Ragnar’s Rupture

The Shots team were delighted to be able to attend Ragnar Jonasson’s launch party for his novel Rupture, a startling addition to his Dark Iceland series. I first met Ragnar a few years ago before he was published in English, when he joined the Quiz Team I was captaining at a Crimefest event in Bristol. I was impressed by Ragnar’s knowledge and insight into the work of Dame Agatha Christie.

It came as little surprise when Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books picked up Ragnar’s work for the English market; with excellent translation by fellow writer Quentin Bates.

So the literary critics and crime-fiction reviewers gathered at David Headley’s Goldsboro Books in London’s West-End, so celebrate the latest work from the dark imagination of Ragnar Jonasson.

So what is Rupture all about?

1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjörður. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couples may not have been alone on the fjord after all…

In nearby Siglufjörður, young policeman Ari Thór tries to piece together what really happened that fateful night, in a town where no one wants to know, where secrets are a way of life. He's assisted by Ísrún, a news reporter in Reykjavik who is investigating an increasingly chilling case of her own. Things take a sinsister turn when a child goes missing in broad daylight. With a stalker on the loose, and the town of Siglufjörður in quarantine, the past might just come back to haunt them.

Haunting, frightening and complex, Rupture is a dark and atmospheric thriller from one of Iceland's foremost crime writers.

Ayo Onatade recently interviewed Ragnar, as part of his blog tour, and his insight can be sampled Here

We captured Karen Sullivan welcoming the guests and introducing Ragnar on video here –

And Shots have discounted copies available from our bookstore Here

And here are few photos from the event

Rupture - Q& A with Ragnar Jónasson

As part of his Rupture tour author Ragnar Jónasson answers questions about his new book.

Q:        Tell us about the remote fjord where Rupture is set.

RJ:   Rupture is set in Hedinsfjordur, a fjord next to Siglufjordur. Before the opening of a new tunnel to Hedinsfjordur in 2010 (discussed in Blackout, where the victim was working on the tunnel), the fjord was inaccessible. The last people to live there moved away in 1951 in real life, but in my book I create an fictional family who lived there a bit later.

Q:        Rupture has so many different strands – a virus that makes Siglufjordur inaccessible (great locked-room mystery), a cold case, a poisoning, a missing child, and more … how do you plot? Is it hard to keep it straight in your head?

RJ:      The ideas for the plot threads came from various places and at various points in time, and initially I didn’t know they would end up on this particular book, but then little by little it fits into place and you begin writing.

Q:       You deal with some incredibly topical issues across this series, but never in a way that intrudes upon the page-turning reads. Do you believe that crime fiction is a good vehicle for highlighting societal wrongs?

RJ:      I think a good crime novel needs to be focused on the characters and the plot, and the element of surprise, but it is very difficult to write a modern day crime novel, in a believable manner, unless discussing the reasons behind the crimes, and there the social issues enter.

Q:        Readers and reviewers are fascinated by the atmosphere that you create in the Dark Iceland series. Is that hard to do? Or something you’ve changed for international markets?

RJ:      The books were all written for an Icelandic market and although they are now being published abroad, I continue to write Icelandic crime for Icelandic readers, and for us, the landscape and weather is a big part of life.

Q:        You’ve got a bit of an Ari Thor fan club growing. Do you see yourself as Ari Thor, or is he just a product of your imagination?

RJ:   He is mainly a product of my imagination, but we do have quite a few things in common of course; a memory here and there or something he would say and do – but only the good things of course! Also, in Snowblind he wanted to learn to play the piano, and since then I‘ve also started learning.

Q:    You’ve moved onto a second series now, but will you return to Dark Iceland, given the excitement you’ve generated?

RJ:     That’s a good question, I don’t know the answer yet. I have two books in the new series already in Iceland, so at the moment no new book about Ari has been written, but hopefully I will return to him.

Q:        Will you have any input in the upcoming TV series?

RJ:      I think my role there would be mostly an advisory one, as the books are in very good hands with the team from On the Corner. They have a very clear vision for the series, which I share with them.

Q:        Did you ever expect to top the kindle list with your first book, and have every single one of the following books become bestsellers?

RJ:      I had absolutely no expectations of that, and the reception of the series in the UK and elsewhere recently, for example in France, has been beyond belief.

Q:        How do you write and when?

RJ:      I tend to write fairly late, but I try to write every day. I have a rather demanding day job, so it can be difficult to time to write except late in the evenings.

Q:        Agatha Christie is a clear inspiration, but who else has influenced your writing?

RJ:     So many authors, almost every author you read provides an inspiration. I can mention a few amazing authors such as P.D. James, Peter May, Andrew Taylor, Peter Temple, and various Nordic authors of course.

Q:        Do you ever see yourself giving up you ‘day job’ to write full time?

RJ:      Not at the moment, as I really enjoy working as a lawyer.

Q:        Tell us about winter in Iceland … the dark hours. Do people sleep more, and less, perhaps, in the summer months?

RJ:      Yes, absolutely, we tend to sleep more, it’s dark when you go to work and dark when you come home, and easier to sleep in, but in the summer time it’s so bright that people tend to stay up well into the night, and just say “I’ll sleep next winter”.

Q:        Apparently 10 percent of the population in Iceland aspires to be a writer, and you sell a huge number of books in the ‘Christmas Book Flood’. How hard is it to get an Icelandic publisher, and how hard is it to achieve international success?

RJ:      The process of getting an Icelandic publisher is rather different from a UK one, as we don’t tend to use agents in Iceland. I’ve never had an agent for the Icelandic market, and most authors don’t, but all publishers stick to the same standard agreements negotiated by the Writers’ Assocation. But abroad it is of course almost impossible to be published without an agent, but actually some of the Icelandic publishers do act as agents abroad for their authors.

