Love books by Arnaldur Indriadson. Nice clean plot liines. Takes you through the crime and solution as if you were right there with the characters. Highly recommend.

I love this series! This second entry with retired detective Konrad held by attention throughout.

The main character is a retired police detective who keeps his nose in the game while trying to determine the killer of his father years ago. While aiding a friend of his late wife he finds himself pulled into a sleazy, dark situation which may bring unwanted answers to his questions. Plus a cold case with undertows of the supernatural.

Bring on the next one!

My interest in this book was twofold: (1) I was eager to get a behind-the-scenes look at Icelandic culture and geography to get a fuller picture of this isolated island and ‘experience’ a bit of what I’d missed on our short visit and (2) I’d heard Arnaldur Indriðason was THE Scandanavian writer of crime fiction and I wanted to see why he was so popular.

I was disappointed.

Why?
✔️swearing
✔️overuse of commas
✔️stilted flow of sentences slowed my reading/comprehension
✔️inability to maintain my interest
✔️unappealing main character; extremely moody and overly introspective
✔️rambling narrative; unclear direction and slow development

Things I liked:
✔️the sense of place is excellent
✔️he wrote about a place he knows well and it shows
✔️intricate mystery
✔️unique cast of characters
✔️the succinct style; no over-explaining shows faith in his readers

I wish I’d known that I was starting on book two! I wonder if I would have struggled less if I’d had some of Detective Konrad’s backstory or if I’d have understood his outlook a bit better. I would disagree that this can be read as a stand-alone. I discovered that Konrad has been a character in multiple books and wonder if the author feels that he doesn’t need to give readers any backstory.

I was so in awe of the uniqueness of Reykjavik when we visited that I was oblivious to the darker side of the isolation - drug and alcohol abuse. Arnaldur Indriðason definitely paints a heartbreaking view of his beloved homeland and the real struggle for many of the Icelandic youth.

Please don’t let my disappointment influence your reading options. The author obviously has a dedicated following who, for the past 24 years on November 1st, look forward to his new publication. My curiosity is satisfied.

I was gifted this copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I really like the vibe of this book, very ominous and almost supernatural. The description and cover really do it justice. I was flying through the book every page had me hooked. And Konrad, what an interesting character. Great mystery thiller, solid 4/5.