Blogtour White As Snow by Lilja Sigurdardottir @lilja1972 @OrendaBooks @annecater #RandomThingsTours #WhiteAsSnow #AnAroraInvestigation #IcelandNoir

The Blurb

On a snowy winter morning, an abandoned shipping container is
discovered near Reykjavík. Inside are the bodies of five young
women – one of them barely alive. As Icelandic Police detective Daníel struggles to investigate the most brutal crime of his career, Áróra looks into the background of a suspicious man, who turns out to be engaged to Daníel’s former wife, and the connections don’t stop there…
Daníel and Áróra’s cases pit them both against ruthless criminals with horrifying agendas, while Áróra persists with her search for her missing sister, Ísafold, whose devastating disappearance continues to haunt her.
As the temperature drops and the 24-hour darkness and freezing snow hamper their efforts, their investigations become increasingly dangerous … for everyone.

My Review

It may be a cliche but oh what a tangled web Sigurdardottir wove, and what a brilliant examination of how her characters dealt with the cruel, brutal circumstances she put before them.

It was Daniel’s turn to take a central role within the novel, Arora was of course involved but I felt Sigurdardottir moved her into the background, perhaps to give us more insight into Daniel, his emotions and life. And oh was he tested, a container of five women, one still clinging onto life showed him the brutality that existed in this modern world.

We saw his vulnerability, his need to take a step back, to let others take over the grimmer aspects and I admired Sigurdardottir for being brave enough to show a man who was not invincible, that he had a limit to what he could deal with on emotional level.

Helen, his colleague was tasked with talking to the survivor, to gently tease out the facts, facts that were shocking but all too close to reality, the author brilliantly portraying the lies, the manipulation of those seeking a better life.

Arora may have been pushed to the background but she still had a role to play, notably and intriguingly with Daniel’s, first ex-wife, Elin. Elin’s younger, Russian boyfriend Sergei appeared wonderful but who was he talking to on the phone, and why did he want her to marry him so quickly without a pre-nup?

If Arora was intrigued, we were equally intrigued, as slowly much to Elin’s disbelief Sergei was perhaps not the person she thought he was. Her inability to believe, accept smacked of desperation, frustrating this reader and Arora. Just where would it lead and what would be the outcome?

Yet it served a purpose, one that brought Daniel and Arora into closer and closer contact, as connections between Sergei and the container became more and more apparent. I loved Sigurdardottirs’s would they or won’t they scenario and was desperate for them to finally give into their feelings and the nerve tangling chemistry that fizzed between them. She kept us guessing for longer then I wanted, but of course Daniel, Helen and Arora had an investigation to complete.

And what a dramatic, stylish final flourish, danger, connections unravelled and the true horror of human trafficking. Yes, it was grim and Sigurdardottir was absolutely right in her conviction to give a true and stark account, but she also balanced that with hope, with a light at the end for those caught within its web.

I felt this was a novel full of turning points for it’s characters, of a clearer pathway, of the acknowledgment of feelings and personal emotions. I can only imagine the endless possibilities that lay await for Arora, Daniel and Helen in the next novel

As for Danial and Arora, and the potential for romance I will leave that for you to discover for yourselves!!!!

I would like to thank Orenda Books for a copy of White As Snow to read and review and to Random Things Tours for inviting My Bookish Blogspot to participate in the blogtour.

About the author

Bestselling crime-writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written ten crime novels, including Snare, Trap and Cage, making up the Reykjavík Noir trilogy, and her standalone thriller Betrayal, all of which have hit bestseller lists worldwide and been long- and shortlisted for multiple awards. The film rights for the Reykjavík Noir trilogy have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. Cold as Hell, the first book in the An Áróra Investigation series, was published in the UK in 2021 and reprinted twice, and was followed by Red as Blood, a number-one digital bestseller. Lilja lives outside of Reykjavík with her partner and a brood of chickens.

#Blogtour Stigma by Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst @EngerThomas @LierHorst @OrendaBooks @annecater #RandomThingsTours #BlixAndRamm #NordicNoir

The Blurb

Alexander Blix is a broken man. Convicted for avenging his
daughter’s death, he is now being held in one of Norway’s high security prisons. Inside, the other prisoners take every opportunity to challenge and humiliate the former police investigator. On the outside, Blix’s former colleagues have begun the hunt for a terrifying killer. Walter Kroos has escaped from prison in Germany and is making his way north. The only lead established by the police is that Kroos has a friend in Blix’s prison ward. And now they need Blix’s help. Journalist Emma Ramm is one of Blix’s few visitors, and she becomes his ally as he struggles to connect the link between past and present, between the world inside and outside the prison walls. And as he begins to piece things together, he identifies a woodland community in Norway where deeply scarred inhabitants foster deadly secrets … secrets that may be the unravelling of everyone involved.

My Review

As usual there was no hanging around, we knew Walter Kroos was going to be the man they all hunted, but first of all they had to find a way to catch him. No doubt the Norwegian police were capable of tracking him down, but we all knew only one man could do it properly, Alexander Blix.

There was a problem, Blix was in prison, no phone, no chance of getting out, but Lier and Enger had a plan, a fellow prisoner, Ree, a friend of Kroos. Could Blix get close, become his friend, tease out those clues to Kroo’s whereabouts?

Lier and Enger didn’t give Blix an inch, a police officer in prison was never going to get an easy ride, suspicion from other prisoners, and violence. They made Blix use all his ingenuity, his skill, put his own personal feelings to one side. A master stroke from our two authors, showcasing their ability to think outside the box, to take their readers down an altogether different and clever route that set this novel apart from all the others in its genre.

On the outside Emma Ramm was Blix’s willing foot soldier, her journalistic instincts as deft and clever as ever, as she based herself in the small town of Osen at the local camping site, an old haunt of Kroos and the home of Ree.

I loved Lier and Enger’s portrayal of Osen’s small town mentality, the protective force field that its inhabitants pulled down around them. Samantha, the character who held the key that would unlock the past, the authors twisting her own narrative, leaving Emma and ourselves to question if she was telling the truth or hiding behind a whole pack of lies.

Lier and Enger eeked the truth from their characters, chapters in their own individual voices, their own versions of a truth laid bare. There was unrequited love, misplaced loyalties, cover-ups but ultimately revenge that drove the drama of the final section of the novel.

They brought out Blix’s brilliant intuition, his willingness to take risks, put his own freedom and issues on the line for his friend Emma. I willed him on, kept my fingers crossed for Emma, railed at decisions made by those who sought to harm, to protect themselves. It was riveting, thrilling, everything I have come to expect from Lier and Enger.

When calm had been restored I felt Lier and Enger gave Blix and Emma time to reflect. Would it be many more years in prison for Blix, another tough piece of investigative journalism for Emma?

Whatever it would be be it felt like the closing of a chapter, a comma not a full stop, until Lier and Enger figured out the future for Blix and Ramm.

Whatever that future may be I will admit to a modicum of excitement and anticipation.

I would like to thank Orenda Books for a copy of Stigma to read and review and to Random Things Tours for inviting My Bookish Blogspot to participate in the blogtour.

About the authors

Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are both internationally bestselling Norwegian authors. Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with his no. 1 bestselling William Wisting series. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense. Thomas Enger is the journalist-turned-author behind the internationally acclaimed Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark is his dark, gritty voice
paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer. Death Deserved, the first book in the bestselling Blix and Ramm series, was Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller and was followed by Smoke Screen and Unhinged.