Monday, July 21, 2025

Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for Eva Björg Ægisdóttir's latest, Home Before Dark

1966: Marsi's sister, Stina, goes missing on her way home from a friend's house. With no leads and just bloody clothes left behind, the case goes cold. But Marsi has a secret she doesn't dare tell anyone. Marsi had a penpal. A friend she'd written letters back and forth with, pretending to be her older more popular sister. And on the night of the disappearance, Marsi was supposed to meet her penpal at the very spot where her sister vanished. 

1977: Marsi has received another letter. Now, details she'd missed a decade ago are starting to reveal themselves and the mystery of her sister's disappearance might finally be solved. If Marsi survives.

Eva Björg Ægisdóttir has done it again! Vivid characters and a strong sense of place are hallmarks of her work. This time, she gives us a story set in 60s and 70s Iceland: no cell phones, no cloud, no streaming services. Just a small town and the secrets and mysteries that have plagued it for a decade. 

Marsi is the quiet younger sister. She envies Stina, which is why when she signs up for a penpal she decides to assume certain aspects of her sister's life as her own. To seem more interesting and exciting.  But she doesn't know what's actually going on in Stina's life. 

Relationships between sisters, families, friends, and even close knit neighbors all play a part in this psychological suspense as the story moves back and forth from 66-67 to 77. And as Marsi learns more about her sister--more than she was able to see as a child--the story becomes more clear to the reader as well. 
 
Yet another masterfully written tale that pulls the reader in from the start! If you haven't yet read the Forbidden Iceland series, this is a good place to start since it's a standalone. I promise you'll love it; and then you'll have the series itself to dive into!

Home Before Dark is out now in the UK and will be out in the US in November. 

1 comment:

Anne said...

Thanks for the blog tour support x