66 North (Fire and Ice) [Hardcover]

In January 2009 Iceland is a troubled country, with many lives ruined following the Kreppa (financial crisis). Many people have marched to the square to stand outside the Parliament building in Reykjavik to protest. Among then is Harpa, who has lost her job in the bank and can no longer pay her mortgage, her brother also can no longer make the payments on his farm, and her father who should be enjoying his retirement has lost all his savings. But these and similar stories are all around as the angry Icelanders beat drums, saucepans and any kitchen utensils they can get their hands on. Among such a mêlée Harpa meets a fisherman Bjorn, Sindri Palsson, a writer, and along with some others they vent their anger at the bankers whose greed has created this situation calling for something to be done. But in the main the demonstration although noisy is relatively peaceful. The government are relieved that it wasn't worse, no deaths reported, just the suicide of a banker Gabriel Orn.

Sergeant Detective Magnus Jonson of the Boston Police Department is on secondment to Reykjavik following his involvement as a witness in a police corruption scandal in Boston. Magnus is Icelandic born but has lived in the USA since he was twelve. When the National Police Commissioner of Iceland became concerned about big-city crime reaching Iceland he had requested an American Police Detective who had practical experience and spoke Icelandic to give teaching course at the National Police College on crime in the USA. Magnus was the natural choice.

The murder in London of the Icelandic banker Oskar Gunnarsson brings Magnus back to hands-on police work. Although quite enjoying his teaching he is a detective at heart. Inspector Baldur Jakobsson head of the Violent Crimes Unit is keen to ensure that there is no Icelandic connection, as he does not want Iceland linked to terrorists, but when Magnus looks into the background of Oskar Gunnarsson he learns that he worked at the same bank as Gabriel Orn, indeed he was his boss. Magnus is uneasy with such a coincidence and starts to dig deeper, which puts him in communication with Detective Sergeant Piper of the British police.

As Magnus investigates the possible connection between the two deaths, he comes into contact with an estranged family member, and encouraged by his girlfriend Ingileif he arranges a meeting in the hope of laying to rest some of the traumas in his family's past. But his meeting only raises more questions - which unbeknown to him reach back to events in 1934, when two young boys stumbled on a secret whilst acting out one of the Icelandic historic Saga's.

As with the first book in this series `Where the Shadows Lie' I learnt much about Iceland, its culture and in particular the historic Saga's.

The two investigations, one international and one personal run concurrently, and both are absorbing. The story is one of anger, helplessness, fear, and in some respects everyone's greed. As more people in influential positions are murdered Magnus continues to pursue his line of investigation which is not in-line with his superiors. The `whodunit' aspect kept me enthralled to the end. And the final sentence has me leaping up and down for the next book.

A real page turner, this is an excellent piece of writing. Highly recommended.
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Lizzie Hayes

Having read Michael's original release I fell in love with Iceland, not that I've ever visited but the descriptions of not only the landscape but the peoples really struck a chord with me as they're not just a snapshot but a fully rounded gathering of a culture that is not only fascinating but reminiscent of a time long gone in the UK where everyone knew who was who locally.

It's beautifully written, the prose sharp with an overall arc that keeps the story moving at a wonderful pace as well as allowing the reader the chance to gather their thoughts as each clue pops up. Add to this a friendly as well as authoritative writing style and it's a title that I really couldn't put down. The only thing that could have been better I suspect would be to have read this book in the land to which it walks through the lava fields and visiting the rich heritage of the saga's. Wonderful.

66o North is Michael Ridpath's follow-up to the highly enjoyable Where the Shadows Lie (Fire & Ice 1), and the second in his 'Fire & Ice' series set in Iceland and featuring Boston Police Detective-turned-Icelandic copper Magnus Ragnusson. If you've not read 'Where The Shadows Lie' I would recommend doing so before tackling 66o North, as the previous book explains the how and why Magnus ended up in Iceland in the first place. 'Where The Shadows Lie' is also a great whodunnit and worth reading for that reason alone.

66o North is less successful effort by comparison. The strong sense of place that was present in 'Where The Shadows Lie' is there again in this installment and the mysteries surrounding Magnus' family are if anything more interesting this time out (and are afforded much greater focus too). Where 66o North falls down badly is with its central 'whodunnit' plot.

The problems begin with the deductive leap that Magnus makes early on in proceedings, based on not a shred of evidence, linking an apparent suicide of one Icelandic banker to the murder in London of another nine-months later. It just felt far too convenient to be plausible; as if the author was struggling for a way to bring Magnus and the rest of the Icelandic police into play and this was the best he could come up with.

After this less than auspicious start the murder mystery plot then proceeds to go nowhere very fast. For about half of the book's length there seems to be next to no forward momentum to events. Magnus completes some half-hearted 'off the books' investigations, and various character worry and fret about doing the right thing and that's about it. Even a second (attempted) murder in France fails to enliven things greatly. Only when the identity of those involved become certain (thanks less to the deductive powers of Magnus & co than to various fortuitous events) does the tempo increase and even then its only during a final 'race against time' over a dozen of so pages that things really heat up.

By that point I was really struggling to care much about the eventual outcome. Partly that was down to the torpid pace, but it didn't hep that the book never really makes you care about the eventual fates of any of the protagonists, barring possibly the comparatively innocent single mother Harpa. You don't even get to meet any of the victims in person, so can't sympathise for them, and most of those involved in the murders remain stubbornly one dimensional.

To add insult to injury Michael Ridpath then adds a 'twist' to the tale that comes almost out of nowhere and feels misguided. I had an inkling it was coming shortly before it was revealed and prayed I was wrong, but to no avail. Even if it just about works from a logical perspective in terms of the plot it feels unecessarily showy and has a vaguely 'tacked-on' feel to it. I couldn't help but wonder if the author included it in a last effort to enliven what is otherwise a pretty weak and pedestrian mystery.

Its a shame that the central mystery is so weak because if you can see past it there's still a great deal to like about 66o North. Although I will confess to having misgivings when reading Where The Shadows Lie about Magnus' backstory and his complicated family history this second book takes both in interesting directions. The flashbacks to the his Grandfather's childhood were some of the highlights of the book and the mystery of his father's murder has gone from ho-hum to intriguing. The same goes for his romance with Inglief, which again I didn't really warm to in the first book but felt was handled better here. The added depth provide to fellow cops Arni and Vigdis also makes them far more interesting characters in their own rights; although Magnus's stereotypically antagonistic relationship with his boss Baldur strikes a duff note amongst the otherwise sound work done on the recurring characters.

So as a progression of the various plot threads established in Where The Shadows Lie then 66o North can be considered a success. As a standalone work of crime-fiction however, its distinctly underwhelming. There is a good thriller waiting to be written based around the collapse of Iceland's banking system in 2009 and the 'kreppa' that followed. Unfortunately this is not it.