58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cold Case, October 15, 2006
This review is from: Silence of the Grave: A Thriller (Hardcover)
If you're a fan of crime fiction and well-plotted mysteries, and are on the lookout for a fresh new face in a crowded genre, then you'll be doing yourself a favor by trying Arnaldur Indridason and his captivating "Silence of the Grave".
Back from last year's "Jar City" is Erlendur Sveinsson, the jaded Reykjavik police detective plodding bitterly though a life of regrets. A skeleton is found while excavating a new housing project, quickly determined to be decades old, and assumed a murder victim. With a supporting cast of eccentric archeologists and his own quirky investigative team, Erlender gets to the bottom of a gut-wrenching tale of domestic violence and child abuse.
A word of warning - this is some tough material. Any idyllic views of a society tolerant to drug use may be shocked into sensibility with the author's unapologetic portrayal of life among the needles and crack vials. And Erlender is about as bleak a character as the barren Icelander setting in which he is cast - the subject matter adding to a general air of depression and despair. But this is powerful noir fiction, only heightened by the dark setting, as Indridason's prose captures the unique Scandinavian brand of fatalism. The mystery is tightly wound and fully engaging, taking more than a few twists along the way before reaching a cleverly poignant conclusion. In the end, a haunting tale of revenge with little redemption - a novel that you'll not easily forget. Clearly one of the year's best - don't miss it.
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51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Such vivid descriptions that you cannot read it in one go, August 8, 2005
A corpse is found on a hill in the outskirts of Reykjavik. It looks like it has already been there for a long time, but the excavation goes terribly slow because a team of archaeologists is carrying out the work. In the meantime inspector Erlendur and his colleagues try to get a picture of what happened 50 to 70 years ago. Slowly but surely they find out the awful truth. In between the story line of the investigation, there is another storyline about a family consisting of a father, mother, 2 brothers and a handicapped sister. It soon becomes apparent that something horrible happened in the family and this is written down so vividly that I had to put down the book a few times because it nearly became too much. An in the meantime Erlendur's drugs-addicted daughter Eva Lind is in a coma and he finally finds the courage to tell her what he feels for her. In short, this is a wonderful, sensitive thriller with a lot of psychological insight, well-developed storylines and beautiful descriptions of the various characters.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a very engaging read, January 2, 2007
This review is from: Silence of the Grave: A Thriller (Hardcover)
This is the second installment in Arnaldur Indridason's Detective Inspector Erlendur Svinssson series, and it definitely does, in my opinion, top "Jar City" -- the first book in the series. Evenly paced and highly suspenseful, it is no wonder that "Silence of the Grave" won the Golden Dagger Award. I certainly was riveted by this novel and (literally) read on relentlessly till the very last page.
When skeletal remains are discovered at the building site of a new housing estate, Detective Inspector Erlendur Svinsson and his team are called in to take charge of the case. The first thing the team must do is establish just how long the skeleton has lain buried, and then determine if this indeed a case of murder, or something else. And if certain members of Erlendur's team (Detective Sigurdur Oli in particular) aren't too sure why they're wasting so much time on a cold case, it is obvious that Erlendur holds to the belief that every suspicious death deserves an investigation, and that Erlendur at least feels that there is something suspicious about this mysterious burial. Elendur's quest to learn the truth will take him back to Iceland during W.W.II, and to the guilty secrets of two families in particular. This case will also lead him to reexamine on his own past and his own failed relationships with his ex-wife and his two children, and to wonder if it is not too late to repair the damage...
Arnadldue Indridason is a very gifted storyteller, and I have to thank both him and his brilliant translator, Bernard Scudder, for the 4 very pleasurable hours I spent reading "Silence of the Grave." The novel was evenly paced, taut and completely riveting. The book is divided into two subplots -- one subplot deals with the events of the past, while the other subplot centers on the current investigation. It is not an easy thing to do, going backwards and forwards in time, while still managing to maintain a level of suspense and to keep readers guessing as to the identity of the unearthed skeleton. And yet, the author managed this feat with ease, skill and finesse. And even though I expected and suspected certain developments, the denouncement still took me by some surprise. Truly, "Silence of the Grave" was very well done, and if you're looking for a fresh voice in the police procedural genre and one that will hold your interest from beginning to end, you will want to check both "Silence of the Grave" and "Jar City" out.
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