Customer Reviews

Jar City

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I'm a murder mystery fan and therefore love the 'hunt' for new writers and fresh characters. I now count myself among Indridason's fans. I've read all his books and eagerly look forward to each of them. He introduces us to characters that it's easy to care about and to mysteries that 'keep you guessing.' But what I love most is the glimpses into the private lives of the characters. I feel as if I'm getting to know them and little by little come to care for them. If you like a good mystery - theres no one better to read, if you like a good story - here's a good place to start.

Characters are really interesting and human, the setting is dark without being gruesome and the mystery realistic. I'm reading the series now

I just like the Author's slow and methodical approach. His crime stories are unusual in that he shows the Hero, Dective Erlendur, in a unsentimental approach in solving a crime and yet with extraordinary empathy with human suffering.

I have collected all of his books and await with suspense his next novel.

Also published under the title "Tainted Blood"

This is the third Inspector Erlendur book but the first to be translated into English.

What seems to be like an ordinary murder of an old man whose head has been bashed in by an ashtray; things are far more complicated than they look. Many years ago the victim was accused of rape but never convicted of the crime. Did the old man's past come back to haunt him? Inspector Erlendur leads the police team and hunts down decade-old clues. They follow a trail of unusual forensic evidence that brings them around hidden paths and unexpected corners.

Erlendur's personal life is a side story in the novel. He is divorced with a strained relationship with his grown children. His daughter shows up on his doorstep once again asking for money. It appears she is trying to break her drug habit and Erlendur needs to help her.

Jar City is a skilfully crafted detective novel; it is well paced and well plotted. The author tells the tale in a straightforward manner and with very few sidebars into lives of minor characters not overloading the reader with social commentary. Some readers may not like this style, I did. His main character (Inspector Erlendur) is a complex and engaging one, a man in his 50's, in declining health, who struggles with the fact that both of his kids are drug addicts. The story revolves around the death of a child, organ removal and the use of genetic information. I can't wait to read the sequel.

Side note: if you are looking for this Icelandic author at a library you will probably find him listed under his first name, an Icelandic custom.