The Day is Dark

Yrsa's books are BY FAR my favorite reading discovery as of late - she combines a great, complicated crime mystery with characters that are enormously enjoyable. It's the kind of book you read while nervously watching the progress bar, hoping it will just keep going forever! Please, Yrsa, keep cranking them out - I can't wait for more!

I've highly enjoyed this series by Yrsa set in her native Iceland. The fourth book is no different. This one was very different to the prior ones, this was more of a 'bottle' story where the characters were allowed to shine as they gradually uncovered what went on in a mining operation where several of the employees went missing. Thora is engaging as always, my only complaint is that Bella (who appears) did little in this one. I enjoyed Bella in the last book (Ashes to Dust), and wish she could have had a more central role in this one. Either way, this was hard to put down. There was a palpable sense of dread throughout much of the book, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next after every chapter. There were some jarring instances where the POV shifted to other characters, and I found some of those sections to be a bit long winded and took me away from the main thrust of the story, but that is a small issue. Very nice mystery set in a part of the world I know little about. Bravo Yrsa, hopefully we get more of your Icelandic tales in English soon!!

This plot moved very slowly and I didn't find the end very satisfying. Some of the characters should have been sent home early.

If you liked the earlier books in the series, I suspect you will like this one as well. I certainly did. (If you've not read the earlier books, you could jump straight into this, but you would miss out on some significant character background.)

That an entire book could be written about the uncertain deaths of three people in an absurdly isolated region of an absurdly isolated country with said deaths being investigated by an absurdly isolated LAWYER while among an absurdly isolated handful of unrelated people trapped in the snow, uncertain of food, drink, shelter and sleep, rather astounds me. That I should find such a work absurdly COMPELLING reflects only upon it’s absurdly brave author, Yrsa Sigurardotter (if, in Iceland, a woman named Sigurardottir gives birth to a female child, is the child’s last name “Sigurardottirdottir”?). This author could write a novel about a single falling snowflake and make it compelling. Here, after an eternity of blinding whiteness, the author’s tools of the trade kick in. Secrets, betrayals, mistaken identities, sexual proclivities, acts performed under the influence, ritualistic transgressions, cultural/familial/spiritual fears, further baffling deaths/murders/suicides and all of this leading to, most surprisingly, both this over here and that over there, and you’ve got yourself a novel, absurd though it may be. Perhaps the author, weary of triple-decker chess, thought a game of checkers might cleanse the authorial palette. To which I say; “Well played!”!

Though Yrsa's previous Thora novels were set in Iceland, this novel is set almost entirely in Greenland. The plot concerns the investigation of mysterious disappearances at a new mining venture in eastern Greenland. Modern science intersects with the ancient folklore of the indigenous Greenlanders as the plot unfolds with unexpected and fascinated twists and turns. In the end, all the mysteries that emerge are neatly and plausibly explained. The fascinating culture and serious challenges of the Greenlanders are treated with sympathy and insight. I found this to be one of Yrsa's best novels.

When a mining site in Greenland experiences a communications breakdown and its workers refuse to return, a small team is sent from Iceland to determine what happened and advise on what can be done to get the project back on track. A video has emerged suggesting that a murder took place at the site and several of the workers seem to have disappeared. The team arrives and slowly begins to try and unravel the mystery. The harsh unforgiving environment has had an impact both for the local people and those isolated together at the work site. The mystery slowly unravels but the suspense is held until the end with many twists and turns along the way.

I've been a fan of the Icelandic writer Yrsa Sigurdardottir since coming across one of her books a few years ago. I could never find another of hers in the library or local stores, so I'm happy to see them being published in Kindle editions now. I enjoyed this one just as much as the first. Her stories are not action packed thrillers, but stories that develop over time as the heroine researchs the people and motives behind the events. (I think this is probably more true to life than many mystery novels!) The location in the mining settlement in Greenland is unusual, and the description of the weather, the members of the staff, and especially the reclusive villagers keeps a level of tension throughout the book. I find the main character, Thora, to be someone I can relate well to, and the comic relief provided by her secretary Bella is fun. I highly recommend this book!

Yrsa is a really fun author. Her mysteries are well crafted, dark but with an equally funny humour , scary also.

Das Buch ist mir seiner Geschichte völlig auf die Spannung der Einsamkeit und kälte in Grönland ausgerichtet. Die Geschichte ist so aufgebaut, dass man bis am Schluss nicht weiss, was wann mit wem wie passieren wird. Mir ist es beim lesen mehrere Male kalt den Rücken runter gelaufen. Man konnte die kälte Grönlands förmlich spüren. Für alle, welche auf mysteriöse Geschichten in der Einsamket stehen, ist das Buch ein Muss!

Le début de ce livre promettait une énigme originale mais, arrivée à la moitié de ce livre, j'espère toujours qu'il va enfin se passer quelque chose à la page suivante. Tout ce que j'en retiens jusqu'à présent c'est que, selon l'auteur, les rares habitants de l'Est du Groenland sont tarés, alcooliques et superstitieux. De plus ils se laissent crever de faim car ils n'ont plus le droit de chasser les phoques et les baleines. Est-ce seulement vrai ? Quant à l'intrigue elle-même, d'après les commentaires lus sur Amazon USA et UK, il vaut mieux passer tout de suite aux 20 dernières pages pour avoir la solution de ce mystère glacé. Dommage, il y avait de l'idée, mais finalement mal exploitée.

L'inizio del libro è molto accattivante perché l'ambientazione della costa est della Groenlandia in inverno è di per se qualcosa di speciale. Un luogo remoto e ostile dove gli unici mezzi di trasporto sono elicotteri e slitte trainate da cani. Dove quando c'è bufera è meglio restare a dormire nell' edificio principale del complesso minerario piuttosto che fare pochi metri all' aperto per tornare negli alloggi. Perché quei pochi metri possono essere fatali. Un luogo dove la popolazione autoctona passa mesi isolata dal resto del mondo. Dove le uniche professioni possibili sono il pescatore e il cacciatore e vengono tramandate di padre in figlio. Un luogo dove ci sono ancora sciamani e dove il rispetto per la tradizione è ciò che consente di mantenersi saldi e chi perde la via finisce a cercare le risposte sul fondo del bicchiere. Date le premesse si poteva fare molto meglio. Invece il gruppetto di personaggi che si trova ad investigare è alquanto scialbo. Persino Bella, la segretaria dall'inferno non regala dei bei momenti stavolta. Ad ogni modo Yrsa Sigurdardòttir si lascia ( a malapena in questo caso) leggere. e visto che questo romanzo è il quarto della serie di Thora Gudmunsdottir l'ho finito comunque per non perdere la continuità narrativa.

This writer is as good if nit better than Steig Larssen. Great story a real page turner. Can't wait to read mire books from this author.