Reading in Reykjavík

Genre : Urban fantasy police procedural. Setting : Modern London. Themes : Violence, death, crime, gods, magic, ghosts. Constable-in-training Peter Grant is facing a career at a desk, writing reports for other policemen, at the end of his probationary period, due to being easily distracted. Things start looking up when he meets a ghost at a murder scene he is guarding. Next thing he knows, he's been recruited into a special branch of the London police that deals with paranormal and supernatural crime, has become a wizard's apprentice and is learning how to use magic. However, finding out he's able to see ghosts and do magic is soon the least of Peter's worries as a series of bizarre acts of violence and murder sweep the city. To add to the confusion, the river gods of London seem to be heading into a turf war. I first heard of this book when I was browsing the Discworld discussion forum on Reddit, where it was recommended as something a Discworld fan might li...

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog. Margaret Parsons, a dowdy housewife, disappears from her Kingsmarkham home, and is found murdered the next day. During the investigation, suspicion fall on several people, including her husband, a former boyfriend, two former school friends, and their husbands. Finally, when Wexford and Burden discover a cache of inscribed books from “Doon” to “Minna”, they begin to piece together a story of obsession and desire, going back more than a decade, and make a startling discovery as to the identity of “Doon”. This is the first book in the Chief Inspector Wexford series. Like many other readers, I first became aware of Wexford as the leading character in a series of very good TV films based on the books, starring George Baker as Wexford. For some time I wasn’t even aware they were based on books, and even when I did realise it, I still was not very interested in reading them. Then I started becoming interested in crime myster...

Originally published in April 2005, on my original 52 Books blog. The Flanders Panel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte is a murder mystery tied up in a chess-game in a painting and in reality. The painting is a 15th century panel by a Flemish master, which the heroine, an art restorer, must clean and restore before it can to be auctioned off. She discovers a hidden inscription in the painting, and when her ex-lover is murdered and a mysterious person starts leaving cards with chess moves on them where she can find them, it looks as if the two events are connected. She receives assistance in solving the mystery from a chess-player, and from her two best friends, an art gallery owner and a slippery antiques dealer. This is a good, spooky, twisty mystery with a chess game at its heart. Even if you know nothing about chess, you can still enjoy it - I only know how the chessmen move around the board, and I liked it. 3 stars. --- The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö is a tota...

Genre: Police procedural Year of publication: 1968 Series and no .: 87th Precinct, # 23 Setting & time : Isola, a fictional city in the USA, based on New York; contemporary When I get tired of reading long detective stories I know I can always turn to Ed McBain. His books are generally (although not always) short, yet he still manages to put into them as much detail as some other authors need three times as many pages to convey. In Shotgun Carella and Kling investigate a gruesome double homicide by shotgun, while Meyer and his partner handle an unusual and mysterious stabbing of a woman in her apartment. McBain wrote a spare style stuffed full of information and knew how to get across an amazing amount of information in a simple conversation, of which there are several in this story. He also managed to tell stories that were darkly funny, thrilling and interesting. The stories are also realistic. Most of the investigations described in the books are solved by good solid ...

Genre : Police procedural Year of publication : 1969 Series and no. : Chronicles of Calleshire, # 4 Setting & time : Calleshire (fictional place), England, contemporary/timeless A naughty boy on an outing at a stately home makes a gruesome discovery: someone has murdered the estate archivist and stuffed him into a suit of armour. The Calleshire police, in the persons of Detective Chief Inspector Sloan and his assistant, Crosby the speed demon (who I think is still a constable in this book). It is soon revealed that the man had recently made a discovery that could be a threat to the cosy existence of the family who own the place, but is that really why he was murdered? I have written before of the timeless quality of Aird’s Calleshire books, which seem to exist in a kind of mid-to-late 20th century time vacuum. The last Calleshire book I read, Little Knell (which I didn’t review) was an exception of sorts, mainly because of its theme, which was hard drugs, but this, one of ...

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...

Year of publication: 1983 Series and no.: Dalziel and Pascoe, #7 Genre: Police procedural Type of mystery: Murder (maybe) Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Yorkshire, northern England; contemporary When the managing director of a local company tells Dalziel that he suspects one of his underlings at the company of murder, he thinks there is little in it, but sets Pascoe on the case nonetheless before leaving for a seminar in London. Pascoe starts sniffing around and finds an unusual number of deaths that have come in very handy for the subject of the investigation. Meanwhile, a new addition to the police force is proving to have good policeman instincts, one of the detectives is having a personal crisis, Pascoe's wife has struck up a friendship with the suspect's wife, and Dalziel has renewed his acquaintance with the suspect's mother. Hill is very funny but never to the detriment of the narrative, and his style is very readable and rather literary. The ...

