Hulda Hermannsdóttir ist Kommissarin bei der Polizei in Reykjavik. Sie wird zu einem Vorfall auf der einsam gelegenen Insel Elliðaey gerufen. Dort ist ein vermeintlich unglücklicher Unfall geschehen und eine junge Frau ist gestorben. Im Laufe Ihrer Ermittlungen ist sich Hulda da aber immer unsicherer und auf einmal sieht sie sich mit der Auflösung zweier Mordfälle konfrontiert.

Bei "Insel" handelt es sich um den zweiten Teil der Reihe um Hulda Hermannsdóttir, die sozusagen rückwärts erzählt wird. Der erste Band startet in der Gegenwart und in Band 2 und 3 geht es immer weiter zurück in die Vergangenheit. Diese Idee finde ich wirklich sehr außergewöhnlich und es war einer der Gründe, warum ich mich für die Reihe interessiert habe.

Das Cover gefällt mit sehr gut. Es vermittelt etwas düsteres und geheimnisvolles, was sehr gut die Atmosphäre auf der Insel sehr gut widerspiegelt. Der Schreibstil ist sehr flüssig und man kommt gut voran.

Leider konnte mich das Buch inhaltlich nicht einfangen. Schon beim ersten Teil konnte man, meiner Meinung nach, nicht wirklich von einem Thriller sprechen. So ist es leider auch in Insel. Die Spannung, die ich mir von einem Thriller erwarte, kommt für mich nicht ein einziges Mal auf. Vom Aufbau her ist es eigentlich eher eine Art Krimi, in der es dann eigentlich auch eher im Mittelpunkt steht, wie Hulda versucht ihre Vergangenheit aufzuarbeiten. An sich finde ich ihre persönliche Geschichte auch ganz interessant. Es hat mich allerdings mehr als einmal gestört, dass ihre Probleme und Geschichte ständig den Fluss der Handlung unterbrochen haben. Es war egal, was sie gesehen hat oder was die Zeugen während ihrer Aussage bezüglich des Mordfalls von sich gegeben haben. Jedes Mal hat Hulda eine Parallele zu ihrem Leben gezogen und dann wurde erst einmal aus ihrer Vergangenheit erzählt, bevor die Handlung wieder aufgegriffen wurde. Für mich war das für die Handlung eines Thrillers einfach nicht nötig.

Gestört hat mich auch, dass immer davon die Rede war, dass Hulda ein komisches Gefühl hat. Es wurde aber nie klar woher dieses Gefühl denn kommt. Genauso hat sie es dann auch geschafft den Fall zu lösen. Ich habe keine großen Anhaltspunkte gefunden, wie der Täter ausfindig gemacht werden kann. Normalerweise rätselt man ja gerne mal mit. Doch dieses Mal ging das für mich nicht wirklich.

Alles in allem war "Insel" ein nettes Buch für zwischendurch, aber Thrillerfans würde ich es nicht empfehlen. Eigentlich schade, da das Buch ja sehr erfolgreich war, aber meine Erwartungen wurden leider nicht erfüllt.

The Island is Ragnar Jónasson’s second book in his Hulda Hermannsdottir trilogy, a trilogy comprised of: The Darkness, The Island, and The Mist. Hulda is a detective in the Reykjavik Police department who, mostly because of her gender, still feels like a department outsider despite all her years on the force. Often, I would be pointing out about now that this second book in the series picks up right from where the first one left off, but the opposite is true of the Hulda series. Hulda’s life story is told in reverse, and that is a large part of what makes the three books so intriguing to those of us who love crime and thriller fiction so much.

The Island begins with the recounting of a romantic trip taken by a two teens to the remote summer house belonging to the girl’s father. The two go to the house in October when it is already very cold, so the area is even more deserted than it normally is when they are there, meaning that the terrible thing that happens in the house will go unnoticed for several days.

Next, we flash forward ten years to 1987 to find a group of friends getting together in a remote hunting lodge on an island off the coast of Iceland. The two young men and two young women had been best friends as teens, and they are hoping now to reconnect in some meaningful way. The problem is that one of them will not leave the island alive — and that they are the only four people there when the death happens. Cue one Hulda Hermannsdottir who is, as she always is when investigating a crime, doggedly determined to find out what happened on that very first night the four young people were together. Then, after recognizing a potential link between the death in 1977 and the one in 1987 Hulda senses a way finally to get the credit that she deserves as a first-rate crime investigator. And if what she discovers proves once and for all that one of her colleagues should never have been promoted over her head, so much the better.

