Thursday, July 23, 2009

Iceland's rising stock

Arnaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir have been popular for a while now and it seems that Iceland is becoming the place to set books. A few days ago the news came out that Michael Ridpath is writing a series set in Iceland which is followed today by news of another new series from debut author Quentin Bates:
Constable and Robinson has bought the rights to a debut novel by crime fiction author Quentin Bates in a two-book deal.

Frozen Assets is the first title in the deal and will be published in 2011. The book is set in Iceland with Sergeant Gunnhildur, a police woman in her thirties as the central character. The novel starts on the eve of the financial collapse of the Icelandic banks. Bates has begun the second book, but it is yet to be titled.

Bates said: "I knew plenty about the country I wanted to set the story in but learning about police work is a whole new world for me, having never been nicked for anything more serious than breaking a speed limit."
Read the whole article at The Bookseller.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds fantastic! I'd really like to read a crime novel set in Iceland and against the background of the financial collapse. I'll definitely be looking out for that one. Gene Kerrigan's recent Dark Times in the City was set against the collapse of the "Irish Tiger" economy, but the Iceland story is somewhat more dramatic.

Rob Kitchin said...

Zane Radcliffe's - A Killer's Guide to Iceland - is a pre-collapse book that might be worth a look. Certainly gives you a guided tour of the island.

Anonymous said...

There's a very good Desmond Bagley book set in (very) pre-collapse (actually, pre-rise!) Iceland, too. Possibly called Running Blind. (Made into a not-very-good film, I dimly recollect.)