Reading in Reykjavík

Originally published in 2 parts, on March 9-12, 2004. Book 7 in my first 52 books challenge. Part 1: Author: Peter Ackroyd Published: 1985 Where got: public library Genre: mystery, horror I read this book years ago as part of a college course on modern English literature, but I remember nothing about it. Even now, when I'm almost finished with part one, I still remember nothing about the previous reading, which I guess shows how interested I was in it at the time. Every other chapter happens in the 18th century and is written in the style of that time, which takes a while to get used to. The other chapters are written in modern English and happen in modern times. The narrative point of view shifts between chapters, from 1st person to 3rd person. These stylistic changes necessitate a shifting of mental gears at the beginning of each chapter and make the book challenging to read. So far I'm finding it to be a dark and rather menacing narrative. Dyer, the 18th century narrator...

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...

Title: The Surgeon Series detective: Jane Rizzoli – in this book with Thomas Moore No. in series: 1 Year of publication: 2001 Type of mystery: Serial murder, police procedural, thriller Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Boston, USA; modern timeless SPOILER Warning: if you haven't read the books, there is a minor spoiler for book 1 in the synopsis for book 2. There are also minor spoilers in the reviews. Story: A serial murderer is on the loose in Boston and his handiwork is chillingly similar to that of another serial murderer who has been dead for 2 years, killed in self-defense by his last victim, Dr. Catherine Cordell. Police detectives Jane Rizzoli and Thomas Moore begin to suspect that there might have been two killers working together, but Cordell has no memory of another man. Before long, it becomes apparent that the killer has fixated on Cordell and has plans for her. The killer is relentless and when he captures Cordell, it is a race against time to ...