Fire and Ice Books In Order

Publication Order of Fire and Ice / Magnus Iceland Books

The Fire and Ice series is a series of mystery novels written by the famous English author Michael Ridpath. All the novels in the series feature the main protagonist Magnus Jonson, who works as a homicide detective. Magnus Jonson was born in Iceland and was raised in Boston. He works in the Iceland Police Department and strives to solve the criminal cases in the city. The novels of the series have been translated into more than 30 foreign languages for the readers all over the world. They have also been translated into Icelandic particularly for the readers of Iceland who are very fond of the character of Magnus Jonson and consider him to be their own. The first novel of the Fire and Ice mystery series was published in the year 2009 by the Corvus publishing house. It was titled ‘Where The Shadows Lie’. The setting of the plot of the novel is done in Iceland and revolves around the ups and downs in the life of the central character named Magnus Jonson. In the opening sequence of the first novel of the series, the author has given a wide description of the landscape of Iceland. He has wonderfully described the wide and volcanic regions of the country. Amid the wild areas of Iceland it is rumored that an 800 year old manuscript has been lost somewhere in the volcanic regions of the country. The manuscript is believed to be very costly and many people also believe that it has a ring that gives terrible power to whoever owns it. The story of the manuscript and its powerful ring has a long-lost saga that has caused many people to go on its search.

Many people also believe that even if the manuscript gets rediscovered it will be of great value and would easily fetch them a handsome fortune. The rumors also say that there is something much more valuable than the saga of the manuscript, for which people will easily start killing each other in order to own it. Many people have tried different things but have not been successful in finding the saga of the manuscript. The valuable thing about the manuscript threatens the life of Professor Agnar Haraldsson as people will desperately try to kill him for finding the manuscript. At this point in the novel, homicide detective Magnus Jonson is introduced as an Iceland-born and Boston-raised detective, who strives hard to untangle the murder from myth and bring the criminals to justice. Magnus is seconded to the Iceland Police with the view of protecting him as he faces death threats from the drug dealers that he caught and destroyed the drug cartel in Boston. However, Magnus also has a personal reason for returning to his birth country after a period of two decades. He intends to solve the pending mystery of his father’s murder and put his killer behind the bars. His dedicated efforts bring him some success in his attempt to catch the killer of his father. But, as he is about to discover the truth about his father’s murder his past begins to cast a deadly shadow over Iceland. The novel became highly successful among the readers and the author, Michael Ridpath was praised for his unique style of writing. The author has wonderfully bound the history and landscape of Iceland with the striking plot full of superstitions and secrets. He has described the novel in such a beautiful manner that the readers find themselves intrigued with the plot till the very end. The success of the first novel of the series allowed author Michael Ridpath to write a few more volumes in the series. The novel very well proves that author Michael Ridpath is an established author and that his expertise easily matches that of a noteworthy thriller writer.

The second novel of the Fire and Ice mystery series was published under the title ‘Far North’. It was published by the Minotaur Books publishing house. The plot of the novel is set in Blank in Denmark and in Iceland and continues to deal with the mysterious life of the main character of the series, homicide detective Magnus Jonson. The novel went on to become an international thriller and increased the popularity of the author, Michael Ridpath to a greater extent. The novel is full of fine characters, fresh locations and page turning and suspenseful plot. In the opening sequence of the plot of the second novel, it is shown that Iceland is a place of revenge, which is served best at the arctic temperatures. The plot of the novel shows the time frames of three different years. At first, the time of the year 1934 is shown in which a couple of boys are shown playing in the lava fields that lie in the surrounding areas of their isolated farmsteads. While playing in the lava fields, the boys discover something very frightening and deadly and later regret of having discovered it themselves.

The boys and their family members are going to face the consequences of the discovery for a number of years and generations. In the second time frame, the author has described the period of the year 2009 in Iceland. The country is facing a terrible crisis and is bitten by the credit crunch. The lives of the citizens of the country are ruined as the currency of the country is devalued and the banks have become nationalized. Due to this, the savings of the people of the country get annihilated. It is believed that revolution from the grass root levels is going to take place in Iceland and someone in particular has to pay a heavy price for the miserable life of the people of Iceland. The person responsible for the misery of the country is believed to pay the blood price for his activities that have led to the crisis situation in the country. The country of Iceland consists of nearly 300,000 people and each knows knows the other very well. Hence, it will not be difficult for them to find out the person who is actually responsible for the situation. The time frame shown in the novel is that of the year 2010 where Magnus is shown trying to unravel the conspiracy. In his attempt to bring back peace in the country, he gets haunted by his own past. The success of the novel added to the popularity of the author, Michael Ridpath and made him an acclaimed author of the thriller and mystery genres.