Michael Ridpath

Michael Ridpath’s Followers (303)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
Jack
5,306 books | 8 friends

Naomi
7,789 books | 1,050 friends

Leland
1,957 books | 527 friends

Greg
1,144 books | 7 friends

Klare
3,077 books | 176 friends

The Boo...
498 books | 22 friends

Jenny
787 books | 78 friends

Shawn
1,060 books | 43 friends

More friends…

Michael Ridpath

Goodreads Author


Born
in Devon, The United Kingdom
Website

Twitter

Genre

Member Since
April 2012


Before becoming a writer, Michael Ridpath used to work as a bond trader in the City of London. After writing several financial thrillers, which were published in over 30 languages, he began a crime series featuring the Icelandic detective Magnus Jonson. He has also written five stand-alone thrillers, the latest of which is The Diplomat’s Wife, published in February 2021. He lives in London.

And if you want a free copy of his novella, The Polar Bear Killing, and to sign up to his quarterly newsletter, just click this link: http://eepurl.com/dlzgFH
...more

To ask Michael Ridpath questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Michael Ridpath Interesting question! They both require different forms of research. Iceland involved visiting places and talking to people, but not a lot of reading.…moreInteresting question! They both require different forms of research. Iceland involved visiting places and talking to people, but not a lot of reading. There is a limited amount of books about Iceland or novels set there in English. If you ask them in the right way, Icelanders can be extremely helpful.

On the other hand, while I visited Berlin, it looks much different than it had in 1938-40. And while I spoke to some Germans, they were not their grandparents. But there are lots of books published about Germany at the beginning of then war. Obscure memoirs were particularly useful: I read a great description of a Prussian wedding in Alexander Stahlberg’s memoirs, for example, which I drew on in Traitor’s Gate. The problem is that I have to note down every inconsequential detail about daily life and then index them all.

So, to answer your question, Germany set in the past was harder, because of the volume of reading, note taking and indexing.(less)
Michael Ridpath Yes! I'm working on a new Magnus book now. I've done most of the research (apart from visiting Iceland - that's a problem) and most of the planning. M…moreYes! I'm working on a new Magnus book now. I've done most of the research (apart from visiting Iceland - that's a problem) and most of the planning. May start writing in December. But it probably won't be published until 2022.(less)
Average rating: 3.93 · 17,070 ratings · 1,623 reviews · 59 distinct worksSimilar authors
Where the Shadows Lie (Fire...

3.84 avg rating — 3,696 ratings — published 2009 — 45 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Far North (Fire & Ice #2)

3.92 avg rating — 1,399 ratings — published 2011 — 32 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Meltwater (Fire & Ice #3)

4.06 avg rating — 879 ratings — published 2012 — 14 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Sea of Stone (Fire & Ice #4)

4.20 avg rating — 756 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Free to Trade

3.67 avg rating — 828 ratings — published 1995 — 44 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Final Venture

3.96 avg rating — 725 ratings — published 2000 — 26 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Wanderer (Fire and Ice #5)

4.11 avg rating — 694 ratings — published 2018 — 12 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Fatal Error

3.85 avg rating — 705 ratings — published 2003 — 19 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
On the Edge (Alex Calder #1)

4.09 avg rating — 625 ratings — published 2005 — 12 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Amnesia

3.99 avg rating — 599 ratings — published 2017 — 8 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Michael Ridpath…

Gudrid and her husband discover America

In my last blog post, I described how Gudrid the Wanderer wandered from Iceland to Greenland. But she didn't stop there.

The two Vinland Sagas disagree on who first made landfall in North America, which became known as 'Vinland'. One saga says it was Bjarni Herjólfsson, who got lost on the way to Greenland, the other says it was Leif Eriksson, Erik the Red's son. These days Leif seems to get all th Read more of this blog post »
1 like ·   •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on May 21, 2024 11:49 Tags: greenland, vinland, writinginice
Where the Shadows Lie Far North Meltwater Sea of Stone The Wanderer Death in Dalvik Whale Fjord
(7 books)
by
3.96 avg rating — 8,954 ratings

Free to Trade Trading Reality The Marketmaker Fatal Error On the Edge See no Evil Final Venture
(8 books)
by
3.84 avg rating — 4,655 ratings

On the Edge See no Evil
(2 books)
by
4.05 avg rating — 827 ratings

Traitor's Gate Shadows of War
(2 books)
by
3.79 avg rating — 510 ratings

Michael’s Recent Updates

Michael Ridpath wrote a new blog post

Gudrid and her husband discover America

In my last blog post, I described how Gudrid the Wanderer wandered from Iceland to Greenland. But she didn't stop there.

The two Vinland Sagas disagree Read more of this blog post »
More of Michael's books…
Quotes by Michael Ridpath  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“the”
Michael Ridpath, Fatal Error

“But the danger added to the thrill. It was a long shot: perhaps the police would get to the ring first. Perhaps the ring was a fake all along. Perhaps no one would ever find it. But there was a chance, a real chance, that Isildur might end up the owner of the actual ring that had inspired The Lord of the Rings, that had been carried to Iceland by his namesake a thousand years before.”
Michael Ridpath, Where the Shadows Lie

“It had obsessed his father and caused his death. It had briefly obsessed Pétur before he had tried to put it behind him. It had obsessed Agnar and the foreign Lord of the Rings fans, and it had obsessed Hákon. No possessed Hákon. Only his grandfather, Högni, had had the”
Michael Ridpath, Where the Shadows Lie

Polls

Who would you like to see for our July author of the month?

 
  23 votes, 52.3%

 
  12 votes, 27.3%

 
  7 votes, 15.9%

 
  2 votes, 4.5%

More...
52781 Nordic Noir — 508 members — last activity Sep 11, 2018 10:00PM
Did you enjoy Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy and want to explore more in the genre? Or just looking for something new to read ...more
353 J.R.R. Tolkien — 3769 members — last activity Jan 05, 2025 01:26PM
Discussion, recommendations, and all-over appreciation for Britain's own myth maker, Professor J.R.R. Tolkien. ...more
25x33 Icelandophiles — 87 members — last activity Jan 31, 2024 05:21PM
Members enjoy Icelandic fiction
131310 Cityread London 2014 — 15 members — last activity Apr 08, 2014 12:05AM
This April join us in reading Louisa Young's "My Dear I Wanted to Tell You", and Michael Morpurgo's "Private Peaceful", and join in our discussions. ...more



Comments (showing 1-3)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

Michael Ridpath Kenneth wrote: "Michael we have your short story The Polar Bear Killing as one of our reads this month and we have a reader from California wanting to know if this was used as part of a TV show cal..."

Kenneth, I'm so pleased you are reading it. Let me know if anyone has any trouble getting hold of it - on the launch date it wasn't available for some amazon US readers. I asked my publishers to sort that out, and I hope they have done so.

To answer your question, no, the story was not used in Fortitude, at least not with my knowledge. I haven't actually seen the show, since I don't get Sky. I believe it was filmed in Isafjordur in Iceland, but was supposed to be Greenland.

Any more questions, happy to answer them!

Michael


message 2: by Ken

Ken Fredette Michael we have your short story The Polar Bear Killing as one of our reads this month and we have a reader from California wanting to know if this was used as part of a TV show called "Fortitude".
Scandinavian and Nordic Crime Fiction - Ken


message 1: by Zoë

Zoë Sharp Hi Michael. Lovely to catch up with you here. I'm sorry we only seemed to pass in corridors at CrimeFest. Next time we must stop to chat!


back to top