Strange Shores

Strange Shores (2010/2012) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Victoria Cribb

Hear that wooshing sound? That was the foreshadowing of the previous two books AND events in this book going right over my head.

I finished the book, blinking in surprise at the ending, and then I thought for a moment and wondered why I was surprised–this was no surprise at all except that I was willfully refusing to see it.

Erlendur had returned to his childhood home of the East Fjords to wander the mountains, hoping–although he refuses to admit it–to find the remains of his brother who had been lost in a storm as a child.

He sleeps in his childhood home, which has remained empty since he and his parents moved to Reykjavik.

Little by little nature was conspiring to merge the property into its surroundings, gradually obliterating all traces of human habitation.

As he wanders the moors, he is reminded again of a woman lost during the storm. The strange thing was that of the 60 British soldiers hiking in the opposite direction, all were found (either alive or their bodies recovered) yet Matthildur was never found, and none of the lost soldiers had stumbled across her.

So Erlendur begins to look into her disappearance, speaking to her last remaining sister and the few still alive who knew her or her husband.

We also see why Erlendur has remained fixated upon his brother’s loss.

He feels it is somehow his fault that Beggi ever came with them on this journey, and can’t shake off the thought that if he hadn’t interfered, Beggi would have stayed at home.

But of course it’s obvious from Erlendur’s recollections that both his parents felt the same. The guilt left none untouched.

This is the end of Erlendur’s story arc, and a fitting ending it is. I’m very glad I came across this series.
Rating: 9/10

Published by Minotaur Books

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