Hypothermia: A Thriller (Detective Erlendur) [Hardcover]

Arnaldur Indridason (Author)

Book Description

Series: Detective Erlendur | Publication Date: September 14, 2010

“Indridason fills the void that remains after you've read Stieg Larsson's novels.”- USA Today on Hypothermia

Inspector Erlunder has spent his entire career struggling to evade the ghosts of his past.  But ghosts are visiting him, both in the form of a séance attended by a dead woman and also in the reemerging puzzle of two young people who went missing 30 years ago. And there’s the ghost of the detective’s disastrous marriage, which, despite the pleas of his drug-addled daughter, he is unwilling to confront. In addition, he’s still obsessed with the disappearance of his brother, who vanished without a trace when they were boys.

He can only run from his ghosts for so long, and, when they finally catch up with him, Erlunder is forced to face the heart shattering truth of his past.

One of the most haunting crime novels readers are likely to encounter this year or any other, this is classic story that belongs on the shelf of every serious reader of suspense fiction. Hypothermia will chill you to the bone.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the start of Indridason's powerful sixth Reykjavík thriller (after Arctic Chill), the body of María, a woman ravaged by guilt, is found hanging in her holiday cottage, an apparent suicide. As Erlendur, a police detective who works largely alone because he prizes solitude above all else, doggedly interviews those close to María--her husband, her relatives, her friends--in an unofficial effort to understand what might have driven her to take her own life, he unravels an ingenious and sinister plot. Complicating his investigation are the ghosts from his personal and professional past: his failed marriage and his shaky relationships with the son and daughter who grew up without him, as well as unsolved missing-persons cases he still feels morally compelled to pursue. Most scalding of all is his memory of the blizzard that he barely survived as a boy but in which his younger brother perished, the tragic event that shaped Erlendur's later life and lends mythic resonance to Indridason's remarkable novels.
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Indridason, Iceland’s most widely read novelist, once told an interviewer that “crime fiction is about so much more than just crime.” In his latest mystery, as if to prove his point, Indridason has his series hero, Reykjavik police detective Erlendur, investigate what appears to be the suicide of a young woman. There is no evidence of foul play, and there are numerous indications that the woman suffered from depression due to the death of her mother and the drowning of her father when she was a child. At the same time, Erlendur is trying to solve two cold cases, the disappearances of two young people three decades earlier. For Erlendur, all three investigations resonate like Proust’s madaleines, compelling him to continue. Hypothermia is defiantly unconventional crime fiction. No shoot-outs, no car chases, no monstrous villains; only tragedies and the pain they inflict on ordinary people—like Erlendur. As he interviews a lengthy succession of people who might shed light on the suicide and the disappearances, the gloomy Icelandic cop continues to wrestle with the tragedies in his own life: his eight-year-old brother’s disappearance in a blizzard and the impact of his disastrous marriage on his children. Some crime fans might be puzzled by this novel’s dearth of action, but it is psychologically astute, beautifully told, and filled with insight into matters of life and death. --Thomas Gaughan

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312569912
• ISBN-13: 978-0312569914
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #360,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arnaldur Indridason is the author of Jar City, Silence of the Grave, Voices, The Draining Lake, and Arctic Chill. He won the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Silence of the Grave and is the only author to win the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel two years in a row, for Jar City and Silence of the Grave. The film of Jar City, now available on DVD from Blockbuster, was Iceland's entry for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and the film of his next book, Silence of the Grave, is currently in production with the same director. His thrillers have sold more than five million copies in over 25 countries around the world. He lives in Iceland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Suicide is a missing person's case too.", September 14, 2010

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hypothermia: A Thriller (Detective Erlendur) (Hardcover)

This thriller is peopled with ghosts, ghosts from the past as well as the recently deceased in a novel that reveals as much about Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson of Reykjavik, Iceland, as the subjects of his investigation. The moody, insightful inspector works on his own in an unofficial capacity, curious about the suicide of a woman at her summer cottage. As a child, Maria, saw her father drown in the icy lake near the cottage, vivid nightmares persisting throughout her life. Her mother, Leonora, is a source of great comfort until that woman's painful demise from cancer. In the intervening years before her own suicide, Maria is obsessed with life after death, the hope of communication with the other side. Unfortunately, Maria's husband offers few insights into his wife's state of mind, save generalized depression and a chronic fear of the dark.

