books

Fantasy Mystery Romance Comics Non-Fiction

Jar City, Audio Edition

Jar City (2000/2004/2011) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder narrated by George Guidall This ended up being the next book to listen to in the car. Michael doesn’t love mysteries as much as I do, but he does enjoy them, so I decided to try this one, since I do love this story. First, this […]

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 […]

Black Skies

Black Skies (2009/2012) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Victoria Cribb This story is set parallel to the previous, Outrage and the detective is Sigurdur Óli. I decided to buckle down and finally read this. There are several different threads to this story, which made it easier for me to read once the story got going. First, […]

Outrage

Outrage (2008/2011) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Anna Yates Erlunder has taken a leave of absence and headed east to where he grew up, leaving Elínborg in charge of a bloody murder–a murder where the victim is found in possession of Rohypnol and clearly had sex shortly before he died. This is an interesting book on […]

Hypothermia

Hypothermia (2007/009) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Victoria Cribb When a woman arrives at her friend’s lake house, she is horrified to discover her friend’s body hanging from the rafters. The dead woman had been seriously grieving since the death of her mother, and everything points to suicide, except that something doesn’t seem quite right. An […]

Arctic Chill

Arctic Chill (2005/2009) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb This story opens with the finding of a dead child. ‘Where do you think he’s from?’ Sigurdur Óli wondered. ‘He looks Asian to me,’ Elínborg said. ‘Could be Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese,’ Sigurdur Óli reeled off. ‘Shouldn’t we say he’s an […]

The Draining Lake

The Draining Lake (2004/2007) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder A skeleton has been found in Lake Kleifarvatn–a skeleton with a hole in its skull and a rope tied to a piece of defunct Soviet spying equipment around its waist. The story shifts back and forth between the present-day search for the murderer and the […]

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 […]

Silence of the Grave

Silence of the Grave (2003/2006) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder The second Inspector Erlendur book finds Erlendur, Sigurdur Óli, and Elínborg called to a construction site, where a boy has found a human bone. A quick inspection discovers more bones–a skeleton dating back to probably WWII. The skeleton is to be dug up by […]

Jar City

Jar City (2000/2004) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder Inspector Erlendur works for the Reykjavík police, and he and his colleagues are called to an apartment where and old man was murdered. The elder son, 9 years old, was not as cautious as his father and quick as a flash he was in the neighbour’s […]

Outrage

Outrage (2008/2011) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Anna Yates This is not Inspector Erlendur. Erlendur has taken a leave of absence, and no one knows where he is. Instead, the detective is Elínborg, a female detective who works with Erlendur. Because of crime–the murder of a rapist–Elínborg was a much better main character, since one would […]

Hypothermia

Hypothermia (2007/2009) Arnaldur Indridson translated by Victoria Cribb Inspector Erlendur is given a suicide to clear—a woman who had been devastated by the death of her mother, and had a life–long obsession with death and any possible afterlife is found hanging in her summer home. Although there is no note, it is a fairly clear […]

Arctic Chill

Arctic Chill (2005/2009) Arnaldur Indriðason and translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb This is, I believe, the fifth book in the detective Erlendur series, and I continue to like Erlendur and enjoy spending time with him despite myself. Erlendur is a broken and often not very nice man, and there are many reasons to […]

The Draining Lake

The Draining Lake (2004/2007) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder Lake Kleifarvatn is draining, and no one is quite sure why, but what they do know is that as it drains, things are being uncovered. In this case, one of the scientists discovers the body of a man who obviously had been killed and his […]

Voices

Voices (2003/2006) Arnaldur Indridason translated by Bernard Scudder There has been a murder in one of the fancy hotels. A particularly nasty murder, with a man in a Santa suit, in a compromising position, stabbed to death. Inspector Erlendur and the rest of the police have been called in, but nothing is at it seems, […]