Reading in Reykjavík

Epigraph: Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? William Shakespeare: Macbeth Act II, Scene ii. Short summary: A chance sighting of a newspaper article sets Commissaire Adamsberg off on a chase for a serial killer he had given up trying to catch years before, but he ends up as a fugitive himself. Teasers from the book: 'I did get into the FBI archives once, just for fun,' she admitted shyly. 'No need to looks so shy, Josette. It's no sin to do good for other folks.' Adamsberg looked in even greater astonishment at this frail old woman, one-third society lady, one-third shy little creature, and one-third seasoned hacker. ... Adamsberg speaking: 'These last few days, my life has been in the hands of magical women. They've been tossing me from one to another, and every time they save me from falling into the abyss.'

Original French title: Debout les morts Translator: Siân Reynolds Genre: Mystery Year of publication: original: 1996; in English: 2006 No. in series: 1 Series detectives: Historians Marc, Lucien and Matthias, and former police commissaire (Armand) Vandoosler (Marc’s uncle) Type of investigator: Amateurs and semi-pro Setting & time: Paris (mostly), France; contemporary Story: Three down-on-their-luck historians move into an old run-down house along with the uncle of one of them, a former police commissaire. Because of their names the old man calls them “The Evangelists”: St. Lucas, St. Mark and St. Matthew. The four men quickly make the acquaintance of their neighbour Sophia, a retired Greek opera singer, and also that of Juliette who runs a restaurant nearby. Some weeks later Sophia disappears. Her husband seems unconcerned, but Juliette and Sophia’s niece Alexandra, who turns up shortly afterwards, are both convinced something has happened to her, as are the four men, who...

Original French title: L’homme à l’envers Genre: Mystery Year of publication: 1999 No. in series: 2 Series detective: Commissaire Adamsberg Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Rural France, contemporary Story: Camille, an old girlfriend of Commissaire Adamsberg’s, is living in the French Alps with a Canadian who is there to observe and make a documentary about the European wolf. In the area, dozens of sheep have been killed by what appears to be a rogue wolf, but when a woman in the neighbourhood is found dead with her throat torn out by the same creature, rumours about a werewolf start circulating. Camille had been fond of the dead woman and joins her foster-son and her shepherd in a search for the killer, whom they believe to be a man from the neighbourhood who has trained a big dog or a wolf to kill on command. A map found in his house shows a route through rural France he has apparently planned to take, and this they follow, finding the killer always a step ahea...

Fred Vargas’ books are only just beginning to be published in Icelandic. I read this one first as it is the first one published, but it turns out that the second book to be published in Icelandic (English title Seeking Whom He May Devour ) is an earlier book in the Adamsberg series. I hope it doesn’t matter much. I actually read the Icelandic translation, Kallarinn , but I’m giving the English title so my English-speaking readers know which book I am talking about. Original French title: Pars vite et reviens tard Genre: Murder mystery Year of publication: 2001 No. in series: 4 Series detective: Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Paris (mostly, France), contemporary Story: A man who has revived the ancient profession of town crier has been getting messages that are copied passages from old books about the Plague. At the same time the police are baffled by a mysterious symbol that appears on doors across Paris and turns out to be a...