Ragnar Jónasson on working with Ridley Scott: “He’s a legend and I’m a big fan, so to do a film he’d be associated with would be quite something"

Having shifted over four million books worldwide, and seen The Darkness adapted into a major TV series, Icelandic crime author Ragnar Jónasson has now returned with a gripping new novel, The Mysterious Case Of The Missing Crime Writer.

An outgrowth of the ‘Hidden Iceland’ series, the book focuses on a young detective, Helgi, previously introduced in Death At The Santorium. When bestselling crime author Elín S. Jónsdóttir goes missing one winter evening, with no clues to her disappearance, Helgi attempts to crack the case before it leaks to the press.

As he interviews the people closest to Elín – including a publisher, an accountant and a retired judge – Helgi discovers the author’s past is even stranger than her famous stories. It’s a gripping read that should grow Jónasson’s huge fanbase even further.

As the author explains, the story was actually inspired by an episode in the life of legendary crime author Agatha Christie, who made international headlines in 1926, when – following the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother – she disappeared for 11 days. Remarkably, what happened to Christie during that time remains something of a mystery.

“Pretty much, yeah,” nods the softly spoken Jónasson, speaking from Iceland. “There are all sorts of theories, but she never spoke about it – she just disappeared and then reappeared at this hotel in Harrogate. She never told anyone what happened, so it’s been the source of a lot of guesswork and fiction, which is very fitting for the Queen of Crime.”

Turning 50 next year, Jónasson has had a long relationship with Christie’s work, stretching back to age 17, when – staggeringly – he first began translating the author’s books into Icelandic.

“The idea to do a story about a missing crime writer, basically, came to me as part of the process of using these classic themes from the golden age of detective fiction,” he explains. “Of course, Agatha’s disappearance is an inspiration in a way. Death At The Santorium also had a theme that was well known in the golden age – murders in hospitals. They’re just eerie places to set a mystery.

“This book sort of came about as a spin-off from another series about a different detective, Hulda – those books included The Darkness, The Mist and The Island. Helgi is the guy who takes over Hulda’s old job when she disappears. So it’s really the same world, but in other ways, Helgi is a very independent character. I basically created him as this bibliophile who likes books like I do.

“He grew up reading golden age crime fiction in worn Icelandic paperbacks, the way I read Christie when I was young. I tried to find these old books in libraries wherever I could. There’s a lot of inspiration from my love of literature in him – so it’s a sort of love letter to the golden age and people who like books.”

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer

How far does Jónasson plan ahead with his work?

“Actually, this is supposed to be a trilogy,” he replies. “I pretty much wrote the third book almost simultaneously with the second – the whole series is basically one big puzzle. There might even be clues in one book referring to another. So in this particular series, I tried to keep them quite close – I re-read the second one when I was finishing the third. But I’ve finished all three now, so I can move on.”

What did he make of the TV adaptation of The Darkness?

“It was fantastic,” Ragnar enthuses. “I was executive producer, so I had access to the set and the people involved. But it was really their show, not mine, so I was more of a viewer. I loved it, and I tried to go to set as much as I could and just enjoy the experience. Because it’s rare this happens – there are a lot of books, and not a lot of TV series get made.

“So I really enjoyed it, and I pretty much spent all of January last year on the set. We were shooting in the mountains and the city, and it was really something. I had a lot of fun and it’s just incredible how much work goes into it. On any given day, there are such a lot of people on-set, and everyone has a very defined role. It’s really interesting to see all this take place, and how talented the people are, in front of and behind the camera.”

Meanwhile, there’s been more exciting developments for Ragnar – who recently set up his own Dimma production company – with Ridley Scott working on an adaptation of his novel Outside.

“The plan is to make a feature film that he would produce,” says the author. “It’s an ongoing process and it takes a long time. You never know until it’s there, but let’s hope it happens. I haven’t met him yet, but I’ve met his team. They’re great people and it would be an honour to work with all of them.

“He’s a legend and I’m a big fan, so to do a film he’d be associated with would be quite something. And he’s still doing great films.”

On the wider front, Ragnar is also part of the Scandi-noir wave, which really took off with The Killing 15 years ago and shows no signs of slowing.

“When I started writing, it had sort of happened with Stieg Larsson and probably The Killing around the same time,” he considers. “I think I’m more surprised that it’s still as popular as it was, because usually these things come and go. But there still seems to be interest in Nordic noir, and we’re happy for that.

“I grew up in a suburb of Reykjavik and I’ve lived here my whole life. It’s a place that works well for fiction and TV, because it’s an island with all these small villages, and this pretty harsh landscape and dark winter months. So there’s a lot to work with.”

Has he ever been to Ireland?

“I love Ireland and Irish writers,” says Jonasson. “I want to go back and see more of the nice countryside. But I think Ireland has incredible talent in writing, and the arts in general. It punches way above its weight, in terms of how many actors, authors and artists it produces. It’s quite incredible.”

Of course, there’s a notable link between both countries currently, with soccer boss Heimir Hallgrimsson currently in charge of the boys in green.

“I know, yeah! And I think he’s doing an okay job, isn’t he?”

Pretty damn good so far. I’m also pleased to report that my Icelandic mates made me an honorary Icelander, when I was virtually the only person in Chrisendom to predict Iceland would beat England at Euro 2016.

“I was there in Nice,” Ragnar fondly recalls. “It was probably one of the best nights of my life. I mean, I love the English football team, because I spend a lot of time in England and I always hope they do well. But this night, of course I supported Iceland. Even I didn’t predict this! It was a lovely, lovely night, because after the game, we went downtown in Nice and there were all these English football fans. There were so gracious in defeat.

“When they saw Icelanders – we were all wearing our national shirt – they were just coming up and congratulating us. There was really no anger at the loss, they accepted we beat them fair and square. All around, it was a very lovely night.”

• The Mysterious Case Of The Missing Crime Writer is out now.