Reading in Reykjavík

This is a "crimes of the past revisited" story, something Arnaldur has done before in several of his other books (e.g. Silence of the Grave , The Draining Lake and Strange Shores ). Told in chapters alternating between 1944 and the modern day, it tells the story of how the murder of an old man sets a retired police detective on the trail of another, unsolved, murder that happened during WW2 in Reykjavík. This is not a detective Erlendur story and does not feature either of his two closest collaborators on the police force but instead introduces a new character, a recently retired detective named Konráð. I don't know if the English title given for this book in the Wikipedia entry on Arnaldur and elsewhere on the web (except that literature.is gets it (almost) right), is the one that will be used for the eventual translation, but to me it looks suspiciously like a Google Translate blooper. Skuggasund actually means "Shadow Alley " and is the name of a stre...

Originally published in October 2004, in 2 parts. Book 35 in my first 52 books challenge. As you can see below, this review was written before Arnaldur won the Gold Dagger award and the movie was made. This book - the first in the Erlendur series - has still not been translated into English, and probably never will. In the book, the cops are named Erlendur and Sigurður Óli, but they are really just stereotypes of the older, experienced cop and the by-the-book rookie, and have not been fleshed out like they are in the other books. In addition, the story has a strong science fiction element that was very relevant to a discussion of ethics in science that was going on in Icelandic society at the time, and would pretty much go over the heads of foreign readers unfamiliar with the situation. English title (my translation): Sons of the Dust Author: Arnaldur Indriðason Year published: 1997 Genre: Crime Sub-genre(s): Mystery Where got: National Library Before Arnaldur Indriðas...

Arnaldur Indriðason's book The Draining Lake ( Kleifarvatn in Icelandic) has been shortlisted for the 2009 Macavity award , in the category for "Best Mystery Novel". See my review of the book. The Macavity Award is awarded annually in several categories, by Mystery Readers International, a large mystery fan organisation. (Found through Petrona )

I wasn’t sure if I should post this review right away, considering that the book will probably not be published in English until 2010, but then I though “why not?” It just means the review will be there for those who want to know something about the book beforehand. Unfortunately I do not have an English title for it, but I will post it once I know what it will be. Added April 7, 2011: The English title is Outrage , and it is due out in June of this year. Genre: Police procedural Year of publication: 2008 No. in series: 9 Series detective: Detective Erlendur Sveinsson and colleagues, of the Reykjavík detective force Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Reykjavík, Iceland; contemporary Story: Erlendur, the leading investigator in the previous books, is away on vacation, and the detective in this book is his colleague Elínborg. She is called in on a murder case involving a young man found with his throat cut and some Rohypnol tablets in his pocket. Was the ...

The English title of this book will be Hypothermia . According to Amazon UK it will be published in Britain in September. The Icelandic title is the name of a mountain in the area where Erlendur is supposed to have grown up, meaning something like “a bare and sharp-edged mountain”. It has a bearing on events from Erlendur’s past that have been mentioned in previous books. Interestingly (at least from a linguistic viewpoint) another meaning of harðskafi is close to the meaning of the English word hardscrabble , and I am sure it is no coincidence that the two words sound similar. Genre: Mystery, police procedural Year of publication: 2007 No. in series: 8 Series detective: Detective Erlendur Sveinsson Setting & time: Reykjavík and Þingvellir, Iceland; contemporary Story: A woman discovers her friend’s body hanging from a beam in a summer house by lake Þingvallavatn. She seems to have killed herself, but the friend is convinced she would never have done that. This is enough for ...

The film Mýrin (The Mire)is based on the book of the same title by Icelandic crime writer Arnaldur Indriðason. It was published in English as Jar City (also as Tainted Blood ). I read the book a couple of years ago but never got round to reviewing it. Here is a link to Maxine's review: Jar City review . The story begins with the discovery of the body of a murdered man in a basement apartment in a neighbourhood known as Norðurmýri, The North Mire , so-called because that is what was there before the houses were built. He turns out to have been a vicious thug and the investigation soon leads the police to start trying to find the victims of crimes he committed years before and which may explain why he was murdered. They also decide to re-open the investigation into the disappearance of one of his cronies many years before, an investigation that was closed with what Erlendur, the leading investigator, thinks is suspicious haste. The movie was directed by Baltasar Kormákur who is pr...

Title in translation: Arctic Chill Series detective: Erlendur Sveinsson and co. No. in series: 7 Year of publication: 2005 Type of mystery: Murder, police procedural Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Reykjavík, 2005 Number of murders: 1 Some themes: Immigrants, racism, child abuse, missing persons Story: On a frosty January morning a young boy, half Thai, half Icelandic, is found stabbed to death outside the building where he lived. Most people assume that the crime was racially motivated, but Erlendur is not so sure. He and his team patiently sift through evidence and question suspects, and other cases intrude. When the murder weapon is finally found it leads the investigators down a disturbing path. Review: When I reviewed the last book I mentioned that the reiterations of the police officers' personal lives and problems was getting boring. Fortunately it is not so in this story. Arnaldur only uses very brief summaries to ensure new readers know what...

I have read all of Arnaldur's previous 5 books about Erlendur and co., but I have only reviewed one. I think maybe I should review the rest, at least the ones that have been translated into other languages. German title: Kältezone Edit: the English title is The Draining Lake , translated by Bernard Scudder. Scudder died not long ago and will be sorely missed. He was an excellent tralslator. Author: (alt. spelling) Arnaldur Indridason Series detective: Erlendur Sveinsson and co. No. in series: 6 Year of publication: 2004 Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Reykjavík, Iceland, 2004; Leipzig, East-Germany, 1950's Number of deaths: 2 Some themes: Espionage, missing persons, socialism Story: A scientist checking the water levels of lake Kleifarvatn discovers a human skeleton in a dried-up section of the lake bottom. This marks the beginning of a murder investigation that attempts to connect one of 5 missing men to the Ru...