Five million books sold worldwide

36 territories

“Is this the best crime writer in the world today?”
THE TIMES

“A world class crime writer”
THE SUNDAY TIMES

“One of the finest crime writers in the world today”
DAILY MAIL

“Nothing less than a landmark in modern crime fiction”
THE TIMES

“next-gen Nordic star”
LOS ANGELES TIMES

“the precision of Harold Pinter”
THE WASHINGTON POST

"Jonasson is an automatic must-read for me - he's possibly the best Scandi writer working today."
LEE CHILD

“absolutely a triumph”
IAN RANKIN (on The Mist)

“A great writer”
HARLAN COBEN

“The king of Icelandic crime fiction.”
Göteborgsposten

Ragnar Jonasson is the award winning Icelandic author of the international bestselling Hulda series, the Dark Iceland series, and standalone crime fiction, with five million copies sold across 36 territories. Ragnar was also an executive producer of the CBS Studios TV series “The Darkness”, based on the first novel in his Hulda series, starring Lena Olin and directed by Lasse Hallström. His novel “Outside” is being developed for the screen by Ridley Scott.

The Times selected The Darkness as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels and Thrillers since 1945, and Snowblind has been selected as one of Top 100 Crime Fiction of all time. The Times has said of his work: “Is this the best crime writer in the world?”

His books have been on bestseller lists across Europe and the USA, and won multiple prizes. He has also won a special jury recognition for his poetry in Iceland.

Ragnar has furthermore translated fourteen of Agatha Christie’s novels into Icelandic, starting at the age of 17.

Ragnar has a law degree and teaches copyright law at Reykjavik University. He also serves as a board member of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and as the Deputy Chair of the Writers’ Union of Iceland. Ragnar is the co-founder and co-chair of the literary festival Iceland Noir, held annually in Reykjavik.

Ragnar has regularly appeared on literary festivals worldwide, and lives in Reykjavik.

Bestseller lists and awards

Ragnar’s books have been bestsellers around the world. He was the first Icelandic author to top the German Spiegel bestseller list, and to have three books on the list at the same time. His books have been no. 1 crime fiction bestsellers in France on many occasions, and he has also been a no. 1 Amazon Kindle bestseller in UK and Australia.

The Hulda Series won the Danish prize for best translated crime fiction, The Darkness won the Spanish prize for best translated crime fiction, he won the UK Dead Good Reader Award for crime in translation for Nightblind, and The Mist won the Amazon Publishing & Capital Crime Mystery of the Year award in 2020. He has also been shortlisted for Novel of the Year in Sweden, The Barry Award in the US and the Petrona Award.

The Times selected The Darkness as one of the 100 Best Crime Novels and Thrillers since 1945, and Snowblind was selected as one of Top 100 Crime Fiction of all time by Blackwell’s.

Snowblind was selected by The Independent as one of the best crime novels of 2015.

His books have also won praise from publications such as The Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Times Literary Supplement.

Ragnar was the co-founder of the Icelandic Blackbird Award, for new voices in Icelandic crime fiction, established in order to preserve and support the Icelandic language.

Ragnar also serves as a board member of the Icelandic Language Committee, an advisory committee to the government.

Literary agents:
Monica Gram - Copenhagen Literary Agency (worldwide)
David Headley - DHH Literary Agency (UK/US)

Film and TV rights:
Emily Hayward-Whitlock - The Artists Partnership

NOVELS

Fölsk nóta, 2009 - Dark Iceland prequel

Snjóblinda, 2010 (Snowblind) - Dark Iceland book no. 1

Myrknætti, 2011 (Blackout) - Dark Iceland book no. 2

Rof, 2012 (Rupture) - Dark Iceland book no. 3

Andköf, 2013 (Whiteout) - Dark Iceland book no. 4

Náttblinda, 2014 (Nightblind) - Dark Iceland book no. 5

Dimma, 2015 (The Darkness) - Hulda book no. 1

Drungi, 2016 (The Island) - Hulda book no. 2

Mistur, 2017 (The Mist) - Hulda book no. 3

Þorpið, 2018 (The Girl who Died) - standalone novel

Hvíti dauði, 2019 (Death at the Sanatorium) - Helgi book no. 1

Vetrarmein, 2020 (Winterkill) - Dark Iceland book no. 6

Úti, 2021 (Outside) - standalone novel

Reykjavik, 2022 - co-written with Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir

Hvítalogn, 2023 (The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer) - Helgi book no. 2

TELEVISION

The Darkness, 2024 - a six part series for CBS Studios, directed by Lasse Hallström, starring Lena Olin, Douglas Henshall & Jack Bannon. Based on the novel by Ragnar Jonasson, who also acted as an executive producer for the series.

SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH:

Death of a Sunflower, 2014, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January 2014.

Party of Two, 2014, Guilty Parties - CWA 2014 Anthology (Severn House)

A Moment by the Sea, 2014, Orendabooks.co.uk

A Letter to Santa, 2015, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January 2015

A Postcard from Iceland, 2017, Mystery Tour - CWA 2017 (Orenda Books)

Don’t Panic, 2019, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Jan/Feb 2019

The Silence of the Falling Snow, 2020 (Penguin & Macmillan, The Mist)

The Daughter, 2020 (Goldsboro Books)

A Christmas Puzzle, 2020 (The Mysterious Bookshop)

The Concert, 2021 - written with Víkingur Ólafsson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

Nineteen-fourty nine, 2024 - written with Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)