The Darkness: A Thriller (The Hulda Series, 1)

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdottir is very close to retirement and she is not sure if this idea makes her feel good. When she is called to the office of her immediate superior Magnus because "We need to have a little chat about your situation" she is not sure what to expect. It seems her noble boss is eager for her to leave so that her replacement "a real high achiever" can take over her job and a deadline is set for two weeks. In fact the arrogant Magnus is eager for her to depart immediately but .."On full pay, of course" Refusing to be intimidated and not wishing to retire early she eagerly grasps at a throwaway comment made by Magnus..."But you, well, you could always look into a cold case, I suppose. Anything that takes your show more fancy. How does that grab you?."....The pompous Magnus will live to regret his decision and as Hulda revisits again the unsolved case of refugee Elena "She had come to a foreign country in search of refuge and only found a watery grave. And nobody cared."....she will unravel a murder that was never properly managed, and in the process question the original investigation.

The primary officer in the case Alexander did not suspect murder and closed his findings on a suicide verdict. But DI Hulda questions why a young refugee would take her own life when she had just discovered that very morning her asylum application had been approved. Clearly something had been missed, Magnus had hoped that this old case had been put to rest and he is most unhappy that Hulda is "making waves" and causing problems when she should be retired. We learn of Hulda's traumatic childhood, the tragic events surrounding her daughter Dimma, and the truth concerning her much loved husband, Jon, who died suddenly from heart failure some years ago. Against all this trauma and the approach of a lonely retirement looming ever closer "Retirement was something Hulda had never mentally prepared for.".....she meet Petur a retired doctor and the hope for future friendship, even love, now seems a possibility. Very soon DI Hulda puts herself in mortal danger as the net on the murderer closes and the events that unfold will stay in the memory of the Icelandic police force for many years to come.

This was an astounding tale beautifully told and has made me appreciate the great contribution that nordic crime has made over the last few years. Ragnar Jonasson is an very proficient story teller making a simple tale sparkle against the cold Icelandic landscape..."full of hidden volcanic craters and clouds of steam, scarred by the violent forces at work beneath the earth's crust here where Iceland straddled the divide between two continental plates".... I so hoped that Hulda could now find the contentment she so deserved especially as Petur held forth the hand of warmth and friendship. The conclusion of this story was totally unexpected yet brilliantly executed, to reveal more would spoil the enjoyment that awaits you dear reader of my review! Many thanks to the publisher penguin and netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written. A fantastic piece of storytelling brilliantly told and highly highly recommended. show less

This was published as The Darkness in English, the original, Icelandic title is Dimma. The German version was translated from the English text, not the original one.

I am only lukewarm about this novel and will not continue with this series. There were some aspects that I enjoyed, most of all the wonderful descriptions of the landscapes of Iceland, which made we want to jump on a plane and travel there instantly. The main character, Hulda, a police officer who is just about to retire and is offered to look into one last cold case, is unusual and interesting. She chooses the death of a young asylum seeker which was quickly written off as a suicide. The book is a page turner. I read it very fast because I wanted to know what happened. The show more case itself was not the most gripping, but not boring either.
However, there were also a few aspects that were off-putting to me. Hulda is a difficult character and it was often hard to sympathize with her and to understand her actions. I also think that her character was not round and there are some contradictions which made the novel less credible. The most off-potting point, though, was the ending. Apparently Hulda dies in the end, the investigation comes to nothing, her body is not found. It is so frustrating! As far as I can see the trilogy moves backwards and the next book takes place fifteen years before, and the third one even further in the past. Why would I like to read more about a character who I know will meet a terrible end, and whose life held almost no joys? I learned online that there is a new series about her successor and that readers hope that there will be a book where he will find out what happened to her - maybe even find her alive somewhere - but as of now there is no real hint to that. I can see myself googling these spoilers in the future, or looking for them on LT, but I do not think that I will read more of this series, if anything by this author, although I have heard that the "Dark Iceland" series is supposed to be better.
I see that many readers love this book, but because of what I mentioned above, it is just not my cup of tea. show less

"The Darkness" is original, compelling, unforgiving and completely believable. This is Scandic-Noir at its best.

