Title: Home Before Dark

Author: Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

Translator: Victoria Cribb

Genre: Crime/Thriller

Publisher: Orenda Books

Publication Date: 17th July 2025

Rating: 4.5/5

Cover:

Summary:

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…

Review:

Home Before Dark is a fabulously chilling bit of Icelandic noir with an incredibly powerful sense of small town mystery and atmosphere. From the very beginning there is a deep sense of unease to the narrative, which is split between Marsí in 1977 and both Marsí and her missing sister, Stína, ten years earlier in 1967. Both timelines are deeply compelling and both have the same sinister and creeping feeling of foreboding to them which gets under the reader’s skin immediately. Marsí, in 1977 finds herself returning to her childhood home and trying to connect the dots about what really happened to her sister all those years ago but as a reader, it’s impossible to know how much of what she relates to us is real as she is something of an unreliable narrator, due to her insomnia and admitting herself that she has problems splitting dreams and reality. This heightens the tension beautifully and makes the story feel like it could go in any direction at any point. Home Before Dark is also sharply well written, and paced perfectly with things building steadily and assuredly to a shocking conclusion. It’s an absolute masterclass in noir crime fiction – with the mood and tone pitched just right throughout and which had me captivated by the darkness from beginning to end. If you like your books chock full of atmospheric tension then I highly recommend adding Home Before Dark to your TBR list. 

★★★★.5 

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

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