Nordic
countries rate high on
the happiness scale, but that doesn’t mean it’s all hygge
(coziness)!
The chilling temperatures, the long, dark winter days and the vast
stretches of bleak wilderness have given birth to a crime fiction
genre called Nordic Noir.
What is Nordic Noir?
Most people are
familiar with
“cozy” mysteries.
In a
“cozy” mystery, you probably have an amateur sleuth standing over a
neat corpse, with a cat sleeping on the sofa,
and water on the boil for a
cup of tea.
Nordic Noir
is definitely
NOT
“cozy”!
In the “whodunit”
format typical of main stream murder mysteries, the emphasis is on the puzzle element and its
logical solution. In
“whodunit” mysteries the
crime-solving
protagonist “goes
by the book” and is
practically perfect.
In contrast, Nordic Noir
protagonists
are
flawed and often
use questionable means
to solve crimes and reveal the darker
side of
society. Nordic
Noir doesn’t
follow the stereotypical
“good guys versus bad guys” plots.
Instead it
takes
readers
into a world based on raw, unsentimental and realistic themes. There are bold characters that tackle unsavory yet important societal issues.
The plots
are embedded with twists and suspense, delivered at a slow-burning
pace in
bleak settings.
Íslenska Noir/Iceland Noir
Iceland Noir has a flavor all its own. This may be due to their
unique language and literary heritage. Iceland’s people are
descended from the Vikings. Their language is so close to the Old
Norse language of more than a millennium ago that students in Iceland
today have a much easier time reading the Icelandic Sagas than students in the United States trying to read the
Old
English
of The Canterbury Tales. All children in Icelandic schools are required
to read the sagas; therefore, Icelanders possess a sense of
pride and wonder for these tales that portray their national
heritage. The sagas are considered Iceland’s greatest national
treasure and evidence of the Icelandic people’s love of reading and
literature.
99% of Icelandic people are literate and a third of the nation
have read five (or more!) books in the past month. Their love of reading
is also evident in jólabókaflóð, or Christmas Book Flood, a
cherished Icelandic tradition. This is celebrated by the giving,
receiving, and reading of new books on Christmas Eve. With one of the most literate populations in the world, Iceland
(population 330,000) produces more novels per capita than any other
country in the world. 1 in 10 Icelanders have published a book. And, while
Iceland has
the lowest murder rate in the world, it seems to have the highest
density of talented
Nordic Noir
authors.
Here are a few of my favorites:
Arnaldur Indriðason
Iceland’s most well-known and beloved writer takes his
inspiration from the nation’s great storytelling tradition.
Arnaldur Indriðason began his career as a journalist and then a film
critic for Morgunblaðið, Iceland’s biggest newspaper.
Arnaldur’s most popular crime novels feature police inspector Erlendur Sveinsson, a gloomy divorcee who spends his evenings reading
Icelandic sagas and eating take-away food – "Svið",
boiled sheep's head, an Icelandic delicacy.
Jar
City is a good place to start your exploration of Iceland
Noir.
Erlendur is investigating the murder of a 70-year-old
man who was struck on the head with a glass ashtray. The only
clues are a photograph of a young girl's grave and a cryptic note
left on the man’s body. Erlendur discovers
that the victim was accused of a violent rape some forty years
earlier but was never convicted. Now he must solve this
new murder by reopening a cold case and
follow a trail of unusual forensic evidence.
Ragnar Jónasson
Ragnar is the award winning author of the international
bestselling series Dark
Iceland and
Hidden
Iceland.
He is also is the co-founder of the Reykjavík international
crime writing festival Iceland Noir. When he was 17 years
old, Ragnar translated 14 Agatha Christie novels from English into
Icelandic. In addition to writing, Ragnar has a law degree, works as
an investment banker in Reykjavík, and teaches law at Reykjavík
University.
His debut novel, Snowblind,
is the first in the Dark
Iceland series.
Ari Thór Arason is a rookie policeman on his first posting in
Siglufjörður, a quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland
accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Although the village
seems idyllic, it is full of murder, secrets and lies. Add an
avalanche, unremitting snowstorms which close the mountain pass, and
the 24-hour darkness of winter and you have the ultimate
“locked-room” mystery. Snowblind will keep you guessing until
the final page.
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Yrsa is a civil engineer who won the 2000 the Icelandic department
of International Board on Books for Young People and the 2003
Icelandic Children’s Book Prize. However unlikely it seems, she
also writes crime novels.
Yrsa is most famous for her series of books that center around
lawyer and single mother Thóra Gudmundsdóttir. She has also written another series,
Children’s House. This is a series of six crime novels featuring a
detective, Huldar, and a child psychologist, Freyja.
The first book in the Children’s House series is The Legacy.
A seemingly blameless woman is killed in a bizarre
attack and the only witness is her 7 year old daughter
who was hiding in a closet. The young girl is so
traumatized that she can no longer speak. Detective Huldar is
assigned this case – his first murder case. The only
evidence is a list of numbers found at the scene, and the testimony
of the victim's daughter, who isn't talking. While his team attempts
to crack the number code, Huldar turns to Children’s
House psychologist Freyja for her expertise with traumatized
children. Time is running out and the one
thing they know for certain is that the murderer will strike again.
FYI: Another of Yrsa’s books, I
Remember You, has been made into a movie.
 |
| bostoncalendar.com |
Iceland Noir gives you an insight into the reality of life on a
remote island, with ruthless weather, unavoidable isolation, and very
dark secrets. With its complex characters, multi-layered plots and a
focus on the sense of place, Iceland’s contributions to the Nordic
Noir genre are first rate.
 |
| occrp.org |
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