I passed on Ragnar Jonasson's Dark Iceland series after reading "Snowblind".I found the detective too bland and the plot too much of a stretch.

His new series, "Hidden Iceland" fixes all that.

The main character is complex, easy to believe in and empathise with but with some serious flaws and deep scars that make her intriguing to discover. The plot is both darker and more credible than in "Snowblind". The storytelling, which moves skillfully along multiple timelines and from multiple, initially unnamed, points of view is perfectly structured to feed tension, curiosity and empathy with each chapter so that, by the end, we show more have a rich and textured understanding of the lives of the four women who are the main focus of the book.

One of the things that makes this first-in-a-series book original is that the main character, Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is sixty-four years old and about to retire, rather reluctantly, after a successful career in the Icelandic police which has included some high profile cases and a collision with the glass ceiling. I liked the realism built into Hulda's response to being confronted with retirement, the physical realities of getting older and the challenges of building a future when your career is over and you live alone. There's no "golden years" gloss here, just a review of the possible and the inevitable.


What I liked most about this book is that the main mystery being exposed is not the cold case of a young Russian woman asylum seeker who was found dead on a beach, but the mystery of Hulda herself. Hulda has a complicated history which is slowly and cleverly revealed as the plot unfolds.

The name Hulda means hidden, muffled or concealed. It is a name chosen with care. Nothing about Hulda is what it seems. Discovering the truth about Hulda changes everything in the novel.

Hulda's daughter plays a key role in the story. Her name is Dimma which translates as darkness. Dimma is also the title of the novel in Icelandic. The story really is one of slowly spreading darkness.

I was very impressed with "The Darkness" and I'm looking forward to reading, "The Island", the second book in the series once it's available as an English language audiobook.

I listened to the audiobook version of "The Darkness" which was narrated by Amanda Redman, who I think was a perfect choice. show less

Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavík police is sixty-four and planning to retire at the end of the year. She has no family, few friends, and dreads the "soul-destroying prospect of giving up work." She has little to look forward to, except for an "aching void of enforced inactivity." Much to her dismay, her boss informs her that he has hired a young man who is "a real high achiever." This new employee will replace her in two weeks. Hurt at being "swept out of the way like a piece of old rubbish," Hulda plans to tackle one last case in the time she has left. She revisits the death of twenty-seven year old Elena, a Russian asylum seeker who drowned in a cove, supposedly by accident or suicide, more than a year ago. show more Hulda interviews, among others, the manager of the hostel where Elena stayed, the solicitor who assisted Elena with her application, and another asylum seeker who might have additional information about the victim. Eventually, Hulda comes to suspect that Elena was murdered, and she sets out to identify the perpetrator.

Hulda is a deeply unhappy woman who puts people off with her brusque demeanor, is prone to terrifying nightmares, and has experienced unspeakable heartache. Her only source of comfort is her budding relationship with a retired doctor named Pétur, a fellow hiker who is intelligent, good-hearted, and amiable. "The Darkness," by Ragnar Jónasson, ably translated by Victoria Cribb, is Icelandic noir at its most riveting and unnerving. Aside from Hulda's aforementioned investigation, Jónasson, in separate chapters, depicts the heartrending plight of a desperate single mother who sees her baby only through a pane of glass. Initially, we have no idea who this frantic individual is, or why she is separated from her infant daughter.

The themes in this novel include: sexism; ageism; the consequences of keeping shameful secrets from becoming public knowledge; the curse of loneliness; and the ways in which agonizing experiences continue to haunt us, even decades later. Jónasson incorporates Iceland's bleak and forbidding landscape into his fascinating plot. Although parts of this country are breathtakingly beautiful, this remote island nation can be icy, gloomy, and forbidding. The book's melancholy tone foreshadows terrible revelations to come. The author's prose and dialogue are first rate—no words are wasted—and although we identify with the heroine, we are horrified by her poor judgment and self-destructive behavior. The wrenching and bitterly ironic conclusion (with twists that few will see coming) is a fitting coda to this compelling and thought-provoking tale of rage, betrayal, vengeance, and justice denied. "The Darkness" is one of the most original and cleverly constructed thrillers of the year. show less

