Rupture

When a foreign visitor to Siglufjördur, Iceland, dies of a highly infectious disease that he must have picked up on a trip to Africa, the town is quarantined, in Jónasson’s gripping fourth crime novel featuring policeman Ari Thór Arason (after 2018’s Blackout). With little work to do as a result, Ari Thór takes the opportunity to follow up on a 50-year-old cold case. In 1957, a woman named Jórunn, who lived in a remote region, died after drinking rat poison in her coffee. Jórunn’s nephew, Hédinn, who was only a year old at the time, doubts the official verdict that the poisoning was accidental. Hédinn has recently come across an old family photo showing him being held by a stranger, who he hopes might have more information about the tragedy. Ari Thór soon has his hands full, as he also begins looking into a child abduction and a murder case with political implications. Jónasson manages to resolve the plot lines plausibly, and is as strong as ever at combining fair-play with psychological depth. [em]Agent: David Headley, DHH Literary (U.K.). (Jan.) [/em]