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.
Atmospheric, twisty and breathtakingly tense, White as Snow is the third instalment in the riveting, award-winning An Áróra Investigation series, as crimes committed far beyond Iceland’s shores come home…
Shortlisted for The Blood Drop – Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year, 2022
It is such a pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for White as Snow today. Many thanks to Lilja Sigurdardóttir, Orenda Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for sending me an advance copy of the novel.
Nordic Noir is renowned for its stark exploration of gritty contemporary subjects and that is certainly true of Lilja Sigurdardóttir's An Áróra Investigation series. It's a series which keeps getting better and this third instalment, White as Snow is a harrowing, utterly compulsive read from start to finish. It's definitely not necessary to have read Cold as Hell or Red as Blood but they are such superb reads and naturally, there are ongoing storylines and so if possible, I do recommend reading the previous novels if you can.
The upsetting case at the heart of White as Snow is highly topical and while the bitter cold of Iceland results in the claustrophobic death of a group of young women trapped in a shipping container, the scourge of human trafficking is a desperate global issue. The sole survivor, Bisi Babalola is beautifully brought to life and Lilja Sigurdardóttir's empathetic writing humanises what has sadly become a vast, almost unimaginable tragedy, reminding us that these victims are so much more than just statistics. The effect of bearing witness to such an atrocity is obvious too and Daniel's visceral response to the tragedy is almost palpable.
The narrative is shared between a number of characters with Daniel and Helena part of the investigation team trying to identify both the victims and who is responsible for their deaths. There's a heartrending scene later in the book where the four women are finally named and while it's a brief moment in the investigation, I must commend Lilja Sigurdardóttir for ensuring they weren't just faceless, nameless victims. The chapters set in the recent past which explain how Bisi came to be in the shipping container are poignantly believable and underline just how vulnerable people become when official help is so limited and difficult to attain.
Áróra's skills as a financial investigator are called into play when Daniel asks her to look into the background of Sergei, a Russian man who is the boyfriend of his ex-wife, Elin. Connections and coincidences are explored throughout White as Snow but while some links are merely due to Iceland being a small country, others are much darker, with international organised crime as dangerous here as anywhere. However, despite this undoubtedly being a hard-hitting, emotional read, it's not unremittingly bleak and there is hope, courage, kindness and humour found here too; the relationship between Daniel and Áróra happily sees some progression, while the fabulous Lady Gúgúlú proves herself invaluable again.
The cleverly multilayered plot is utterly compelling, with each strand brilliantly woven into this engrossingly atmospheric, thought-provoking thriller. As always, the translation by Quentin Bates is seamlessly unobtrusive and the sense of place engendered throughout is excellent. This is an outstanding addition to an unmissable series, I couldn't put it down and cannot recommend it highly enough.
White as Snow is published by Orenda Books and can be purchased from their website, further purchasing links can be found here.
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Thanks for the blog tour support x
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