The Day is Dark

by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Hodder & Stoughton) ISBN 978 I 444 70009 I

The current wave of Nordic crime writing brings Icelandic Yrsa Sigurdardottirr’s novel, The Day is Dark, to our shores. This is her fourth book featuring Thora Gudmundsdottir, a lawyer with an investigative streak and a complicated family life.
Thora is roped in to find out what has happened to three missing people at a drilling site in Greenland. We follow her team, made up of her boyfriend, her secretary, two former site employees and a medical doctor.
The story is interspersed with the recollections of another former employee, confessing to a horrible deed, and events at a nearby settlement. The villagers harbour a great secret involving a lone hunter and the disappearance of his daughter.
The clash between modern science and belief in an ancestral spirit world makes the story entertaining. In other areas it lacks credibility. Why would this motley crew be sent to investigate the disappearance of people? The level of suspense in the story was low: these lay investigators were never really ruffled despite their gruesome discoveries. Also, I wasn’t convinced by the outcome. 
It was interesting to learn about Greenland – for example that the language is free of invective. Overall, the book provides an easy read to cool you down on a hot summer’s day.
 
Josine Overdevest
2.5/5