Helen's Reviews > Winterkill

The final story in the Dark Iceland series, apparently, so a last chance to catch up with the loose ends of Ari Thor's life (you could of course read this without having read the others, but they are better read in order in my opinion). The best thing, apart from the chance to catch up with Ari Thor some time after the previous case, is the northern Icelandic background, which has changed a bit over the course of the series - the winter is still harsh, of course, but the new tunnel means the town is not so cut off, and there are signs of economic recovery, with more use being made of older, abandoned properties. The whole sequence of events takes place over the Easter weekend, and a snowstorm and bad weather once again intervenes in Ari's life, sending his ex-girlfriend and young son away early from a planned holiday with him but giving him the chance to find happiness elsewhere too. The actual death in the case seems less important - yet in the end Ari's investigation of what seems to be clearly a suicide unexpectedly uncovers two other crimes, one connected to the death and one not. (I did feel that Ari shared a bit too much information with the other people involved in a way that seemed a bit unprofessional and in one case led to another death, for which he doesn't appear to blame himself). This is, we're given to understand, the end of this series.