Book Tour: Paperback edition of Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir translated by Quentin Bates

I do not usually return to a book twice, but good thriller stories, especially, from the Icelandic Noir category, always deserve an exception. Dead Sweet by Katrín Júlíusdóttir translated fron Icelandic by Quentin Bates and published by Orenda Books, is published in paperback format therefore, it was my pleasure to return to the book for few hours.

Published in Icelanding in 2020, Dead Sweet is Katrín Júlíusdóttir´s debut novel. A former MP between 2003 and 2016, she gathered a lot of real-life inspiration for her setting, characters building and encounters. If you think that being a politician is totally useless, you only have to think that there are many of them who are gifted and their stories are a blessing to the world, especially the thriller reading category.

The death of a popular politician who did not get it into his birthday party, Óttar Karlsson, may reveal very dark secrets of local politics and of himself as the character of his own story. The smart investigator Sígurdis is tasked to figure out the culprit(s) in this case, an investigation leading to very troubling truths. Despite his physical absence, Karlsson is the main character of the book, whose life and (mis)deeds reflect to the ways in which Icelandic society operate, from its smallest details. 

Both the story construction - with a very surprising ending as well as the meticulous character building are hard to resist, and one may need to turn again to this book - as I recently did - for an insightful reflection on politics and politicians. 

Dead Sweet is a recommended read for those passionate about politics, with all its shortcomings and dark sides. I guess politicians too, particularly in Iceland, may need to include this book on their reading list, as it may inspire them how to stay away of dangerous situations. Bad people do make good thrillers, but maybe not all of them want to be characters in a book. 

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own