Jar City

I was on the point of ordering this book before I realized that I'd already read it, and five-star reviewed it, under a different title: JAR CITY. I like the first title much more, but common sense suggests that whichever edition comes for the better price should get your business. The Inspector Erlandur novels are great fun. I've just posted my review of The Draining Lake, the fourth in the series.

I wish they wouldn't publish the same book by two different names. I love this author's books, they're so different than american writers.

I've never come across an Icelandic murder mystery before, and wasn't sure what to expect. But this tightly drawn police procedural turned out to be a rare treat. Reyjavik police inspector Erlendur Sveinsson is called to investigate the apparent murder of "Holberg", an elderly man found lying dead in his basement flat with his skull bashed-in. Erlendur has little to go on - Holberg led a solitary life and there were no witnesses. But an obscure three-word note apparently left behind by the murderer, and an unidentified photo of the grave of a child long since buried, lead Erlender and his CID team down a complex path of murder, rape, and, surprisingly, genetically transmitted oncological diseases. Holberg, as Erlendur partner Sigurdar Oli dryly points out, "was no model citizen." In a setting sure to dismay The Icelandic Bureau of Tourism, "Jar City" features bleak urban settings with apartments built on swamps and more rain than "Blade Runner". Combined with a Scandinavian brand of stoic fatalism, the end result is a deeper shade of noir uncommon in standard pop fiction. Absent from "Jar City" are the annoying comic book cardboard super-characters with super model looks and Ph.D. brains quipping witty one-liners. Author Arnaldur Indridason's Erlendur, the grizzled and crime-hardened cynic, leads a solitary life only a step away from the criminals he pursues, bringing to mind Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko or Ian Rankin's John Rebus. And like the best of Rankin or Smith, "Jar City" is an intelligent, skillfully crafted murder mystery, well paced, well plotted, and well read. Take a step off the well-beaten track and give this little jewel a try.

I know where the translator got "jar city" but it isn't the title. The book is called "The North Moor". Far darker than Mankell, so depressing that it killed (if only temporarily) my long standing desire to visit Iceland. Description of people and place is outstanding, but far less takes place in the mind of police inspector than in a Wallender mystery. I can only say: the author can write! This review is based on the Norwegian translation "Myren", "The Moor".