(hb; 2005: seventh book in the Reykjavik Thriller series. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb)
From the inside flap:
"On an icy January day, the Reykjavik police are called to a block of apartments where a body has been found in the garden: a young, dark-skinned boy, frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood.
"Erlendur and his teams embark on their investigation and soon unearth tensions simmering beneath the surface of Iceland's outwardly liberal, multicultural society. Meanwhile, the boy's murder forces Erlendur to confront the tragedy in his own past. And before long, facts emerge from the snow-filled darkness that are even more chilling than the Arctic night."
Review:
Good, entertaining and character progressive entry in the Reykjavik Thriller series, as worthwhile as the previous Erlendur Sveinsson books.
Worth owning, this series.
Followed by Hypothermia.
(hb; 2004, 2007: sixth book in the Reykjavik Thriller series. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder)
From the inside flap:
"Following an earthquake, the water level of an Icelandic lake suddenly falls, revealing a skeleton that is weighed down by a heavy radio device bearing inscriptions in Russian. Inspectors Erlendur, Elinborg, and Sigurdur Oli's investigation takes them back to the Cold War era, when bright, left-wing students in Iceland were sent to study in the 'heavenly state' of Communist East Germany.
"But one of the students went missing, and her friends suspected that her 'heavenly state' was all too real. Erlendur follows a long cold trail that leads back to Iceland, international espionage, and murder."
Review:
Absorbing, fast-paced and worthwhile entry in the Reykjavik Thriller series. The mystery isn't so much who the killer is, but how the pieces fit together, made even more interesting by its settings, past and present, and its series-progressive characters (ongoing and new).
Worth owning, this series.
Followed by Arctic Chill.
(hb; 2003, 2006: fifth book in the Reykjavik Thriller series. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder)
From the inside flap:
"The Christmas rush is at its peak in a grand Reykjavik hotel when Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson is called in to investigate a murder. The hotel Santa has been stabbed, and Erlendur and his detective colleagues have no shortage of suspects between hotel staff and the international travelers staying for the holidays.
"But then a shocking secret surfaces. As Christmas day approaches, Erlendur must deal with his difficult daughter, pursue a possible romantic interest, and untangle a long-buried web of malice and greed to find the murderer."
Review:
Voices, like its predecessor novels - Jar City and Silence of the Grave - is a fantabulous, focused police procedural with engaging (and succinctly drawn) characters, wry humor, riveting writing, and equally riveting case-based revelations.
Worth owning, this.
Followed by The Draining Lake.
(hb; 2002, 2005: fourth book in the Reykjavik Thriller series. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder)
From the inside flap:
". . . a corpse is found on a hill outside the city, and Detective Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson and his team think the body may have been buried for some years.
"While Erlendur struggles to hold together the crumbling fragments of his own family, slowly but surely he finds out the truth about another unhappy family. Few people are still alive who can tell the tale, but even secrets taken to the grave cannot remain hidden forever."
Review:
Silence of the Grave is a high-quality, pins-and-needles Jar City follow-up that balances the warm, succinct humanity and humor of the characters and the wince-evincing facts and action relating to the mysterious bones.
Worth owning, this.
Followed by Voices.
(hb; 2000, 2004: third* book in the Reykjavik Thriller series. Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder. . . *The first two books, Sons of Dust [1997] and Silent Kill [1998], haven't been translated from the Icelandic to English yet.)
From the inside flap:
"When a lonely old man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat, the only clues are a cryptic note left by the killer and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Inspector Erlendur, who heads the investigation team, discovers that many years ago the victim was accused, though not convicted, of an unsolved crime. Did the old man's past come back to haunt him?
"As the team of detectives reopen this very cold case, Inspector Erlendur uncovers secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man - secrets that have been carefully guarded by many people for many years. As he follows a fascinating trail of unusual forensic evidence, Erlendur also confronts stubborn personal conflicts that reveal his own depth and complexity of character."
Review:
Jar City is an excellent, focused police procedural with engaging (and succinctly drawn) characters, riveting action and equally riveting case-based revelations.
Comparisons between Indriđason's Reykjavik Thrillers and the ten-book Martin Beck Mysteries have been repeatedly made, and rightly so: both are reader-grabbing-from-the-git-go, character-progressive and humane reads.
Worth owning, this.
Followed by Silence of the Grave.
#
The first film version was released in Iceland on October 20, 2006.
Ingvar Eggert Sigurðson, billed as Ingvar E. Sigurðson, played Erlendur. Áugústa Eva Erlendóttir played Eva Lind. Björn Hlynir Haraldsson played Sigurður Óli. Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir played Elínborg. Þorstenn Gunnarsson played Holberg. Theodór Júlíusson played Elliði. Kristbjörg Kjeld played Katrín. Þórunn Magnea Magnúsdóttir played Elín. Guðmunda Elíasdóttir played Theodóra.
Baltasar Komákur directed and scripted the film.
#
An American remake is scheduled to hit theatrical screens sometime in 2012. Michael Ross is set to script the film.
When more remake information becomes available, I'll update this book review.
