Ragnar Jónasson
Paperback
Need a pleasing mystery-to-curl-up-with on an autumn evening? I’ve just had the pleasure of reading Death at the Sanatorium. It fulfils all my criteria for a book to read as the equinox passes, trees change colour, and squirrels become frantic.
It’s 2012 and Helgi, a young Icelandic criminologist, is writing his dissertation on the violent deaths of healthcare staff in a tuberculosis sanatorium in 1983. Despite the case officially being solved, for Helgi at least, doubts persist. Helgi tries to interview the surviving members of the staff team, but contradictory stories and barriers make this difficult. And the book opens with the police being called after violent noises are heard coming from his flat…
I’ve read nearly all of Icelandic crime writer Jónasson’s novels, and his devotion to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction is clear in all of them. Crisp plotting, clear language, and a strong sense of place all feature. His strong sense of the rules of the Golden Age here reminded me of PD James’ discussion s in Talking About Detective Fiction. In Death at the Sanatorium, the link is more overt than in his other works, as it starts with a list of works that Helgi likes, including books by Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Dorothy L Sayers. Both Death at the Sanatorium and Talking About Detective Fiction provide great reading lists for fans who’d like to go deeper.
A chilly and engrossing read.
[Review by Bethan]