At age 64, Hulda Hermannsdottir is starting to think about retirement after a long career in the police force. When she joined the police, she was one of few women on the force. Eventually she hit the glass ceiling and watched younger men receive promotions to higher ranks. Hulda thinks retirement is months away, until her boss lets her know that they’re letting her go early so that they can hire a promising young man before he accepts a position somewhere else. Hulda’s boss gives her two weeks to work on a cold case of her choice. She selects the case of a young asylum-seeking Russian woman. Hulda’s colleague who originally worked the case concluded that the woman had committed suicide, but Hulda suspects that his investigation show more wasn’t as thorough as it should have been. Hulda starts asking questions and soon suspects that the woman was murdered.

I connected with some aspects of Hulda’s character but not with others. Hulda has few true friends, and readers come to understand that her lack of close relationships is the result of childhood experiences. I didn’t find Hulda entirely sympathetic, but I had compassion for her. I will remember this book because it is so different from the usual crime novel. Hulda solves the murder too late to save her own life and too late to share what she knows with any of her colleagues. I can’t imagine a better narrator for the audio version than Amanda Redman, one of my favorite actors. I suspect I liked Hulda better than I otherwise would have thanks to Redman’s performance. show less

Excitingly subtle Nordic Noir addition!

Ok, I don't quite know what to do with this story. It left things puzzling unfinished, and me hanging in midair. (Hanging on every word and action by the way) Unfinished from the point of view of about to retire Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavík police and her enquiry into the assumed suicide of a young Russian woman found washed up on a deserted shoreline two years before. The more we learn about Hulda, the more we sympathize with her perceptions about her work colleagues, and her inner drive that seems to ignore anything but the goal she's fixated on.
As little by little Hulda's life history is revealed, some of her actions become more understandable, if not sometimes show more slightly bizarre.
Hulda's enforced retirement notice begs the questions of the last chapter's happenings and her colleagues opinions of her. Where does the truth lie?
Hulda chooses one last case to investigate, and the time allowed becomes shorter as she treads on official's toes and companion's egos. The suicide case sparks attraction from many quarters, most of it unwanted.
The Darkness is the first part a trilogy that appears to have begun with the ending. Maybe!
At first the structure of the series and the interplay of Hulda's past and present annoyed me, however as I read on I was caught. How the storyline is eventually going to play out will have me returning out of sheer curiosity. The forcefulness of Hulda's personality and the stories within stories has well and truly trapped me! I find myself desperately wanting to continue with Hulda's journey, despite its ending. Truly Nordic Noir! I loved it!

A NetGalley ARC show less

Ragnar Jónasson has rapidly turned into my favorite Nordic crime fiction writer. Iceland comes to life under his pen. Give this man snow and the endless dark days of winter, and he's fully capable of giving readers a severe case of claustrophobia to go along with his well-paced and -plotted mysteries. This newest trilogy opens with a bang. The Darkness is a superb character study of Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir.

The Darkness takes place at the end of May, when Iceland is getting warmer and brighter in advance of July when the sun never sets. These lengthening days are bringing things to light that have been buried in darkness for a long time. Yes, the book title is very symbolic and becomes even moreso the farther one show more reads.

One of the ways the darkness is dispelled in this novel is by alternating chapters told in different voices. One of the voices is easily identified as that of a young Russian woman, but it takes a few chapters before the reader realizes that Hulda's backstory is slowly unfolding. Be forewarned: this is not a happy book. Hulda has had many harsh things happen to her throughout her life, and as a result she's not Little Miss Mary Sunshine. Having had some of the same things happen to me, I identified with this woman very closely-- even while I was mentally trying to tell her not to do some of the things she did during her investigation.

By the time you come to the end of The Darkness, you will realize that this series does not start out in a conventional manner. Not only that, but the story itself does not advance in a linear fashion. However, I did not find it at all confusing. No, I found it brilliant. The Darkness is marvelous reading for those who find it easier to empathize with characters. Hulda Hermannsdóttir has gotten under my skin, and I can't wait to read the next book in this trilogy. show less