Year of publication: 1971 Series and no.: Kramer & Zondi, no. 1. Genre: Police procedural Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: A fictional city in South-Africa, 1970s. Story: The clever murder of a young woman is discovered by accident and Lieutenant Kramer and his assistant, D.S. Zondi, are handed the case. They discover a number of surprises about the young woman, who had lived a double life, and the people who might have wanted her dead. Review and rating: This is the first book in a series featuring the unlikely but efficient detective team of Kramer and Zondi. The story takes place in Apartheid-era South-Africa and Kramer is an Afrikaner and Zondi a Zulu, which makes for a complicated, layered relationship. Kramer is careful to maintain an outward appearance of being a proper white supremacist, but when more closely examined the relationship between the two men is really one between a senior officer and a loyal junior one and clearly ...

Year of publication: 1972 Series and no.: 87th Precinct, #26. Genre: Police procedural Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police officer Setting & time: Isola, a borough in a fictional city in the USA (based on New York), 1960s or 70s. Story: A woman is murdered and although the fingerprints of a junkie burglar are found on the murder weapon and he confesses to the killing, Detective Carella is still suspicious of her husband, who seems bent on implicating himself in the murder. Review: This is a tense story, atmospheric, almost claustrophobic at times, with psychological undertones. McBain had a certain style and way with words that lifted his police procedurals above the average and brought him deserved fame, and he was in fine form in this book. The main plot is good, although a bit far-fetched, and the side-story about Detective Kling’s love life balances it nicely. Rating: Another good offering from the master of the police procedural. 4,5 stars. Books left...

Genre: Police procedural Year of publication: 1979 No. in series: 2 Series detective: Chief inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel of the French Police Judiciaire's Brigade Criminelle Setting & time: Burgundy, France; contemporary Story: On a miserably cold and windy winter’s night Pel is called out to a farm where the body of a murdered man has been found in front of a memorial for resistance fighters killed by the Germans during World War II. The man has been shot in the face and head in such a way as to make his face unrecognisable, and because his fingerprints are not on file Pel and his men have a hard slog ahead of them to even find out who he is, let alone find his murderer. Complicating things is a second murder and an attempt on the life of a farmer who lives nearby. Then there are the fugitive bank robbers who may be hiding out in the area, and a pesky chicken thief the commissaire of police wants caught. All this weaves together to make an entertaining story. Revi...

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 ...

Year of publication: 1952 Genre: Mystery, police procedural Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Massachusetts, USA; March-April 1950 Story: 18 year-old Marilyn Lowell Mitchell disappears without trace from her college dormitory and goes missing for 2 weeks before she is found dead. It is only because of some clever comparative forensic work by the town's police chief that her death is ruled a murder and not a suicide. It is then up to the police to dig for clues as to the who and why of her death. Review: This is a pure police procedural and a very realistic one. The entire investigation is based on solid and diligent searching for clues and evidence and the elimination of suspects. It has the requisite false leads and dead ends, but no real red herrings, because those false leads are quickly revealed as such, instead of dominating the plot for several chapters like they might in a less realistic story. But this is far from being a mere dr...

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...

Year of publication: 1956 Crime sub-genre: Police procedural, mystery Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police detectives Setting & time: New York city, USA, 1950s Story: When a police detective is murdered, execution style, on his way to work, both the murder department and the detectives of the 87th Precinct are galvanized into action. When a second and then a third detective is killed, it becomes clear that someone who really, really hates police detectives is out there, murdering them at random. Or is he? Detective Steve Carella is not so sure. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing as a reporter starts annoying both police and members of a street gang he suspects of being behind the killings, and the killer decides to pay a call on Carella’s girlfriend. Review: Apart from the characterisations of women based on their breast size, I like this book. The narrative is taut and fast paced, the twists are well done and the male characters, especially the likable and smart S...

