More Iceland Crime

Voices
by Arnaldur Indritason

I started reading this series of books (This is book 5 in the Erlundur series) because we are going to Iceland in June for vacation. So what better way to get a feel of a foreign place than through their fiction, crime fiction at that. As I said in my last book post, this follows pattern for all Scandinavian police procedurals; you have an older, divorced, loner Inspector who slowly gathers the necessary information to put the big picture all together.

In Voices the body of a long time doorman is found in his small basement room in the hotel. He is wearing a Santa suit and a prophylactic as he sits on the bed with his pants around his knees, dead from a stab wound to the chest. As they dig deeper into his life, Erlundur must face his own failings as a father, of his father, and the traumatic events of his youth. An excellent book and a heartbreaking life, Lisa and I will be prepared for any murders in Iceland.

There is also some talk about tourists since the story takes place at a hotel at Christmas time. How they seem to buy their traditional Icelandic sweaters before they even get out of the airport, or how the gift shops are filled with strange gifts that no Icelander could afford. I think we are safe here, we can't afford it either.

Arnaldur Indriðason (born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction. He has repeatedly proved to be the most popular writer in Iceland in recent years - topping bestseller lists year after year. In the year 2004 his books were seven of the ten most popular titles borrowed in Reykjavík City Library.

Mormon Mentions: None