BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

November, 1967, Iceland. Fourteen-year-old Marsí has a secret penpal – a boy who lives on the other side of the country – but she has been writing to him in her older sister’s name. Now she is excited to meet him for the first time.

But when the date arrives, Marsí is prevented from going, and during the night her sister Stína goes missing – her bloodstained anorak later found at the place where Marsí and her penpal had agreed to meet. November, 1977. Stína’s disappearance remains unsolved. Then an unexpected letter arrives for Marsí It’s from her penpal, and he’s still out there...

Desperate for news of her missing sister, but terrified that he might coming after her next, Marsí returns to her hometown and embarks on an investigation of her own.

But Marsí has always had trouble distinguishing her vivid dreams from reality, and as insomnia threatens her sanity, it seems she can’t even trust her own memories. And her sister’s killer is still on the loose...

"'I know,' I promised, 'I'll be home before dark.' It was a lie."

I know I say this every single time but if you haven't read Eva Björg Ægisdóttir yet, now is the perfect time to start with this stand-alone masterclass in thrillers.

Home Before Dark is layer upon layer upon layer of suspense, misdirection and lies - a masterclass in tension told by an untrustworthy narrator who makes us wonder if we can trust the things we're seeing unfold in front of us. Marsi is undeniable as a narrator - unreliable yes, full of secrets and troubling behaviour but deeply compelling as a main character. Marsi joins a cast with seamless transitions between perspectives, between the times before and after the incident to slowly tease us with information and let the reader relish in the possibilities of everything that could happen.

Quiet and subtle at first, this is a thriller that creeps up on you - chilling, deliberate, beautiful in it's simplicity until a twist, and another, and another, and before you know it you're caught in this complicated, dark web of danger, lies and death that is so much more than it seems on the surface; every time you think you've finally solved the mystery - bam! - she's got you again.

Outside of the mystery and speculation, there's little shining moments that give the spectacularly written characters time to shine, showcasing the intricacies of their relationships, the state of society around them and a curious look at the time before the internet boomed.

Another stellar story and a reason Eva is always on my auto-read list!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for a review. Thank you to Anne and Karen at Orenda/Random Things Tours for inviting me to read!

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