Icelandic author Ragnar Jonasson and Danish author Sara Blædel delve into the world of Scandinavian crime fiction in this discussion of their latest novels.
Jonasson’s taut and terrifying debut novel Snowblind (Minotaur Books, January 2017) is set in Siglufjörður—an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors— and rookie policeman Ari Thór Arason is on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik. 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 theater, 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.
Blædel discusses her wildly popular Louise Rick series which includes The Forgotten Girls (Grand Central Publishing, February 2016), The Killing Forest (Grand Central Publishing, February 2016), and The Lost Woman (Grand Central Publishing, February 2017). Blædel’s twist-filled suspense novels have captivated international audiences and her latest novel The Lost Woman is sure to be a hit.
The conversation will be moderated by Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir.
About Ragnar Jonasson
Ragnar Jonasson is the award winning author of the international bestselling Dark Iceland series. His debut novel Snowblind, first in the Dark Iceland series, reached number one in the Amazon Kindle charts shortly after publication. He won the Mörda Dead Good Reader Award 2016 for Nightblind, the second book in the series. The third book, Blackout, was published in the U.K. in 2016.
Jonasson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he works as a writer and a lawyer. He also teaches copyright law at Reykjavik University and has previously worked on radio and television, including as a TV-news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. He is also the co-founder of the Reykjavik international crime writing festival Iceland Noir.
About Sara Blædel
Sara Blaedel is one of Denmark’s most successful crime writers, the author of seven bestselling novels featuring police detective Louise Rick.
Sara has come full circle from her childhood days of hearing her mother read Agatha Christie aloud. “It brings me peace to know that it all began with crime fiction as a child, and that it is there, after a thousand detours, that I have landed again. As a child I found peace in crime novels, and it is with them that I find peace today. There has been some turbulence along the way, but I wouldn’t have avoided any of it. I wouldn’t have reached the place I have without all of it happening.”
And that place Sara has reached includes seven published novels with an eighth on the way. Her novels are published in seventeen countries and appear in fifteen languages, and the film rights have been optioned. Her hard work and determination have branded her the “Queen of Crime” in Denmark.
Today, Sara lives north of Copenhagen with her family. She has always loved animals; she still enjoys horse riding and shares her home with her cat and golden retriever. When she isn’t busy committing brutal murders on the page, she is an ambassador with Save the Children and serves on the jury of a documentary film competition.
About Yrsa Sigurdardótir
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Image by Linda Haglund/ASF
WED—2-1-2017—7 PM, free