The Blood Drop awarded to Helgi Ingólfsson
The historical whodunnit Þegar kóngur kom / When the King Came receives the annual crime-writing prize – and a nomination for the Scandinavian Glass Key award.
This year's Blóðdropinn (Blood Drop) crime fiction award goes out to Helgi Ingólfsson, for his historical whodunnit Þegar kóngur kom / When the King Came. The recipient of the award will go on to be the Icelandic nominee for the Scandinavian Glass Key Prize, annually awarded by SKS, the Scandinavian Crime Society.
Ingólfsson's novel, published by Ormstunga, is a murder mystery set in 19thcentury Reykjavík. The action takes place at a crucial time in Iceland's history, as the Danish king Christian IX prepares to visit the country for the first time, turning the tiny society of Reykjavík topsy-turvy during the resulting preparations, parades and receptions. According to the jury, the story's unique premise and originality made it stand out from the nine other nominated works. “All walks of society are described in When the King Came, reminding us that everyone – high and low – is bound by the laws of human nature,“ said jury spokesperson Anna Ingólfsdóttir. “It didn't hurt either,” she added, “that it was an entertaining read.”
Ingólfsson, who was born in 1957, is a historian and a teacher, and worked at the Icelandic Encyclopedia / Íslenska alfræðiorðabókin. His first book, Letrað í vindinn: samsærið / Written in the Wind: the Conspiracy, received the 1994 Tómas Guðmundsson Literature Prize, which the City of Reykjavík annually awards to unpublished poetry or prose. When the King Came is his seventh novel.
Ingólfsson's novel will be Iceland's nomination for the Glass Key Prize. The Scandinavian award has twice gone out to Icelandic crime kingpin Arnaldur Indridason, while other recipients include Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell.