Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors – accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.
Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik – with a past that he’s unable to leave behind. When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theatre, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life. An avalanche and unremitting snowstorms close the mountain pass, and the 24-hour darkness threatens to push Ari over the edge, as curtains begin to twitch, and his investigation becomes increasingly complex, chilling and personal. Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts, while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness – blinded by snow, and with a killer on the loose.
Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent, taking Nordic Noir to soaring new heights.


‘His first novel to be translated into English has all the skilful plotting of an old-fashioned whodunnit although it feels bitingly contemporary in setting and tone’ Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express

’Snowblind is morally more equivocal than most traditional whodunnits, and it offers alluring glimpses of darker, and infinitely more threatening horizons’ Independent

’Ragnar Jónasson writes with a chilling, poetic beauty … a must-read’ Peter James

‘Seductive … Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully’ Anne Cleeves

‘A modern Icelandic take on an Agatha Christie-style mystery, as twisty as any slalom…’ Ian Rankin

‘A truly chilling debut, perfect for fans of Karin Fossum and Henning Mankell’ Eva Dolan

‘A stunning murder mystery by one of Iceland’s finest writers’ Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

‘There is a young pretender beavering away, his eye on the crown: Ragnar Jónasson…’ Barry Forshaw

‘As dazzling as its title implies’ William Ryan