Reykjavik Nights (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries Book 10)

After his 9 previous books about loner Reykjavik detective Erlendur which ended by appearing to write him out, Iceland's Arnaldur Indriðason now instead turns the clock back to 1974 to recount a story of the young Erlendur, still a traffic policeman with no connection to the CID. His is a life on endless night shifts, his work consisting of little more than a continual task of cleaning up behind road accidents due to drunken driving, domestic assaults, break-ins, and dealing with homeless down and outs. It is these last with which Indriðason is primarily concerned in this novel: Erlendur's sympathy for their predicament a source of incomprehension for his young colleagues on the night shift.Hannibal, one of the homeless men with whom Erlendur has struck up a passing acquaintance, is found dead face down in a pool. There is no evidence of foul play so the police spend little time on the case. Erlendur - ignoring his "sort of" girlfriend Halldóra because he is unable to commit himself - decides to spend his spare time trying to find out more about Hannibal, quite unofficially. In the course of his private investigations he meets Hannibal's sister Rebekka, learns more about Hannibal's unfortunate life, and re-doubles his efforts after promising her to find out exactly what happened to him. Erlendur's further investigations uncover a link to a married woman who disappeared at the same time Hannibal was found dead ... and beyond that I'm saying no more, because that would be to reveal too much of this intriguing story.This book is a slow starter, seeming more of a socially concerned account about the underside of 1970s Reykavik that we rarely hear about, and I wasn't sure to begin with whether it would be a real addition to Indriðason's canon or simply something to fill his publisher's schedule. But it's worth persevering with, as it turns out to have the expected twists and turns you'd expect from a top-notch crime writer, and you come away too (or I did, at least) with added sympathy for those less fortunate than ourselves, whether it be of their own making or otherwise. I would imagine Indriðason wanted to send a strong message to his native Icelandic readers in particular.I wouldn't say Reykjavík Nights is up with the very best of Indriðason's novels, but it's pretty good, it's thought-provoking, and I imagine we'll see more of the young Erlendur in the future, and learn along the way how he came to be the Erlendur we already know.

The beginning of Ernuldur’s career, I won’t use the horrible Publishers term. As good as any of his books I have read.

Here we find Erlendur back at the very start of his police career. In typical Erlandur style there is a preoccupation with a missing person from the past but in an unusual twist it s a contemporary misper case that has him doing his own off duty sleuthing.We are briefly introduced to Marion Briem who features in the later books. We also meet Halldora, although and similarities to the Halldora we have come to know and love are purely coincidental. If you intend to read the rest of the Erlendur books, start with this one.

Being a prequel the book has a slightly odd feel to it. However it is a compelling read with enough twists and turns to hold one's interest. Like other Erlendur stories it is a slow burner with meticulous investigation. I can recommend it.

There have been nine novels published in English featuring Inspector Erlandur of the Reykjavik police.This fine book takes us back to when Erlandur was a rookie policeman on night traffic duty.His working time filled with traffic offences,robberies and a large varietyof alcohol related matters.When a vagrant with whom Erlandur is acquainted is found seemingly drowned,he spends his spare time conducting his own investigations into the death. This beautifully written novel is not only a fascinating investigative story,but also gives us an insight intothe resilience and obsessions that we see in his later career. Very enjoyable.

I though this was really good. It's about the earlier younger career of the main character, so if you have read all the others and are intrigued by him, this provides information about how Erlendur got to where we see him in the rest of the series. I enjoyed it.

Arnaldur Indridason does for Iceland what Bergen etc. did for Denmark creating a fantastic atmosphere and actually making you want to visit and understand more about somewhere that is usually overlooked. I highly recommend the whole series and starting with this prequel he really sets the scene for the interesting and different crimes that Elendur investigates.

love this author and have read all the books he has written, you get a feel for the city he lives in and the country he lives in, you pick up on the personalties of the Icelandic people and their culture and it's wonderful, great plot lines and characters given the dark subject matter,