Crime Beat Street Blogger review

books:


	• Jar City: A Reykjavik Thriller Arnaldur Indridason Picador, 2005 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Chilling Events

I found this mystery good to read on a hot day - it chills you to the bone. The author does a good job of depicting the gloom and bleakness of fall rainy days in Iceland. Curiously, as I read the story, I pictured all the scenes in black, white and grey -like the cover.

Equally bleak is the relationship Erlendur hammers out with his daughter, Eva Lind. I was happy to sense a spark of warmth at the end of the book, with the possible naming of Eva Lind's baby. I liked the realism of their struggles to understand each other, painful as it was.

The genetics data bank information was fascinating - wish there had been even more on this device for moving the plot.

Some scenes of the women expressing emotions - when talking about how the crimes affected them - fell short somehow. But those would be powerful feelings, difficult to portray.

I look forward to reading more of Indridason's books.

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good fast read

I've always been fascinated by Iceland and was eagerly anticipating reading Jar City after seeing a blurb on it in Book Marks (or was it Pages--I can't remember). I really enjoyed this mystery. Even though it wasn't filled with twists (I figured out who had murdered the victim as soon as the wording of the crime scene message was revealed), I liked the straight-forwardness of it and the simplistic tone (although the simplicity might be a side affect of the translation?). And I had a lot of fun with the interesting names of the characters and places. I'm looking forward to reading another by the same author.

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Crime Beat Street Blogger review

In the spirit of reading crime novels set in global locations I picked up Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason set in sunny Iceland... Erlendur, the protagonist, makes a fascinating character, older, flawed, with a past that is only partially revealed to us, a fact that makes the reader want to pick up the next novel in the series. I found the relationship he has with his now adult dope addict daughter a great side story, the scene in his apartment where she makes him meat stew and they talk over dinner while the cold night whiles away outside was hopeful and sweet, showing that despite everything family is family and love can be found.

The primary murder that begins the story plays out simply enough until Erlender and the reader realizes just how deep the decades old saga of the victim goes. A great moment in the book is the discovery of all the bugs living underneath Holberg's flat, yuck! I don't know why I thought this was so interesting but I suppose it gave a sense of just how foul this guy really was.

I will definitely be ready for the follow up novel, hoping to get a better glimpse into the sordid details of Erlender's failed marriage and why he avoided his fatherly responsibilities, and to see if he can make up for lost time by being a good grandfather.

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Cold case from Reykjavik

The style of Indridason's novels will appeal more to admirers of Peter Robinson than those looking for more Henning Mankell. Despite the chill nordic setting, the moody, introspective inspector Erlendur and his backstory is closer in tone to that of Robinson's Banks than that of Mankell's Wallender. In addition, Mankell's Wallender mysteries usually have an international significance, reflecting Mankell's experience living in Africa. However, the mystery here is intriguing and above average interest. The solution, satisfying. Readers seeking literary thrillers by different authors in foreign locales will be happy, as will those who have read all Rankin, Mankell and Robinson and are seeking a new author to follow.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

The Gold Dagger Award-Winning Author When a lonely old man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat, the only clues are a cryptic note left by the killer and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Inspector Erlendur discovers that many years ago the victim was accused, though not convicted, of horrible crimes. Did the old man's past come back to haunt him? As Erlendur reopens this very cold case, he follows a trail of unusual forensic evidence, uncovering secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man--with clues knit into the genetic bloodline of an entire country.

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