When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.

Forbidden from contracting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.

#RedAsBlood @lilja1972 @OrendaBooks #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours 
#IcelandNoir

Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel 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

Before starting my review I’m going to do a quick recap of the first book in the series – Cold As Hell.

Our main protagonist Áróra is half English/ half Icelandic, tall, fit and statuesque, the troll (as her father called her) to her older, elfin sister Ísafold.

Ísafold has disappeared, worrying because her abusive, drug peddling boyfriend Björn has previously beaten her so badly she’s ended up in hospital on more than one occasion. Áróra doesn’t live in Iceland – she lives in England and so does their English mother, who is becoming increasingly worried. Áróra and her sister are not on speaking terms because of Ísafold’s relationship with Björn. However, her mum insists that Áróra travels to Iceland and in Red As Blood she is still there and still looking.

In book one she met and almost had a relationship with police officer Daniel and we meet him again in book two.

Basically, Áróra has been asked to help with a case of kidnapping and ransom – she is a financial investigator – by her accountant friend Michael who is working on behalf of businessman Flosi. Flosi’s house has been ransacked, his wife Gudrun is missing and a ransom note left on the kitchen table asks for 2 million Euros.

As Áróra, Daniel and the team start to dig deeper, they discover that Flosi’s life, both business and personal is far more complicated than it initially appears. Nothing is straightforward and everyone seems to be hiding something, particularly Flosi, who has money coming in from every direction, most of them decidedly sketchy.

I loved this book as much as the first one. However, if you haven’t read Cold As Hell, I would suggest you do, otherwise you’ll miss a lot about the already established relationships.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.

Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurðardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written four crime novels, with Snare, her 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 was a Guardian Book of the Year. Lilja’s standalone Betrayal, was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel. The film rights 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.

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.