Different from the police procedurals he is so well known for, but no less spell-binding and atmospheric, Ragnar Jónasson’s only standalone thriller The Girl Who Died will satisfy his fans, and should also bring him many new fans who, perhaps, had been hesitant to dive into a series. There is an almost palpable feeling of fear and dread in the air throughout this tale, and as always, Jónasson excels at chilling his readers to the bone and giving them completely unexpected twists and turns.
Una needs a change and she sees the chance to get out of her apartment in Reykjavik by taking a teaching job all the way on the other side of Iceland in the tiny fishing village of Skalar. But not only is Skalar isolated and remote, it is a village of only ten people! Almost immediately the terrible weather, unwelcoming villagers, nightmares, and ghost stories make Una supremely regretful about her decision to start her life over in Skalar.
The fact that Una was hired to teach only two pupils does nothing to allay her fears or concerns. Nothing seems to quite make sense in this place, and it seems that no one really ever wants to answers Una’s questions about this odd village, either. The reader acutely feels Una’s loneliness and isolation as we see her spend more and more time alone in her living quarters. When tragedy strikes the village just before Christmas, long held secrets threaten to be exposed and the once secretive villagers close ranks even more. Una’s suspicions, however, will not allow her to just let things go and, even if she has to do it all alone, she wants to uncover the truth about what no one is telling her.
Jónasson conveys both the icy setting and the equally frigid attitudes in Skalar masterfully, creating a fascinating page-turner that readers will be unable to put down. Countless times while reading I thought about how in that situation I was just leave the village, but I was definitely not going to leave Una there, and so I devoured this book very quickly.
Highly recommended for fans of Jónasson’s previous books, but also for anyone looking for their next spooky-vibe thriller or suspense novel with a bit of a supernatural element. The Girl Who Died should also be a great choice for readers looking for a story with a structure reminiscent of an old-school classic mystery.
The Girl Who Died is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Teacher Wanted At the Edge of the World
Una wants nothing more than to teach, but she has been unable to secure steady employment in Reykjavík. Her savings are depleted, her love life is nonexistent, and she cannot face another winter staring at the four walls of her shabby apartment. Celebrating Christmas and ringing in 1986 in the remote fishing hamlet of Skálar seems like a small price to pay for a chance to earn some teaching credentials and get her life back on track.
But Skálar isn’t just one of Iceland’s most isolated villages, it is home to less than a dozen people. Una’s only students are two girls aged seven and nine. Teaching them only occupies so many hours in a day and the few adults she interacts with are civil but distant. She only seems to connect with Thór, a man she shares an attraction with but who is determined to keep her at arm’s length.
As darkness descends throughout the bleak winter, Una finds herself more often than not in her rented attic space – the site of a local legendary haunting – drinking her loneliness away. She is plagued by nightmares of a little girl in a white dress singing a lullaby. And when a sudden tragedy echoes an event long buried in Skálar’s past, the villagers become even more guarded, leaving a suspicious Una seeking to uncover a shocking truth that’s been kept secret for generations.
