Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village on the northernmost tip of Iceland, accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.
Ari Thór Arason: a local policeman, whose tumultuous past and uneasy relationships with the villagers continue to haunt him.
The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by the murder of a policeman – shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark arctic winter closing in, it falls to Ari Thór to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor, and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik, where someone is being held against their will.
Dark, chilling and complex, Nightblind is an extraordinary thriller from an undeniable new talent.
‘A tiny, segregated town is a superb setting for a crime novel, and Jónasson exploits it well. He builds a layered mystery featuring a series of unhealthy secrets, and past crimes buried deep in the sheltered, almost claustrophobic recesses of family life’ Crime Thriller Journal
'This is an atmospheric portrayal of a claustrophobic place where everyone is connected’ Laura Wilson, Guardian
‘An old-fashioned murder mystery with a strong central character and the fascinating background of a small Icelandic town. Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully’ Anne Cleeves
‘Ragnar Jónasson writes with such a chilling, poetic beauty - a must-read addition to the growing canon of Iceland Noir’ Peter James