Reading in Reykjavík

Original title: Pequnas Infamias Translated from: Spanish Translator: Christopher Andrews Genre: Crime, literary novel Year of publication: 1998 (original); 2003 (translation) Setting & time: Spain, contemporary Chef Nestor Chaffinch (speciality: sweet desserts) finds himself stuck inside a walk-in freezer in the middle of the night after catering a successful private party and is found dead and frozen in the morning. At least four people in the house had reason to want him dead, but who killed him, and was he even murdered at all? After this first, terrifying chapter, the narrative flashes back to the events that lead up to the death, showing how Fate tangled together the lives of several people and finally led them all together in one place for a grand finale. The translation is seamless and according to reviewers who have read it in both languages Andrews has managed to preserve the author’s style, which is, as any good translator knows, a commendable feat. This...

Genre: Psychological thriller Year of publication: 1977 Setting & time: England, contemporary Story: Eunice Parchman, illiterate and deeply ashamed of it, is hired as a housekeeper by the respectably upper-class Coverdale family, Mrs. Coverdale quickly becoming dependent on her for the housework and thus reluctant to let her go even when repelled by her. A seemingly innocuous event leads Eunice to become friends with Joan Smith, a religious fanatic living in the nearby village, and seals the fate of her employers which is revealed simply and starkly in the beginning paragraph: “Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.” The whole narrative is an elaboration and examination of all the little causal threads that come together and drive Eunice to murder the Coverdales. If you like a book to surprise you, don’t read the following review, because I got a bit carried away and wrote a short analysis that will best benefit people who have already ...

I have read all of Arnaldur's previous 5 books about Erlendur and co., but I have only reviewed one. I think maybe I should review the rest, at least the ones that have been translated into other languages. German title: Kältezone Edit: the English title is The Draining Lake , translated by Bernard Scudder. Scudder died not long ago and will be sorely missed. He was an excellent tralslator. Author: (alt. spelling) Arnaldur Indridason Series detective: Erlendur Sveinsson and co. No. in series: 6 Year of publication: 2004 Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: Reykjavík, Iceland, 2004; Leipzig, East-Germany, 1950's Number of deaths: 2 Some themes: Espionage, missing persons, socialism Story: A scientist checking the water levels of lake Kleifarvatn discovers a human skeleton in a dried-up section of the lake bottom. This marks the beginning of a murder investigation that attempts to connect one of 5 missing men to the Ru...

Title : The Roaring Boy Year of publication : 1995 Number in series : 7 Availability : In print Pages : 291 Setting and time: England: A London suburb, Elizabethan times Type of mystery : Murder (whydunit*), historical Type of investigator : Amateur sleuth (crime magnet) Deaths : 5 Some themes : Murder, acting, playwriting, miscarriage of justice, love, misuse of power I actually read this right after the Hannah March book, but I wanted to review a different type of mystery inbetween so that I would not be clumping together three English historical sleuths. Summary (slight SPOILERS) : A stranger approaches theatrical book-keeper Nicholas Bracewell with a draft of a play he wants the group’s playwright to fine-tune and the playgroup to stage. The play is about a miscarriage of justice: an unfaithful wife and her lover have been wrongly executed for the murder of the woman’s husband. His sister refuses to marry her fiancé until the real murderer, a nobleman, has been exposed. We then me...