Haunted by the disappearance of a younger brother in a blizzard when he was a boy, Erlendur appreciates the depth of family trauma, anxious to understand what caused Maria to end her life. Leaving detectives Sigurdur Oli and Elinborg out of an essentially unofficial investigation, Erlendur pursues tangential figures, friends, acquaintances, anyone who can help him recreate the woman's final days, burrowing to the heart of Maria's suicide, a tragedy with sinister implications. Tenaciously unraveling the twisted skein of Maria's final days, the inspector is abruptly reminded of his personal responsibilities by his grown son and daughter, most demanding the troubled and drug-addicted Eva Lind. The children are a poignant reminder a reminder of past mistakes, Erlendur likely more compassionate because of his flaws as a father.

Besides the ghost of his brother, two others occupy the inspector's thoughts through this harrowing journey, two young people near the same age that disappeared thirty years ago. Authorities have never found any trace of these lost loved ones, Erlendur's ghosts. In this unique segue from Erlendur's official status to his personal mission, Indridason reveals the more human face of his protagonist and the way a man's past can shape his future. Certainly, Erlendur is no stranger to the dark motives of others, yet he remains a deeply compassionate soul who steps carefully through the graveyard of broken lives in search of answers. Luan Gaines/2010.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Give Up, September 15, 2010

By 

J. Brian Watkins (Laie, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hypothermia: A Thriller (Detective Erlendur) (Hardcover)

This sixth installment in the Detective Erlendur series is the best of the lot. Mr. Indridason artfully reaps the rewards of his patient and methodical construction of his protagonist, the typical literary detective character who is gifted at the job but hates the work, who refuses to do a sloppy investigation but suffers the consequences of a sloppy family life. Erlendur has been marked by tragedy, but we have learned that his personal tragedies are closely related to his formidable investigative skills. Erlendur is not only looking for the bad guys, he is trying to find peace. For this reason his character has something to teach those of us who do not happen to be investigators.

Hypothermia is that rare bit of fiction that hits fundamental truths about life in such a way that it provides illumination. While it is always satisfying to read a good mystery that leads to the unmasking of the evil doers, life presents challenges that are independent of our own actions--it may be fair to suffer the punishments of bad decisions, but what about the bad decisions of others or simple bad luck? Such are the questions upon which this novel is founded and it is the deep examination of the Erlendur character that makes the series so worthwhile.

As a literary figure, Detective Erlendur now ranks with Wallander, Bosch, Beck and others. Because his character is so meticulously drawn, the author is able to instead focus on the internal struggles that make life what it is. The earlier books in this series were sometimes difficult because, like so much in life, they resolved one issue only to leave multiple questions hanging about. Erlendur is now at the height of his powers and is beginning to find peace with a troubled past. Problems can be solved; there is always hope and any story that can highlight this fact is of value.

I dare not go into the plot for fear of ruining a first-rate experience. I doubt that a reading of this volume independently of its five predecessors would be as satisfying and can easily recommend starting at the first volume and reading through the series. Be patient, the first few volumes were OK and sometimes the darkness of the character got to be a bit much, but your efforts will be rewarded many times over by the time you encounter Hypothermia.

Highly Recommended

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Jump in a Lake, September 18, 2010

By 

C. Wallace (L.A.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hypothermia: A Thriller (Detective Erlendur) (Hardcover)

I have read and reviewed six Arnaldur Indridason novels for this site. I gave them all five stars. I enjoy Indridason's work because he creates a simple, yet powerful, prose that can convey surprisingly profound ideas. For example, in this work Indridason constructs a brilliant instance of poetic justice as part of the conclusion.

It's about Reyjavik Police Inspector Erlendur Sveinnson, virtually always referred to as simply "Erlendur." He decides to dig into the events surrounding an apparent suicide-by-hanging. The authorities are quite willing to dismiss it as a suicide because that's where the evidence clearly points. But Erlendur operates on hunches and vague feelings. Or he may want to find out more about what led to a traumatic event; that was what initially propelled him here. And once he is interested he does not give up until he has the answers.

His investigation into the hanging leads right where I thought it would at about the twenty-percent mark. Although I'm not very good at solving fictional mysteries, I did see this one coming. Yet, there were enough surprise elements at the end to make it all worthwhile. And there's that poetic justice I mentioned earlier.

This novel further explores Erlendur's relationship with his troubled daughter, Eva Lind. There's a lot about ghosts and beliefs regarding the afterlife. A séance or two. Icelandic lakes are the scene of tragedy and mayhem.

In addition to the hanging, Erlendur looks into a couple of missing person cases that date back for decades. Indridason fans know exactly why Erlendur is obsessed with missing persons: this dark theme runs through his stories. I don't want to spoil it for the uninitiated.