Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurðardóttir (translated by Quentin Bates)

Wishing a very happy publication day to Lilja Sigurðardóttir for the brilliant Red as Blood translated into English by Quentin Bates and out today from Orenda Books. So it's the perfect day to be sharing my review as part of the blog tour. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for The invite and to the publisher for my review copy. I've since bought my own paperback copy.

The Blurb

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Guðrún missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Guðrún will be killed. Forbidden from contacting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daníel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on. Meanwhile, Áróra and Daníel continue the puzzling, devastating search for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing. Chilling, twisty and unbearably tense, Red as Blood is the second instalment in the riveting, addictive An Áróra Investigation series, and everything is at stake.

My Review

This is the follow up to Cold as Hell which saw Áróra, happily settled in the UK, reluctantly returning to an Iceland she'd barely visited for years to search for her missing, estranged sister Ísafold. In Red as Blood several months have passed, Ísafold is still missing but Áróra is feeling much more settled in Iceland, even beginning to put down roots. Her job as a kind of forensic accountant, searching for hidden money, means she can work from anywhere. A Scottish colleague calls her with an unusual favour. The wife of an Icelandic client of his has been kidnapped, a hefty ransom note left and strict instructions not to involve the police. Can Áróra help? And so the story begins. The police do get involved,  but do so very cleverly, which brings Áróra back into contact with old family friend Daníel who she has not spoken to in some months. As police investigation moves forward, and Áróra carries out one of her own, things become more confusing for all concerned and potentially more dangerous too. 

I love Áróra. She's strong, fierce and determined. She might have begun the search for her sister reluctantly but now she's fervent about it, spending days driving down miles of tracks painstakingly searching Iceland's vast lava fields by bit, looking for the smallest sign of Ísafold. This part of the story is heartbreaking, actually, but her determination is inspiring. And the main storyline of Guðrún's abduction and the random note, gives her something meaty to get her teeth into and she soon discovers the odd thing that doesn't look quite right, making her a little suspicious that someone isn't telling the truth... Financial fraud is something that the author has clearly researched (it's a subject that has been touched upon in earlier books) and it shows. 

I must talk about Daníel. Handsome, caring, fair, he seems like the ideal man! His interactions with his drag queen nextdoor neighbour are very sweet, his interactions with his colleagues are very fair and balanced, with interviewees and suspects he's calm, almost friendly. And then there's Áróra. Honestly, I could just bang their heads together, I really could! But they work well together, even though Áróra isn't part of the police team. Finally in this bit, I have to mention Helena, who is a breath of fresh air. No desire for a romantic relationship but she likes her needs met, has been fortunate to meet other similar women and has a system that works for her. 

The main storyline becomes more and more twisted and tangled as time goes on as more people, more facts and more secrets come out of the woodwork. It's cleverly done and had me racing to turn the pages to see what came next. The financial element to the crime is explored also, and you'll need to keep your wits about you to keep up with it all. This isn't a guns blazing kind of novel but there is plenty of tension and intrigue making it a quick and very enjoyable read. 

Red as Blood is a story of marriage, family, love, lies and betrayal. It explores happiness and sadness and undercovers secrets. But running through all of it is the tale of a woman desperately searching for her sister or, at least, some trace of her. It's incredibly poignant and sad. A thoroughly interesting story full of well written colourful characters, I loved it. 

The Author

Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurdardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written six crime novels, with Snare, the first in a new series and Lilja’s English debut shortlisting for the CWA International Dagger and hitting bestseller lists worldwide.Trap soon followed suit, with the third in the trilogy Cage winning the Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year, and it was a Guardian Book of the Year. Lilja’s standalone Betrayal, was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel. In 2021, Cold as Hell, the first in the An Áróra Investigation series was published, with Red as Blood the follow up. The film rights to Cold as Hell have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. Lilja is also an award-winning screenwriter in her native Iceland. She lives in Reykjavík with her partner.