Tag: Crime

Outrage by Arnaldur Indriðason

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This sees a shift in the Reykjavik Murder series, the grumpy old hack Erlendur is not around. He’s on leave and no one knows where. It is assumed that he has gone off to search for his long-lost brother. The focus is then on Elinborg one of Erlendurs trusted assistants. This is what seems to be an open and shut case of rape. There is the involvement of date rape drugs. The setting is within families and connected communities. Elinborg struggles but ultimately triumphs.

The flavour is not quite there I miss the prime ingredient of Erlendur and I hope that he returns.

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Voices by Arnaldur Indriðason

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A mystery a man with no friends or family is found dead where he has lived an worked for 20 years. None seems to know anything about him or his life. Slowly a strange and surprising picture emerges. This is no small part due to Erlendurs persistence. As always this is aided by his grumpy demeanour and direct manner.
In all of the Erelndur novels his discordant family and preoccupation with his long-lost brother form a background.Erlendur is always preoccupied with the missing. This is quite evident in this story.

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Ashes to Dust by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am reading the novels of Yrsa Sigurðardóttir back to back and this is my third in a row. This time our heroine is a called to the site of a devastating earthquake in 1973. The buried buildings are being unearthed as part of an archeological project. Thora?s client is trying to prevent his parents home being excavated until he has been there first.
The setting are some remote islands and highlights the insular nature of such places. Everybody knows something but nobody wants to talk. Thora chips away all the time being frustrated by the police and her own client.
The friendly German is not a feature of this novel maybe next time. Thora’s family don’t feature as strongly as they did in the last book.
The conclusion is a fantastic twist. There is however lots of pain and suffering for many people along the way. Ashes to dust is an apt title!

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The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indriðason

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the sixth Erlendur novel but only the fourth translated into English. Central to the mystery is a lake that is sinking. The falling water uncovers a skeleton which inevitably exposes hidden secrets. The Draining Lake continues the theme of the previous novels of lost or missing persons. Erlendur life is full of missing parts. He is a melancholy man who wears his life like a hair shirt. The backstory of Erlendur’s life is the disappearance of his younger brother and the disconnectedness that he has with his own children. There is little light in his world.
The skeleton’s discovery creates a chain of events that makes the cold war erupt into the present day. There is longing for love lost and lives that have been on hold for half a century. A great yarn!

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Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great Icelandic story touches on the homogeneous nature of this society.The story is pervaded by unrelenting rain and Erlendur’s obsession with the past and those who are lost.
Jar City mixes Erlendur’s troubled past with the death of a loner in his flat. This is a journey that started a long time before the crime. Great a pace as the story weaves its way across the rain swept roads of Iceland.

One of my shorter reviews, but I don’t want to give the story away. I look forward to the next one in the series.

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Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indriðason

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great read with lots of sadness. the story moves between the present and WW 2 Reykjavik. Erlendur the central character and investigating officer has his own demons present and past.
There are elements of Henning Mankell and Håkon Nesser both great writers. I am an unabashed fan of Scandinavian crime fiction Arnaldur Indriðason being the latest author I am reading. This is also the first novel that I have read on a tablet. This proved to be less painful than I thought. The added benefit of white letters on a black background means that I can read in the dark.

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The Calling of the Grave by Simon Beckett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the fourth in a series by Simon Beckett featuring a central character called David Hunter. He is a forensic anthropologist and a GP. The case concerns a series of murders that are all attributed to one man who has been jailed. The story spans several years and David Hunter has endured personal tragedy along the way.
The story isn’t a police procedural as such but does sit close to a police investigation with what seems number of recurring characters. I haven’t read the previous novels in the series but I don’t think that this is necessary to enjoy the book. I did enjoy the read as there are some nice diversions in the plot line.

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