufjörður is a small fishing village in the north of Iceland there is only one way to reach it which is through a tunnel unless you arrive by sea which is not viable in the winter months. It’s a wonderful setting for this ‘locked room’ type of mystery and the winter weather adds a further layer of darkness and dread.

At first the death of Siglufjörður’s most famous writer is deemed a tragic accident. He sadly tripped and fell down a flight of stairs. For some reason even he cannot quite put his finger on Ari Thor is sure there’s more to this tragedy.

Then a woman is discovered dead in her garden this cannot be anything other than murder! The police chief is somewhat dumbfounded about having two tragic events happen in such a quiet place.

News travels fast in Siglufjörður and rumours abound so they want things cleared up quickly to avoid any public panic around a murderer being at large. Ari Thor is given the task of looking further into the writer’s death whilst the two more experienced police officers investigate the murder case.

This is a wonderful story as a young rookie policeman who has determination and conviction tries to fathom out what has happened. He does make some errors along the way but when he finally begins to piece together what went on he realises something and puts himself into grave danger.

The images, mind set and physical restraints of investigating in this ‘locked room’ mystery – due to avalanches and snowstorms – are wonderfully written and bring tension to this gripping thriller.

What a story! I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read it and would certainly recommend it to anyone else who hasn’t and it looking for an absolute cracker of a story.

Fadeout

I read this first and enjoyed the story of Ari Thor looking into the mystery of what happened to his father when prompted by a letter from an English bank that is quite unfathomable to Ari.

Ari Thor’s desire to dig deeper has him travelling to England to explain to the bank there must be a mistake. His need for a resolution finds him journeying back and forth a few times to England, questioning his fathers colleagues about what happened, avoiding telling his girlfriend what he was doing and spending his time looking into various personal matters rather than studying for his exams bordered on obsession. Although, his persistence, determination and ability to search for the truth of the matter would be something that should hold him in good stead once he decides to make police work his vocation rather than the theology or philosophy of his studies.

It was good to have this background information and it felt like a really good precursor to the forthcoming Snowblind. It made me wonder why Fadeout wasn’t accepted as the first book in the series but then we wouldn’t have this little gem of a story available as the prequel and special bonus to this amazing 10th anniversary event and a lovely surprise gift for those who have already read the Dark Island series and hadn’t wanted it to end.

A note on translation: It is only possible to read these wonderful books because of the publisher’s unique ability to find and make available these stories and to have two amazing translators who can make these books come alive for the english reader. Being able to read widely through these translations is a privilege and a pleasure.

Books by Ragnar Jónasson I have read: The Girl Who Died | The Darkness | The Island | A Postcard From Iceland – a short story posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) and very short comment.

Thanks

Many thanks to the publisher Orenda Books and Anne from Random Things Tours for the invitation to join this event and for an ebook in order to read and share my thoughts.

BlogTour

What a wonderful BlogTour this is. Why not check out more about this special 10th anniversary extravaganza with these amazing bloggers and then head on down to the buy links to get your very own copy of Snowblind with Fadeout in this new edition.

Information

Published: ORENDA BOOKS | PUBLICATION DATE: 10th OCTOBER 2025 – HARDBACK ORIGINAL | £18.99 | 340pp

Ebook: 9781916788954 (23/10/2025) | £7.99

Buy: Orenda Books | Amazon | Hive | Bookshop.org (affiliate link)| Your local library | Your local bookshop

Translators

Quentin Bates and Larissa Kyzer – both translators have made reading Ragnor Jónasson’s stories possible and so very easy with their wonderful translations.

Quentin Bates

Quentin Bates escaped English suburbia as a teenager, jumping at the chance of a gap year working in Iceland. For a variety of reasons, the gap year stretched to become a gap decade, during which time he went native in the north of Iceland, acquiring a new language, a new profession as a seaman and a family, before decamping en masse for England. He worked as a truck driver, teacher, netmaker and trawlerman at various times before falling into journalism, largely by accident. He is the author of a series of crime novels set in present-day Iceland (Frozen Out, Cold Steal, Chilled to the Bone, Winterlude, Cold Comfort and Thin Ice) which have been published worldwide. He has translated all of Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series.

Larissa Kyzer

Larissa Kyzer is a writer and Icelandic to English literary translator. In 2019, she was awarded the American Scandinavian Foundation’s translation prize. That same year, she was one of Princeton University’s Translators in Residence. Larissa has received grant funding and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the European Union Prize for Literature, the Fulbright Commission, the Icelandic Ministry of Education and Culture, the Icelandic Literature Center, and Finland’s Kone Foundation. She is an at-large board member of the American Literary Translators Association, a member of the Translators Organizing Committee, and runs the virtual Women+ in Translation reading series Jill! For more: https://www.larissakyzer.com/

Ragnar Jónasson

Author

Ragnar Jónasson is the award-winning Icelandic author of the international bestselling Hulda series, the Dark Iceland series, and standalone crime fiction, with five million copies sold across 36 territories. The Times selected The Darkness as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels and Thrillers since 1945, and Snowblind has been selected as one of Top 100 Crime Fiction of all time. The Times has said of his work: ‘Is this the best crime writer in the world?’ His books have been on bestseller lists across Europe and the USA, and won multiple prizes. He has also won a special jury recognition for his poetry in Iceland. Ragnar has translated fourteen of Agatha Christie’s novels into Icelandic. Ragnar was also an executive producer of the CBS Studios TV series The Darkness, based on the first novel in his Hulda series. His novel Outside is currently being developed for the screen by Ridley Scott. Ragnar has a law degree and teaches copyright law at Reykjavik University. He also serves as a board member of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and as the Deputy Chair of the Writers’ Union of Iceland. Ragnar is the co-founder and co-chair of the literary festival Iceland Noir, held annually in Reykjavik.

You can find out a full list of all his writing, biography and more at Ragnar Jónasson’s website or follow him on Twitter for all his latest news.