Q:        What other Icelandic authors do you recommend we read?

RJ:      At the moment I am reading a new book by one of my favorite Icelandic authors, Audur Ava Olafsdottir. If you haven’t read anything of hers, I would suggest starting with her most famous book, The Greenhouse. Also, I recommend people try reading our Icelandic Nobel laureate, Halldor Laxness. In terms of crime, one of my favorite books is Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s, I Remember You, which is now being made into a major film, to be released in the UK among other places.

Q:        What are you reading now?

RJ:      I’m reading Sophie Hannah’s new Poirot book, Closed Casket; Audur Ava’s new book (in Icelandic only), Mark Aldridge’s Agatha Christie on Screen, Charles Finch’s new Charles Lenox book, The Inheritance, Shari Lapena’s The Couple Next Door, and I’ve just finished reading on of S.S. Van Dine’s excellent Philo Vance mysteries, The Scarab Murder Case.

More information about Ragnar Jónasson and his writing can be found on his website. You can also follow him on Twitter @ragnarjo

Breaking News - TV Deal for Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series

Orenda Books is delighted to announce that On the Corner, the UK production company responsible for the Academy Award-winning Amy, has acquired the TV rights for Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series. The deal was negotiated by Luke Speed at Curtis Brown.

The series, currently comprised of five books, including the bestselling Snowblind and Nightblind, with Blackout to follow this July, features Icelandic police officer Ari Thor, who is based in the northernmost town in Iceland, Siglufjörður. Rights to the series have been sold in ten countries to date, and Snowblind has been a number one bestseller in both the UK and Australia.

On the Corner is a multi-award-winning independent production company, producing original, high-quality drama and documentaries. They were responsible for Senna, which won two BAFTAs, and Amy, the most successful British documentary of all time.

Ragnar says, ‘I am thrilled that we have finalised this deal with On the Corner. They have set out very ambitious plans to bring my books to the screen and I am confident that my characters and stories are in very capable hands.’

David Headley, of DHH Literary Agency, Ragnar’s literary agent says, ‘Ragnar is a talented, brilliant

author and the Dark Iceland series will make great TV. We couldn’t be happier for him.’

Karen Sullivan, publisher of Orenda Books, says, ‘It is beyond exciting to know that such a prestigious production company will be bringing this fabulous series to the small screen. Ragnar’s books are atmospheric, chilling and evocative, and he cleverly weaves together the very best aspects of Nordic Noir with all the elements of a Golden Age mystery. TV is a natural home for them, and I know that On the Corner will do them proud.  Beautifully translated by Quentin Bates, Ragnar’s books have attracted a new legion of fans to the genre, and I’m sure the TV series will do the same.’

Tackling myths … Ragnar Jónasson

One of the reasons I wrote Nightblind was to tackle two myths about Iceland. The first is that Icelanders are a nation with no guns. This is a very prevalent myth, largely because Iceland is a very peaceful place, usually ranking at the top or near the top of lists of the most peaceful countries on earth. Furthermore, the Icelandic police are quite famous for being unarmed, although this is no longer the case. Some police cars are now equipped with handguns, a sign of changing times perhaps.  But the truth is that Icelanders have a lot of guns – although they are mainly hunting weapons, of course. There have been reports of 60,000 registered firearms in Iceland, which means that one in five Icelanders has a gun, and Iceland has been ranked No. 15 in the world, in terms of gun ownership per capita. This subject is tackled in Nightblind when the local police inspector is shot at point blank range with a shotgun – a hunting gun presumably stolen from a local teacher who kept it in an unlocked garage. As the investigation proceeds, it becomes clear that there are far more weapons on the streets than previously imagined, even in a small place like Siglufjordur!

The second myth is that Iceland is a country with no violence. Again, this has something to do with the ‘peaceful-country’ ranking (and Iceland is very peaceful) and the fact that we have very few murders (far fewer than you would think, reading Icelandic crime novels). However, I wanted to draw attention to the hidden violence that exists in all countries: domestic violence. And Iceland is no exception. It can be said that the horror of domestic violence is a main thread throughout the book, but I think I won’t elaborate further on that – I’ll let the readers of Nightblind discover more for themselves … Domestic violence usually take place behind closed doors and, like it is in many countries, is often under-reported. Who knows what’s going on behind those doors, as the long, dark winters draw in? Any country can appear peaceful on the surface, but most have a simmering rage that leads to violence at home. It’s worrying, and it’s a trend that it is increasing worldwide.

I once had the opportunity to interview the great P.D. James for an Icelandic newspaper, and she told me that the traditions and structure of a detective story could be used to say something about men and women under the stress of a police investigation, and the society in which they live. I tend to agree with that, so my novels usually, directly or indirectly, address a topic that I find interesting or important. Of course I also try not to lose sight of the fact that I am writing a crime novel with a focus on characters, setting, plot and a twist in the end … And it is surely in the most compelling stories that the truth can be told, the myths shattered, and issues brought to the surface, as readers absorb information through entertainment. It’s a powerful vehicle for change, and that’s one of the reasons why I love writing crime fiction.

Nightblind by Ragnar Jónasson (translated by Quentin Bates) is out now. (Orenda Books, £8.99)

Siglufjör› ur: an idyllically quiet fishing village on the northernmost tip of Iceland, accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.  Ari Thór Arason: a local policeman, whose tumultuous past and uneasy relationships with the villagers continue to haunt him. The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by the murder of a policeman – shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark arctic winter closing in, it falls to Ari Thór to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor, and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik, where someone is being held against their will. Then a mysterious young woman moves to the area, on the run from something she dare not reveal, and it becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all.

More information about Ragnar Jónasson and his writing can be found on his website. You can also follow him on Twitter @ragnarjo