Voices

Voices (2003/2006) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder

A hotel worker is found dead in the tiny closet in which he lived in the hotel. His drawers are down and he has been stabbed repeatedly.

‘Is he up or down?’ Erlendur asked.

‘Up or down?’ the fat manager puffed. ‘Do you mean whether he’s gone to heaven?’

‘Yes,’ Erlendur said. ‘That’s exactly what we need to know…’

‘Shall we take the lift upstairs?’ Sigurdur Óli asked.

‘No,’ the manager said, casting an irritated look at Erlendur.

Erlendur is still an ass, but yet I can’t ever bring myself to dislike him, especially as we learn as the serious progresses about his past.

(T)he boy was never discovered. It was crucial to find the body. Until then, he was not dead in the proper sense, only lost to them. The wound remained open and immeasurable sorrow seeped from it.

Erlendur fought that sorrow alone.

All the crimes are sad, but this one feels sadder, as Erlendur slowly uncovers the past to the dead man, and how he ended up living at the hotel acting as a maintenance man.

Eva Lind is still a mess here, but Erlendur actually meets a woman.

Interesting terms and phrases:
grampus
sellotaped
todger
wolf in his voice
St Thorlac’s Day
Gullfoss and Geysir
dossing

I do like this book and this series.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Minotaur Books

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