Someone on WordPress suggested I might enjoy reading the novels of Michael Ridpath featuring the Icelandic detective Magnús. Well, thank you whoever it was and I’m sorry I don’t remember! I have just finished reading the first novel in the series (hurrah, it is a series so more enjoyment to come) and I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t just because it was set in Iceland, a country I love and long to visit again, but it was a cracking good story, with interesting and believable characters, an intriguing plot which involved the Icelandic sagas and ‘Lord of the Rings’ and a satisfactory ending.
The novel is called ‘Where The Shadows Lie’ and is part of a series called ‘Fire and Ice’; the main character, a Boston policeman of Icelandic origin is sent to Iceland for two reasons, to be out of range of some very unpleasant villains who are out to get him, and to work with the Icelandic police force who are having to confront some of the problems that a cop from urban US would face every day. it is an interesting premise and works well because Magnús is an outsider and yet he fits into the culture of the country he is returning to for the first time since his childhood. There are some mysteries within his own life, and the book hints that they might be something he has to face in the subsequent novels… I’m already intrigued!
I’m not sure when I will be able to go back to Iceland; until I do I shall keep on reading about it!
Harpa
Lois Elsden 