Indridason, Arnaldur. Arctic Chill. Translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb. New York: Minotaur Books, 2005.
Reason read: to finish the series started in honor of Iceland’s National Day in June.
Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson is back. This time to solve the mystery of a murdered a ten year old Thai boy found outside his apartment on a freezing cold day in January. As Erlender and his team dig deeper into the lives of the victim and his family they uncovers Iceland’s dirty secret of an intolerant and prejudiced community. Because the victim is the same age as Erlendur’s brother when he went missing the personal memories for Erlendur resurface.
One of the best things about an Arnaldur mystery is that while there is a thin plot line of commonality running through every story, it isn’t necessary to read one to understand the next. In this installment, Erlender is trying to solve a whole new crime. His last mystery, about the body in the lake, is mentioned but not central to the current plot. Converse to that, the building of each character happens gradually from book to book. I was disappointed to leave Erlender before he had solved his most personal cold case, the fate of his missing brother.
Best quote, “Life was a random mass of unforeseeable coincidences that governed man’s fates like a storm that strikes without warning, causing injury and death” (p 340).
Author fact: Indridason is an international best selling author.
Book trivia: Jar City was made into a movie. Arctic Chill could be a movie as well.
Nancy said: nothing specific about Arctic Chill except that hope is on the horizon.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the obvious chapter called “Iceland” (p 99).
~*LunaSea*~ 