Review: White As Snow, by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, trs. Quentin Bates

P U B L I C AT I O N DATE: 12th OCTOBER 2023
PA PE RB AC K O R I G I N A L | £9.99 | ORE N DA BOOKS

Blurb

On a snowy winter morning, an abandoned shipping container is discovered near Reykjavík. Inside are the bodies of five young women – one of them barely alive.

As Icelandic Police detective Daníel struggles to investigate the most brutal crime of his career, Áróra looks into the background of a suspicious man, who turns out to be engaged to Daníel’s former wife, and the connections don’t stop there…

Daníel and Áróra’s cases pit them both against ruthless criminals with horrifying agendas, while Áróra persists with her search for her missing sister, Ísafold, whose devastating disappearance continues to haunt her.

As the temperature drops and the 24-hour darkness and freezing snow hamper their efforts, their investigations become increasingly dangerous … for everyone.

Continue reading “Review: White As Snow, by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, trs. Quentin Bates”

Review: You Can’t See Me, by Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir

P U B L I C AT I O N DATE: 6
th JULY 2023
PA PE RB AC K O R I G I N A L | £9.99 | ORE N DA BOOKS

The wealthy, powerful Snæberg clan has gathered for a family reunion at a futuristic hotel set amongst the dark lava flows of Iceland’s remote Snæfellsnes peninsula.

Petra Snæberg, a successful interior designer, is anxious about the event, and her troubled teenage daughter, Lea, whose social media presence has attracted the wrong kind of followers. Ageing carpenter Tryggvi is an outsider, only tolerated because he’s the boyfriend of Petra’s aunt, but he’s struggling to avoid alcohol because he knows what happens when he drinks … Humble hotel employee, Irma, is excited to meet this rich and famous family and observe them at close quarters … perhaps too close…

As the weather deteriorates and the alcohol flows, one of the guests disappears, and it becomes clear that there is a prowler lurking in the dark.

But is the real danger inside … within the family itself?

Continue reading “Review: You Can’t See Me, by Eva Bjorg AEgisdottir”

Review: Thirty Days Of Darkness, by Jenny Lund Madsen, Translated by Megan E. Turney



PUBLICATION DATE: 11 MAY 2023
HARDBACK ORIGINAL | £16.99 | ORENDA BOOKS

Blurb

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then the first body appears…

Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and
her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually
reads them, and frustrated by writer’s block, Hannah has the feeling that
she’s doing something wrong.

When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly
challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose
face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjörður – a quiet,
tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for
inspiration.

But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman’s young son is
pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material
quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to
uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah.

Continue reading “Review: Thirty Days Of Darkness, by Jenny Lund Madsen, Translated by Megan E. Turney”

Review: Red As Blood, by Lilja Sigurdardottir, Translated by Quentin Bates


Pub date: 13 October 2022
ISBN 13: 978-1-914585-32-6
EPUB: 978-1-914585-33-3
Price: £9.99

THE BOOK

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.

Forbidden from contracting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who
specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend
Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.
Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel continue the puzzling, devastating search
for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing.

Chilling, twisty and unbearably tense, Red as Blood is the second instalment in the riveting, addictive An Áróra Investigation series, and everything is at stake…

Continue reading “Review: Red As Blood, by Lilja Sigurdardottir, Translated by Quentin Bates”