Into Oblivion

Starred review from December 14, 2015
Set in Iceland in 1979, several years after the events of 2015’s Reykjavík Nights, Indriðason’s elegantly crafted procedural traces two parallel cases: recently divorced Erlendur Sveinsson’s private investigation of the disappearance of a school girl named Dagbjört a quarter-century earlier; and his professional probe, with his enigmatic mentor Marion Briem, of the mysterious death of Kristvin, an Icelandic mechanic who worked at Naval Air Station Keflavík, a large American military installation with an active black market between base personnel and locals. Erlendur can no more forget Dagbjört’s case than he can the soul-scourging event of his own childhood, the loss of his younger brother in a raging upland snowstorm, and his near unbearable grief at the loss of his five-year-old daughter through divorce. Marion, who finds Erlendur’s stubbornness endearing, also suffers the bitterest pangs of loss in this accomplished analysis of the painful price that people of honor pay in a world swiftly losing its humanity.

December 15, 2015
An unidentified body found in a lagoon triggers dark memories for a veteran detective. A howling wind surrounds an enormous hangar near an Icelandic moor. A young woman, ravaged by psoriasis, is taking her customary solitary walk nearby when she sees a body floating in the water. Reykjavik Police Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson and detective Marion Briem investigate and question the skittish woman. Close to the area is a large Army base where many Americans are stationed. Cowboy boots and a leather jacket indicate that the victim might be American. Erlendur remembers a case from his early career involving a girl who disappeared close by. A call from Nanna, a distressed nursery school teacher, is the case's first solid lead. Thanks to her, the victim is identified as her missing brother, Kristvin, an air mechanic. Nanna can think of no reason why anyone would want to kill him. Even as he obsesses about the old case of the missing girl, Erlendur scolds himself for his failure to let it go. The two counterpointed cases show Erlendur's evolution from eager and emotional rookie to melancholy, world-weary chief inspector. Kristvin's American attire may be explained by his possible participation in a smuggling ring. An abandoned car and a peeping Tom figure in the unraveling of the complex crime. Meanwhile, the case of the missing girl never seems to fade. Indridason's quiet authority and moody prose are beautifully at play in Erlendur's 11th case (Reykjavik Nights, 2015, etc.), another pitch-perfect procedural from a master.

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January 1, 2016
Set in 1979, Indridason's latest Erlendur novel follows the series prequel, Reykjavik Nights (2015). Rookie detective Erlendur and his partner, respected detective Marion Briem, investigate when a body is found submerged in a lava spring. The unidentified man suffered injuries consistent with a great fall, but the man's death remains a mystery until a woman reports her mechanic brother, Kristvin, missing. Kristvin was a civilian employee at the nearby U.S. air base, a politically controversial outpost to thwart the USSR's Cold War initiatives. Unfortunately, the American military authorities are unhelpful, hampering Erlendur and Briem's efforts to interview base staff and inspect the hangars where Kristvin worked, forcing the pair to employ risky unorthodox methods to investigate. And, on his own time, introspective Erlendur continues his personal crusade to solve a college student's decades-old disappearance, which provides fascinating insight into Erlendur's pre-depression psyche. Indridason is a master at weaving big-picture commentary into taut, realistic police procedurals, and he scores another victory with this examination of the Cold War's impact in Iceland.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2015

In 2015's Reykjavik Nights, Gold Dagger and Glass Key winner Indridason gave fans a taste of the early life of his popular protagonist, Inspector Erlendur. In this follow-up prequel, even as police investigate the death of a man whose battered body is found in the Blue Lagoon, the country's famed geothermal spa, Erlendur looks into a very cold case: the disappearance, 40 years ago, of a girl walking to school.

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