Voices

August 13, 2007
Gold Dagger Award–winner Indridason stumbles in his third Reykjavik thriller to feature Insp. Erlendur Sveinsson (after 2006’s Silence of the Grave
). A few days before Christmas, Erlendur and his colleagues, Elínborg and Sigurdur Óli, look into the scandalous murder of Gudlaugur, a local Santa Claus, at a busy hotel. As Erlendur and his team scramble to find a motive for the seemingly senseless crime, disturbing secrets from Gudlaugur’s past begin to surface. In a hotel full of foreign holiday guests, Erlendur investigates everyone from a slippery British record collector to a sullen maid who reminds Erlendur of his own daughter. Snippets of a previous investigation involving child abuse distract from the Gudlaugur case. Despite a drawn-out climax where Erlendur tries to put all the pieces together, most readers will predict the terrible secret that led to Gudlaugur’s death.

August 1, 2007
Indridason turns introspective in his third mystery translated into English (after the award-winning "Jar City" and "Silence of the Grave"), a thriller that occurs over just six days before Christmas. In the midst of the holiday rush at a Reykjavik hotel, the doorman who portrays Santa Claus is found stabbed in his basement room, in costume and wearing a condom with his pants around his ankles. When Inspector Erlendur learns that the victim was once a celebrated choirboy who was never able to experience a real childhood, he's reminded of the death of his younger brother in a blizzard, which he himself survived. Erlendeur also has to deal with his drug-addicted daughter mourning the recent loss of her baby and a child abuse case involving an eight-year-old boy, which takes a turn that distresses Erlendur's colleague Elinborg. A long-divorced loner, Erlendur takes residence in the hotel, weighing motives of greed and hatred and developing a promising romantic relationship while coworkers worry about his lack of Christmas plans. An exceptional psychological studyErlendur struggles with his past and his presentthis won the Martin Beck Award in Sweden for the best crime novel in translation.In Jungstedt's second mystery (after "Unseen"), Detective Superintendent Anders Knutas of Gotland has both a murdered alcoholic photographer and a missing 14-year-old girl on his hands. Along with his closest colleague, Detective Inspector Karin Jacobsson, Knutas is assisted by smitten reporter Johan Berg, who turns up leads as he pursues married Emma Winarve, whose bond to her children has her vacillating between her lover and her husband. Inevitably, the two cases are found to be linkedand become painfully personal for Knutas. Jungstedt's portrayal of the victimsparticularly of young biracial Fanny Jansson, daughter of a single alcoholic motherare especially sharp, as she continues to develop the characters from her debut novel. The result is a more polished sequel and ending with a cliff-hanger that whets interest for her next. Featuring perpetrators acting out of desperation and a certain insularity with their island locales, both novels are recommended for collections where dark, foreign mysteries are popular, but probably not for holiday reading.Michele Leber, Arlington, VA

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2007
The enthusiasm generated by Indridasons first two novelsstarring Reykjav-k police inspector Erlendur SveninssonJar City (2005) and Silence of the Grave (2006)was reminiscent of the buzz that launched Henning Mankells Kurt Wallander when he arrived in the U.S.a decade ago. The third in Indridasons series will add more volume to the word of mouth. Erlendur and his colleagues are called to a Reykjav-k hotel where the doorman, dressed as Santa Claus, has been found stabbed to death, with his red pants around his knees. The investigation uncovers that the victim was once a child singing star. How did the onetime choirboy with the chrystalline voice become a debased Santa? As Erlendur probes into the Santas past and the habits of the hotels employees, he rekindles still-painful memories of his brothers death and his failures as a father. Hovering over the whole is the false cheer of Christmas, serving only to ratchet up the depression level in tortured souls on both sides of the law. A grim but compelling look at how the stranglehold of the past cripples our ability to live in the present.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)