Death in Dalvik

Author’s Note

It was unusually important to pin down the precise time at which the majority of the events in this book took place. During 2020 the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic broke out and bitcoin prices fell and subsequently exploded. I decided on September 2020.

Throughout that year, a blizzard of bewildering, ever-changing rules and regulations relating to the epidemic engulfed the world. After an initial first wave in the spring, Iceland had got the pandemic pretty much under control. During that summer life almost returned to normal, with the noticeable exception of the lack of tourists. Many of the regulations that were prevalent in other countries, such as the wearing of masks, were absent. There were some restrictions — large gatherings at funerals were controversial that September — but in general the virus and its attendant regulations were much less intrusive in Iceland than they were in other countries at the same time.

During the autumn cases ticked up, as they did in many other countries, and by the end of the year, Iceland suffered a new wave of infections and hospitalizations, which provoked a further lockdown.

Twenty seventeen was an extraordinary time for bitcoin. The trades I describe Dísa making in the book, which increased her investment sixtyfold, could have been made at real prices achieved by bitcoin and Ethereum during the year. The following year, 2018, prices fell 80 per cent.

Twenty twenty was if anything more of a roller-coaster. Prices of bitcoin fell to $4,000 in March at the beginning of the pandemic, then recovered strongly, breaking $10,000 at the end of September. But in the three months after this book ends, prices rose even faster, reaching $29,000 by the end of the year and $60,000 by March 2021.

As I write this, I have no idea what the status of the COVID-19 pandemic will be when you read it. Nor do I have any clue about the price of bitcoin: it could be anything from $1,000 to $200,000. Which uncertainty is great for gamblers who feel lucky, but should trouble the rest of us.

I should like to thank the following people for their help: Björk Hólm, Bragi Thór Valsson, Michael Olmsted, Richenda Todd, Liz Hatherell, my agents Oli Munson and Florence Rees, and my wife Barbara. None of the characters in this book are based on real people. In particular, Inspector Ólafur of the Akureyri police is not based on the real detective of the same name, who is, by all accounts, a charming man.