Bottom Line: The Island adds a considerable amount of detail to Hulda’s backstory, including what she learns, and doesn’t learn, about herself on a side trip she makes to America to connect with an aging World War II veteran. But the most fascinating thing here is how reading about Hulda’s life and aspirations while already knowing how everything turns out for her, enables the reader to know what it must feel like to be able to see into the future. So do keep in mind that in order to experience the Hulda series at its best, the three books most definitely need to be read (at least the first time around) in the order in which they were published.

This is the second installment in the Hidden Iceland series, about police detective Hulda Hermannsdottir, after book one The Darkness.

The story starts with a romantic break at a remote summerhouse for a young couple, from which only one will return. The girl will be found dead in a pool of blood, but no one will realise that a boyfriend had even been present.
Instead the murder will be blamed upon the girl's father - a secret drinker - and the police will be determined to make sure he is found guilty of the crime. Even if this means bending the truth a little.
The result will be the tragic end of an innocent man.

Ten years later, a group of four young friends visit a remote island that is cut off from the outside world. One of them will not make it off the island alive and it is Hulda's job to find out what happened - especially when she discovers that they are all linked to the murder of the girl ten years ago. What really happened on the island and were the murders committed by the same person?

There are three books in the Hidden Iceland series and the first two have definitely been dark and chilling. Both have played with the idea of the wild, remote, bleak, and lonely places away from the bright lights of Reykjavik - where dark deeds can happen without anyone knowing - the "hidden" side of the country. Ragnar Jonasson really transports you to these locations and makes you feel cold inside as well as out!

Interestingly, the books are written in a time line that goes backwards through Hulda's life, so this book takes place before the events in The Darkness.
This is a really interesting concept and screws with your mind a lot, as Hulda is talking about events in her personal life that your already have knowledge about and know the outcome of. It is a bit like deliberately reading the books in the wrong order - something I would much prefer not to do. Very twisted and almost voyeuristic - definitely creepy.

I am really looking forward to the next book in the series, to see where it all begins.

Interesting concept, kept my interest, but ultimately pretty toothless. I wish more time would have been spent building the atmosphere of the island itself, and honestly the book should have just been longer. There was a lot going on and diving more into all these interconnected characters would have made it feel more full.

Uggghhhh! I really liked [b:The Darkness|37637989|The Darkness|Ragnar Jónasson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516729360l/37637989._SY75_.jpg|47519594]. I loved Hulda as an about-to-be-retired woman in a male-dominated workplace, and the seeming cliffhanger really threw me for a loop. So I couldn't wait to get into this book. But in super-Icelandic fashion, Ragnar pulls this book back from Hulda's impending retirement to the height of her career. Still being screwed over by men in the office, still doing some solid investigation. Whereas the first book had the immigration theme going, this one was much more intimate, insulated, isolated—it focused on four friends reuniting on a small island 20 years after the death of their 5th friend in a very Scandi-locked room mystery. Again, Hulda shows her commitment to finding justice for the voiceless female victim as the male bureaucracy attempts to tidy it away with minimal effort. A good mystery, perhaps a bit cliché in the solution, but definitely worth the read for Hulda and the setting/atmosphere if nothing else.

The second book in the trilogy; the trilogy with an unusual structure in that it moves back in time rather than forward. The first book was one I devoured at top speed, as I also did this one. The first book also had the single darkest ending I can remember to any sort of more popular/genre novel of this type. The Island is beautifully written, and the translation is smooth and deft. It maintains an unmistakable air of lingering threat and fear and contains some passages of writing describing characters looking at and hanging out around a spot on a mountain with a vertiginous sheer drop; it must, surely, be the only piece of writing that has actually made me experience vertigo and I don't think I can ever rememeber feeling quite so anxious in a book about something that may or may not happen. It's redolent of the whole novel - beautifully constructed and structured, with excellent plotting and characterisation.

Audiobook review
A group of friends go to an island on a holiday. To meet up after years of not seeing each other.
Linked to a young girls murder from 10 years before.

The officer involved has her own demons to contend with. Very deep at times. A good listen.

i liked thr first one better. It is interesting because this goes chronologically backwards.