Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurðardóttir tr. Quentin Bates #bookreview #RedAsBlood #IcelandNoir #AnAroraInvestigation 

Áróra becomes involved in the search for an Icelandic woman who disappeared from her home while making dinner, as she continues to hunt for her missing sister. The second breathtaking instalment in the chilling, addictive An Áróra Investigation series…
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 contacting 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.
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…

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Hi and welcome to my review of Red as Blood!

Red as Blood is the second instalment in the Áróra Investigation series that kicked off last year with Cold as Ice, which introduced the Nordic Noir lover to Áróra, a financial investigator with an Icelandic father and a British mother.

If you haven’t read Cold as Ice and you want to jump in here, I’d say go for it if you’re in it for the mystery of this missing person case and you don’t need a lot of background to enjoy a story. However, if you’re anything like me and you want your main characters to have a history, a backstory that allows you relate to them better, to understand them and their motivations, I’d advise you to start at the beginning. Red as Blood is easy enough to follow and it will draw you in regardless of prior knowledge, but it does jump right in and doesn’t rehash information provided in the previous book, so if you want to know what Áróra is all about, don’t jump in here.

Anyway, we’re back in Iceland, and Áróra is still there, still trying to find a trace of her missing sister, when she gets roped into a missing person investigation. I found myself immersed from the get-go, and when I had to come up for air (read: a bathroom break), I was surprised to note that I was already 20% in. Time and pages do fly when you’re reading a good book!

At the start, I had this rather outlandish theory about who might be responsible for the abduction of Gudrun. As the story progresses, Áróra and Daniel keep adding to the suspect list instead of scratching suspects off, while I kept building on my initial theory, considering and reconsidering it in the light of new information gathered. Imagine my utter astonishment when it turned out that I was right all along! Still, Lilja had plenty of other twists up her sleeve to wipe the smugness right off my face 😂

I had a brilliant time with Red as Blood (and not just cos my theory panned out 😉) I loved sleuthing along with Áróra and Daniel, they are both great characters and I can’t wait to read more about them and see how their rather complicated relationship might evolve. I loved that Áróra has found her feet in Iceland, embracing her Nordic heritage, and I’m rooting for her to find her sister. (Yes, I’m well aware she’s not a real person but she sure does feel that way.)

Red as Blood is another fantastic novel from Lilja Sigurðardóttir, expertly translated by Quentin Bates, and I can’t wait for the next one! I had to stop reading at a crucial reveal and I kept thinking about it until I could pick up again where I left off. Chills and thrills and suspense galore, I had an absolutely brilliant time with Red as Blood and I would happily recommend it to fans of the genre.

Red as Blood is out 13 October in digital formats and paperback. Preorder it directly from Orenda Books here. Should you want a preview first, be sure to keep an eye on this space as I’ll be sharing an excerpt on the Random Things tour next month.

Massive thanks to Orenda Books for the eARC. All opinions are my own.