Jar City: A Reykjavi­k Thriller

I actually won the newest novel written by Indrioason,"Into Oblivion", from a Goodreads First Read Giveaway. However, I did not realize the book came so late into the Erlendur series. So, liking to read an author's books from the beginning of a series I purchased myself a copy of Jar City. I'm very glad I did. The irony being that "Into Oblivion" is actually one of two prequels to Jar City.Living in Iceland himself, this is where the author sets his location for the story. We glimpse a view of this island nation as it exists in and around the capitol city Reykjavik. Similar to the weather year round, the story is very dark and bleak. We also learn that it is the custom in Iceland that it is common to refer to people by their first names rather than using the last. This is due to the fact that Scandinavian last names, such as my name Sorensen which mean son of Soren, can lead to confusion as to whom Soren's son might be. So most of the characters in the book are referred to by first name only.An elder man, living in a basement apartment, has been killed. He has been struck over the head with a heavy green ash tray. Whether he is the victim of murder or and an unintended crime of emotion will need to be determined. Detective Inspector Erlendur of the Reykjavik Police has been dispatched to the crime scene. Holberg is the name of the deceased and apparently knew his attacker as there are no apparent signs of a struggle. Upon the body of the man is a note that has a message scribbled on it and the photo of a young girl's grave is found in a night table. Now Erlendur must go to work finding out just who Holberg is and why someone might want to kill him.Initially it is determined that Holberg is a man living a quiet life after years of driving a lorry. His upstairs neighbor has talked with Holberg only on occasion but says he was pleasant enough. Never a problem but seemed to be very lonely. So why would such a no threatening man be killed.It is the photograph that has been found that heats up the investigation into Holberg's past and the scent of the attacker's motivation. The grave is that a young girl named Audur who died of a brain tumor at age four. Three years later Audur's mother, Kolbrun committed suicide. Upon digging deeper into Kolbrun's life it is discovered that she once accused Holberg of raping her, although charges were never filed by the police.This is a story that flows along several differing lines of investigation and Erlendur is aided by two of his subordinates in the investigation. One line is the search for another woman that might have been raped by Holberg, another is the genetic mystery as to why Audur dies of a malignant tumor at such a young age and lastly, why did an associate of Holberg's disappear so many years ago. An associate that may have taken the photograph that has led Erlendur to Kolbrun and Audur and maybe Holberg's death.As this is all going on Erlendur is having personal issues with his adult, drug addicted daughter. Having divorced his wife when his children were young, due to an antagonistic marriage, his daughter Eva Lind has come seeking his help. Although not fully developed, this story line gives us a view into Erlendur's personal life and may be filled out in future novels.Peeling back the layers of an onion is an apt description of this book. Erlendur is a very methodical investigator that takes things step by step. Not allowing himself to be rushed or turned aside from a line of inquiry that his co-investigators may think is pointless. Indrioason does an excellent job, in this debut novel, of leading the reader along towards the climactic and unexpected conclusion. I believe this is the beginning to, what should become, a very good series. Scandinavian writers seem to write stories more gloomy than other writer's I have read. Being so far North and located above the Arctic Circle has a big influence in the background of stories set in many of the Scandinavian nations. Indrioason certainly allows the reader to feel the cold and bleak world in which these citizens live in. If the reader is looking for a new author to add to his/her library I would certainly recommend that the Erlendur series be given a try. And if the reader starts at the beginning they will find out what "Jar City" stands for?

I do not usually read mysteries, but a friend recommended this knowing I was planning to visit Iceland soon. Recommended for anyone else planning such a visit. Seems very much in the genre of Scandinavian mysteries, with uncheerful weather (never quits raining) and gloomy detective protagonist. The crime solution unwinds very deftly, making use of some of the special qualities of the Icelandic setting. The writing style is largely simple and declarative, and family relationships are very important, giving this reader a modern resonance with the old sagas. It usually takes me weeks to finish a book, but I read this one in less than 48 hours--just wanted to keep reading.

