Thirty Days of Darkness

Description

A snobbish Danish literary author is challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days, travelling to a small village in Iceland for inspiration, and then a body appears … an atmospheric, darkly funny, twisty debut thriller, first in an addictive new series.

`An original and thoroughly enjoyable treat´ Guardian BOOK OF THE YEAR

`Dark and sharp … A lot of fun´ Val McDermid

`Witty, dark, meta, ingenious and hugely compelling. I LOVED the Icelandic setting and satirical observations´ Will Dean

`Hilariously scathing. Satirises genre fiction while creating a first-class example of it, full of suspects, red herrings and twists … wit and originality make it a joy to read´ Mark Sanderson, The Times CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR

**Winner of the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel**

**Shortlisted for the Glass Key Award**

**Winner of the Crime Fiction Lover Award for Best Crime Book in Translation**

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Copenhagen author Hannah is the darling of the literary community and her novels have achieved massive critical acclaim. But nobody actually reads them, and frustrated by writer`s block, Hannah has the feeling that she`s doing something wrong.

When she expresses her contempt for genre fiction, Hanna is publicly challenged to write a crime novel in thirty days. Scared that she will lose face, she accepts, and her editor sends her to Húsafjöður – a quiet, tight-knit village in Iceland, filled with colourful local characters – for inspiration.

But two days after her arrival, the body of a fisherman´s young son is pulled from the water … and what begins as a search for plot material quickly turns into a messy and dangerous investigation that threatens to uncover secrets that put everything at risk … including Hannah…

Atmospheric, dramatic and full of nerve-jangling twists and turns, Thirty Days of Darkness is a darkly funny, unsettling debut Nordic Noir thriller that marks the start of a breath-taking new series.

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`Dark and atmospheric … a bleak and beautiful evocation of Iceland, and Hannah is a pitch-perfect depiction of the bombastic neurosis that we writers know so very well´ Harriet Tyce

`Such a clever, original twist on the Nordic Noir tradition – darkly humorous and utterly captivating´ Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

`A fantastic debut … Darkly funny, tense and a lot of poking fun at crime-writing´ Tariq Ashkanani

`Delightfully dark´ Antti Tuomainen

`So atmospheric´ Crime Monthly

`An absolute gem … a superb mix of humour and dark, twisty crime fiction with an added layer of contemplation regarding what makes books `literary´. The Icelandic setting is perfectly drawn … Not to be missed´ Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

`Shades of Fargo and Twin Peaks – and there`s no higher praise than that. Absolutely brilliant!´ Rod Reynolds

`A truly original thriller that perfectly balances humour and suspense´ Vogue

`A hugely enjoyable read with thrills and laughs, as Hannah sticks her nose in where it`s not welcome´ Michael J. Malone

`So satisfying … a truly great read´ Lilja Sigurðardóttir

`A skilful, witty mash-up, playing with tropes of romantic fiction (yes, that popular genre writer turns up in the village and is not so bad after all) and crime fiction (closed community, dark secrets) … really entertaining´ Aly Monroe

`This reminded me somewhat of the more recent, meta efforts of the great Anthony Horowitz´ The Bookbag

`The most original thriller of the year: realistic, suspenseful and romantic to the very last page. And just when you think you`ve got the plot figured out, the plot twists again´ Politiken