Continues Ragnar Jonasson’s pattern of combining traditional mystery elements and some unexpected twists with sharp, quirky characterization --- with the entirety highlighted by the exotic and frigid geographical backdrop of Iceland ... Jonasson (assisted by the always fine translation of Quentin Bates) creates and maintains an air of deep melancholy that threads these books together ... Jonasson’s ever-growing body of readers will no doubt be on board for the next installment.
The charm of the story resides in the deductive process rather than in action scenes, although there are a few suspenseful moments. For example, at one point a young man suspects that a malevolent person is stalking his family and has broken into his house. The author plays scrupulously fair with the readers, allowing us to puzzle things out for ourselves, giving us plenty of clues, yet still keeping it entertaining. The contemporary mystery relating to the kidnapping is solved a little too quickly and relies too much on coincidence, but it has more moments of tension than the historical case, so it provides Rupture with some pace ... The noirish feel is present in the storyline, reminiscent of the much darker Agatha Christie adaptation recently shown on the BBC ... Although both cases are ultimately solved, there is little satisfaction to be had from revealing the perpetrators. With the lightest of descriptive touches and a melancholy colour scheme, Ragnar Jonasson leaves us with some open questions about the nature of justice and the power of redemption.
Readers disappointed in the present-day subplots, which are wound up with remarkable dispatch, will be rewarded by the even more disturbing revelations from half a century ago.
