An engaging combination of murder-mystery and Viking history.
I found this an easy to read but engaging and entertaining story, with enough twists and turns in the search for the murderer to add an element of tension to the story-telling. The fact that by about halfway through the story I had managed to solve that mystery didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book because there were other elements which held my interest. I loved the way in which the author interwove historical links to the Icelandic Sagas with a modern-day story, using as a central theme the fact that Viking explorers discovered Greenland and North America sometime around AD 1000 – several centuries before Christopher Columbus! Although a major thread in his story is based on fictionalised historical events, in his author’s note at the end of the book he does make it clear what is fact and what is fiction.
This is a reflective murder mystery rather than a “high-octane” thriller, with most of the tension in the story-telling coming from the gradual exposure of all the secrets which the various characters were trying to conceal. Although I found most of the plotting, as well as the various characters and their interrelationships interesting and reasonably credible, most of my enjoyment of this story came from two sources, the author’s evocative descriptions of Iceland and Greenland and his creative use of history. His personal fascination with both shone through his narrative and made me want to discover more, something which always adds a welcome extra dimension to my reading experience and this influenced my decision to give this story a four-star rating. However, I do have a minor niggle! Two additions would have helped me to enjoy this story even more – a map showing the various locations in Iceland (there was one for Greenland) and a guide to pronunciation of characters’ and place names!
Although this is the fifth in “ The Magnus Iceland Mysteries” series, I found that it was very easy to read as a stand-alone story because there were enough hints about the main character’s background to make sense of who he was and what motivated him. It was clear from the way in which this story ended that there will be another book in the series and, when it is eventually published, I’ll be tempted to read it to discover more about Magnus, his colleagues and Icelandic life!
This is a reflective murder mystery rather than a “high-octane” thriller, with most of the tension in the story-telling coming from the gradual exposure of all the secrets which the various characters were trying to conceal. Although I found most of the plotting, as well as the various characters and their interrelationships interesting and reasonably credible, most of my enjoyment of this story came from two sources, the author’s evocative descriptions of Iceland and Greenland and his creative use of history. His personal fascination with both shone through his narrative and made me want to discover more, something which always adds a welcome extra dimension to my reading experience and this influenced my decision to give this story a four-star rating. However, I do have a minor niggle! Two additions would have helped me to enjoy this story even more – a map showing the various locations in Iceland (there was one for Greenland) and a guide to pronunciation of characters’ and place names!
Although this is the fifth in “ The Magnus Iceland Mysteries” series, I found that it was very easy to read as a stand-alone story because there were enough hints about the main character’s background to make sense of who he was and what motivated him. It was clear from the way in which this story ended that there will be another book in the series and, when it is eventually published, I’ll be tempted to read it to discover more about Magnus, his colleagues and Icelandic life!