Book Review: ‘The Island’ Is The Next Thrilling Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir Novel

by | May 6, 2019 | Books | 0 comments

Author Ragnar Jonasson is back with his second novel The Island featuring Hulda Hermannsdóttir in Iceland. This is the follow up to last years hit novel The Darkness. It starts out in 1987 and we find Hulda is married to Jon and has a teenage girl. She tries for a promotion at work but doesn’t get it. Meanwhile a young couple, Benny and Katla, goes on a secret trip to an isolated cabin in the Westfjords. Katla is found dead and her father is the prime suspect and arrested and kills himself in jail (there was a lie told at trial that helped convict him).

Ten years later four friends reunite for a weekend trip to ‘The Island’ to remember Katla. Once again history repeats itself and one of them doesn’t make it out alive. At first it is assumed it was an accident. But then it turns out it was a murder. The three of them all claim they had nothing to do with it but secrets and information is not being told. Hulda has the case and the more she investigates the more she knows she’s not being told everything and it also leads back to the case from ten years ago and she discovers things didn’t seem right back then. She finally puts the pieces together and makes a shocking discovery of the two cases.

There’s also a side story involving Hulda looking for her father who she never met or knew anything about except for his name and she goes searching for him.

A great story with an intriguing character in Hulda. She’s strong, smart and yet is vulnerable and lonely. Her job is everything to her and she’s great at it. The story has a bunch of twists and turns and keeps the reader engaged right up to the final page.

You can pick up The Island in stores on Tuesday, May 21st from Minotaur Books.