This is an intriguing novel, atmospherically and in its inexplicable ability to sustain the reader's interest -- despite the fact that practically everyone in it is strange, idiopathic, stilted or weird of articulation, practically autistically disconnected from reality, and committed to viewing everything generically and without depth or dimension, as though through the filter of a bad fifties cop drama. Dragnet, possibly, though without the cheeriness and empathy of Joe Friday.Erlendur, the protagonist, is a weary, bleak, generally enervated and ineffectual police inspector wIth the emotional IQ of a dysfunctional gibbon, who always, always says and does the wrong thing in any situation in which ordinary human sensitivity is demanded. He's not remotely stupid, and he solves a complex case that calls into question issues ranging from misogynistic practices in the treatment of rape cases to the questionable ethics of the virtual "jar cities" of genetic databases, but in so doing, he ignores the obvious, passively abuses practically everyone around him with an aggressive indifference, fails to prioritize his daughter's life or his own health -- or anything that matters, really -- over the dreary details of a disproportionately comprehensive investigation, and ends by precipitating the suicide of the hapless and essentially innocent perpetrator of the original crime. And yet the story somehow gains ever more traction, and Erlendur ever greater approximation of minimal human warmth, as matters progress from parental neglect to abuse of witnesses to desecration of a child's grave to the perfectly foreseeable fatal ineffectuality of Erlendur's final attempt to avert Einar's suicide. In the dénouement, Erlendur sits with the drug-addicted, pregnant daughter he'd earlier left to the streets, eating the meat stew she's prepared and inexplicably sensitively suggesting that she name her daughter after the lost child who's the central victim of the whole drama.Throughout, all the characters remark on how Icelandic everything is. Can you imagine saying not, "this is a typically clumsy murder," but "this is a typically clumsy, American murder?" Or it's just so American, the rainy weather today? Or I'd better take an American drive to the American supermarket? Is it a bad translation, or does the author think that everyone in Iceland is just unremittingly conscious of how Icelandic he or she is, and feels called upon constantly to remark on it? This sort of awkward, completely supererogatory, once-distanced observation goes on constantly, is committed by everybody, and gives rise to the sense that all the characters really do think they are cardboard cutouts in a minimalist screenplay by Lars Von Trier.And yet somehow it works, and it's even emotionally and intellectually satisfying. There's just no accounting for some Nordic novels.

There are two things that I loved most about this books. First is how much the landscape contributes to the story, making it one if the most atmospheric reads I’ve ever encountered. I studied old Icelandic sagas at university. In those sagas the landscape is forever looming over the lives of the Icelanders, not surprising considering the country’s unique natural surrounding, and I got a strong sense of that tradition being present in this book. It helps you to visualise and feel all the raw emotions and sets up a very dreary and chilling set for a chilling story.I fins Jar City to be darkest of all among Ingridason’s works so far, including his later work such as Silence of the Grave. Dark in a sense of being a nitty-gritty crime investigation with all the gruesome details, all this mingled with almost elfin lure backdrop, the quality that is produced by the atmospheric setting (autumn, rain, graveyard, gray weather etc.) and the dreams. Yet there is absolutely nothing supernatural in it at all. I also find it more mysterious and chilling than his later works. The main plot is not so complicated but there seems to be so much mystery about everything. Random, chilling and enigmatic discoveries. Still remains my number one favourite of the Erlendur series.

This was a great Scandi-Crime Noir book that I've read for my Nordic Noir "real life" book club. I had never read this author before so dived in with a clear set of expectations.I was quickly hooked into the storyline and characters. A man is found murdered in Iceland where the book is set and from that murder unravels a spiel of other stories and revelations. It was like a magic box, more and more new surprises kept popping up to keep you guessing.The writing is very good. I found the book translated very well from Icelandic to English and this author has a rhythmic writing style that's easy to read and enjoy as you go.Detective Erlender is the lead detective and the main man of this crime series and I really liked him a lot. He's determined, focused and very imperfect as a human being. His character shone with realism which I love.I was riveted to this mystery and felt quite moved by some of the side crimes uncovered and the ending of the book left me feeling quite a bit emotional. A book of hidden depths and the path to solving the crime is really fascinating.I'd highly recommend this book to any crime or mystery lover, especially if you like your crime Scandinavian flavoured. From crime books to TV some fantastic stuff comes out way from this part of Europe. I'll be discussing this book at my book club this week and am keen to hear what others thought of it. Enjoyable, fabulous plot with depth and good quality writing - 5 stars.Oh! And this book reads absolute fine as a stand alone. It's book three in the series but I didn't once feel like I needed to read the first two books to enjoy this one. I read a second-hand paperback version that I bought off Amazon.

The first book I have read by this author and I must say that I enjoyed it. The characters were introduced well and all had an interest in the story. The plot wound well through the story with twists along the way with an ending which didn't disappoint. Definitely a read for Scandi lovers.

It took me some time to get into this book. I don't feel I know much about the characters but maybe that will become clearer in the next in the series. The chop at the centre of the plot, Erlendur, is called to investigate the murder of an old man. The story is interrupted by a seemingly unrelated request to help find a runaway bride. Between all this Erlendur's drug addict daughter rocks up with some surprising news. I wasn't sure the police procedures were 100% accurate but the story was interesting and I enjoyed it. The writing style was a little unusual in some places, I didn't like some sentences beginning with just a verb, it didn't seem to read well to me. The unusual name isn't explained until well over half way through. Overall the story was well thought out but the execution could have been improved on. I'm going to try the next in the series to see how the story of Erlendur and his daughter pans out.

The pace of the novel is a little slow. Maybe this is how life is in Iceland? The protagonist is interesting; he is good at his job and has faults like all the good detectives do. He is saddled with responsibility for a sullen daughter who is rebellious and makes poor life choices. Detective Erlendur reminded me a bit of Kurt Wallander, being of similar age and demeanour. The author is great at world-building and character description. I enjoyed this book and I tried reading the next novel in the series but it is even slower paced. I got bored halfway through Silence of the Grave and quit reading, which is a shame because it too has a detailed setting and fantastic characters.