Outrage

July 23, 2012
Elínborg, Inspector Erlender’s female detective colleague, takes charge of a case in Indridason’s subpar seventh Icelandic thriller (after 2009’s Hypothermia). When Elínborg and her team investigate the murder of Runólfur, an inoffensive young man whose half-dressed, butchered body was found in his Reykjavík flat, they find a date rape drug, Rohypnol, on his person and later, during the autopsy, stuffed down his throat. Elínborg’s search for answers leads her to the victim’s village, where she discovers that old sins can cast long shadows and outrage can induce a person to take extraordinary and uncharacteristic measures. While Indridason provides his usual insights into Icelandic society and culture, lucky breaks mark much of the plodding police work, and the meandering forays into Elínborg’s personal life—the demands of raising three children, the pleasure she takes in cooking—may make her more human but don’t add much of interest.

September 1, 2012
Who could have killed the mercurial young man with no enemies...and no friends? An anonymous young man dresses carefully, goes to a Reykjavik bar, and hits on a young woman wearing a "San Francisco" tshirt who vaguely remembers him. The next morning, a man is found dead in his home, throat slit and wearing a "San Francisco" T-shirt too small for him. With Inspector Erlendur on an unexpected leave of absence, the case falls to Detective Elinborg. The victim is Runolfur, young and single. Near the body is found a condom and, in his jacket pocket, several pills of the date-rape drug Rohypnol. Runolfur seems to know many people casually and no one well. Everyone Elinborg interviews is a possible, though unlikely, suspect. Runolfur's mother, Kristjana, who lives in a village far from the city, confirms her son's eagerness to escape the village and live in the city but offers little useful information. The evidence points to Runolfur as a possible serial rapist; the closest thing he has to a friend, the socially awkward young Edvard, may be his accomplice. The case takes a baffling new turn with the discovery that Runolfur himself had ingested a large quantity of Rohypnol shortly before his murder. In the midst of what's probably the most important case in her career, Elinborg struggles with the work-life balance and the increasing aloofness of her elder son Valthor, who's addicted to his computer. As if her stress level weren't high enough, she gets word that Erlendur seems to have vanished. Another deftly modulated murder puzzle from Indridason (Hypothermia, 2010, etc.), with terrific character portraits, many twists and a satisfying "aha!" moment.

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September 1, 2012

With Inspector Erlendur off on unknown personal business, detectives Sigurdor Oli and Elinborg are left in charge of the violent crimes unit in Reykjavik, Iceland. A generally sleepy department is shaken at the discovery of a hanging man drained of blood, his mouth stuffed with Rohypnol. Slowly, Elinborg unravels the dead man's horrific past, linking him to a series of vicious sexual assaults. Despite her lack of sympathy for the victim, Elinborg must track down the man's victims, sort through their psychological wreckage, and locate his killer. Indridason's novel bucks a current tendency toward narrative foreshadowing, its chapters instead following Elinborg and her bit-by-bit detection. Clues are uncovered gradually, red herrings appear, characters remain opaque, and frustration abounds. VERDICT Fans of old-school sleuthing and new-school crime thrillers alike will relish this terrific read with its modern heroine but old-fashioned, meticulous approach. Indridason has written several Inspector Erlendur novels (Silence of the Grave Jar City) and is the recipient of numerous European crime novel awards. --J. Rogers, Reynolds Community Coll., Richmond

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2012
Series protagonist Erlendur, the gloomy, tormented Icelandic cop (Hypothermia, 2010), neglects to tell his fellow detectives that he is taking a leave of absence to visit his boyhood home in the Eastern Fjords, and Elinborg, who assumes his duties, is confronted by a violent and bloody murder mystery made more complex by the likelihood that the victim was a serial rapist. The mother of three children, Elinborg bores into the investigation determined to find the killer, but she is pained by the long hours that keep her from her family. She's especially concerned by her eldest son's growing estrangement from her. Indridason again uses the police-procedural form to offer insights into Icelandic society and culture, but by featuring Elinborg, Outrage avoids the bleakness and emotional claustrophobia that Erlendur carries around with him. As fine and as psychologically astute as the Erlendur novels are, Elinborg's ability to manage her own emotional burdens is a tonic. Additionally, the details of Icelandic police procedure in a murder investigationin a country that has only a handful of murders each yearare genuinely fascinating. The result is a deeply compelling procedural that should provide Indridason an even wider audience than he already has found.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)