THE TIMES - One of the Crime Books of the Year 2017: "No country associated with the label Nordic noir is as bleak, dark, cold, snowy and empty as Iceland. And no crime writer portrays those elements as evocatively and scarily as Ragnar Jonasson. " - Marcel Berlins

The SUNDAY TIMES: "... his evocation of Iceland’s chilly landscape is hard to put down." - Joan Smith

METRO: "Jónasson has made no attempt to disguise his admiration for Agatha Christie and this taut, precision-tooled whodunnit shares several classic Christie tropes: a secluded house, a shortlist of possible suspects — including an elderly brother and sister, and a wealthy businessman — several deeply buried secrets and a general interest in the more desolate, vengeful depths of the human condition. Yet Jónasson is also a master of atmosphere and, as one of the potential suspects is bumped off the day before Christmas Eve, you can almost feel the snow clouds drawing in, extinguishing the light. This is a gripping thriller full of sly misdirection and slow, drip-feed reveal but it’s also a subtle portrait of contemporary Iceland, rocked by financial instability and where, away from the big towns, tiny communities cling to life. ... It’s also bleakly brilliant, although perhaps best read with a warming shot of whisky by your side."