Title: A Loyal Character Dancer Series detective: Chief Inspector Chen Cao No. in series: 2 Year of publication: 2002 Type of mystery: Missing person, murder, organised crime; police procedural Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Shanghai, China; 1990s Story: Chief Inspector Chen, a young officer and rising star in the Shanghai police deoartment, is ordered by his superior to accompany and entertain an American police officer, U.S. Marshal Catherine Rohn. Rohn has come to China to escort to the USA the wife of a man who is an important witness in a case against a human smuggling ring that both the USA and China want to break up. But the woman has gone missing, and Chen is torn between the need to find her and wanting to solve an apparently gang-related murder. Rohn is not ready remain inactive while the Chinese police conduct the search for the missing woman, which complicates matters, as does a growing attraction between her and Chen and the attempts of Chen’s pol...

At first I hesitated to include Caroline Graham in this challenge, as I have seen at least a dozen episodes of the television series based on the characters from the Barnaby books. However, I think I am justified in including her, since books and television are different mediums and I have not seen the episodes based on either of the books I read for the review (although I did watch Death of a Hollow Man after I read the book). The first book in the series, The Killings at Badger’s Drift , made it onto the British Crime Writer’s Association list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time , despite having won neither the Gold or Silver Dagger, but it must have come close because the books that did get these awards that year are also on the list. Clearly it was a very good year for the Daggers. About the series: Series detective: Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Causton, a fictional town in southern England, and the surrounding area; cont...

The first book in this Swedish series, The Ice Princess , was published in English earlier this year, and according to Amazon.co.uk, this one will be published (in hardcover) in February 2009, under the title The Preacher . Icelandic title: Prédikarinn Original Swedish title: Predikanten Series detective: Patrik Hedström (assisted by his colleagues and his girlfriend, writer Erica Falck) No. in series: 2 Year of publication: 2003 Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Fjällbacka, Sweden, contemporary Story: The corpse of a young woman is found in a ravine in the small Swedish town of Fjällbacka and beneath the body lie two skeletons of young women who had disappeared more than 2 decades earlier. All three had been tortured in similar ways before dying of strangulation, so everything points to the same killer. Patrik Hedström of the local police heads the investigation while his heavily pregnant girlfriend deals with invasions of visitors seeki...

Translator: Stephen Sartarelli Series detective: Inspector Salvo Montalbano Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Vigàta, Sicily (and neighbourhood), Italy; late 20th century This time, I read two books by the author. Note that the given year of publication is for the original Italian publication. Title: The Shape of Water Original Italian title: La forma dell'acqua No. in series: 1 Year of publication: 1994 Type of mystery: Death under mysterious circumstances (possibly murder), police procedural Story: A famous and respected Sicilian political leader is found dead from a heart attack. There is no doubt of the cause of death, but as the circumstances of the finding of the body and the place where it was found are rather suspicious, Inspector Montalbano decides to get to the bottom of it, despite pressure from the authorities to close the case. Was it an accidental death during a sexual encounter with a prostitute, or was the heart attack manufactured, making i...

Series detective: Eve Dallas No. in series: 8 Year of publication: 1999 Type of mystery: Murder, whodunnit, police procedural, futuristic mystery thriller Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: New York, USA, 2059 This is the third book I finish for the From the Stacks challenge. Upcoming is a review of My Journey to Lhasa . When I first heard of the In Death series I thought it sounded like something I would enjoy. The review I read emphasised that in order to enjoy the books fully, it was important to read them in the order of publication, so I got the first book from the library, read it in one sitting and got hooked. After reading several books, I decided that while it was indeed best to read them in order, they could be read out of order, but only if one was reading them for the mystery plots and not for character development and relationship dynamics. I continued reading them until I finished book seven, and then I got reader's block. Conspiracy… had been o...

Series detective: Inspector Ben Jurnet No. in series: 2 Year of publication: 1982 Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: England, contemporary Number of murders: 1 Some themes: Religion, drug-dealing, anti-Semitism, social injustice Awards: The (British) Crime Writer's Association Silver Dagger Award, 1982 Story: A choirboy is found murdered in the cathedral of Angleby (a fictional town based on Norfolk) and signs on the body indicate that someone wanted to recreate the murder of Little Saint Ulf, whose holy bones are buried under the church and whose death had sparked a mass murder of the Jewish inhabitants of medieval Angleby. Ben Jurnet, who has now made a decision in the matter he was considering at the end of Death and the Pregnant Virgin (important for the story), is called in to investigate. He soon finds out that no-one seems to have liked the murdered boy much, but neither does anyone seem to have hated him enough to kill him. T...