17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting and Hypnotizing, December 31, 2009
I've been a big fan of Mr. Indridason's writing since his debut Jar City, and Hypothermia didn't disappoint - if anything, it further reinforces his reputation as one of the best crime fiction writers today. Police Inspector Erlendur's latest case centers around a bereft young woman who commited suicide, apparently still grieving her mother's death. Something about the case doesn't make sense to Erlendur so he launches his own informal investigation. While trying to unravel this mystery, he is also plagued with doubts about two unsolved missing persons cases (his specialty) from decades before. This is Erlendur's most personal and intense journey - as he comes to grips with his own past, present and future. Erlendur is a fascinating character and I devoured the book in one day. Here's hoping Mr. Indridason continues with this excellent series!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incomparable Icelandic Investigator, February 21, 2010
Having enjoyed all six books in Indridason's Reykjavik murder mysteries - 1. Jar City (2004) aka Tainted Blood, 2. Silence of the Grave (2005), 3. Voices (2006), 4. The Draining Lake (2007), 5. Arctic Chill (2008) and 6. Hypothermia (2009) - I would say that the last may indeed be his best story.
Since previous reviews have provided a synopsis, let me simply say that I found the narrative extraordinarily engaging and the conclusion completely satisfying. The dogged detective Erlendur has never been better. (And perhaps the same can be said for the author.)
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ghost buster on the search for lost times, October 26, 2009
We are getting to know our friend Erlendur quite well by now. He has this obsession with missing people and old cases, coming from his childhood trauma of the brother lost in snow. On the other hand, he is unwilling to treat his own broken marriage with the same curiosity. What is done is done. But who says we need to be consistent. Neither does Erlendur.
Volume 6 in the series (I have not read 5, Arctic Chill, yet) is a rather slow and meditative addition. I like it for that. Erlendur moves a bit outside his real job and investigates the background of a suicide, which is no case at all, officially. At the same time he is talking to people related to stone cold disappearance cases.
Erlendur does not believe in ghosts, but this non-case pulls him into esoteric worlds. Near death experiences, dreams, hallucinations, a book dropped from a shelf, séances with one medium and then the other, a haunted house, voices of the dead. These are the stuff that some worlds are made of. Not really Erlendur's world, nor mine, but he handles them like we would expect him to: with curiosity and mistrust. He does well. He has grown further in my respect.
Another question is, is it a good thriller? I would suspect that the thriller habitué might be a bit dissatisfied. Too slow, too ponderous, too unsurprising.
For us Erlendur pals, it is a good one. Good for friendship. The man is rounding out, his edges are getting smoother. His social intelligence seems to grow somewhat. He doesn't always behave like a bull in the china shop. Only sometimes.
Literature wise, the novel signifies a departure. The central book reference in this novel is not Laxness, for a change, but Proust. Indridason himself is neither a Laxness nor a Proust, but he comes closer. `Du cote de chez Swann' is the key book for the story.
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