Day Nine of
my Book Advent Calendar means an author with a surname beginning with “I”. I’ve decided on an Icelandic crime novelist, Arnaldur
Indriðason. This time, instead of
recommending one particular book, I’m recommending his entire Detective
Erlendur series. There are nine titles
which have been translated into English; I strongly suggest they be read in
order:
1. Tainted Blood or Jar City (2004)
2. Silence of the Grave (2005)
3. Voices (2006)
4. The Draining Lake (2007)
5. Arctic Chill (2008)
6. Hypothermia (2009)
7. Outrage (2011)
8. Black Skies (2012)
9. Strange Shores (2013)
The first
two books in the series, Sons of Dust
(1997) and Silent Kill (1998), have
not yet been translated. Two other books
have been added, but both are actually prequels to the series: Reykjavik
Nights (2014) and Oblivion
(2015). These I have not read.
The nine I
have read in the series are outstanding because not only do they have
interesting plots and fully-developed characters, they rise above
run-of-the-mill crime novels, combining suspense with insights into the human
condition. Here’s my review of the concluding
book in the series, but be forewarned: you might not want to read the review before
having read all the books in the series.
Day
Nine: Strange Shores by Arnaldur
Indriðason
4
Stars
Having read
and enjoyed the entire series of Icelandic mysteries by Indridason, I was
excited when this latest installment was translated. Erlendur, the unhappiest
of detectives, made no appearance in the last two novels and, sadly, this will
apparently be his last.
Erlendur is
in remote northeastern Iceland where he lived until his younger brother
disappeared in a snowstorm. Erlendur feels responsible for what happened to his
brother Bergur but has borne “his guilt in silence” (181). Nevertheless he
“came back for a visit every so often when he felt the urge” (11). During one
of those visits, he has an encounter which sets him to investigating the
disappearance of a woman in a snowstorm sixty years earlier. “Innate curiosity
and an obsession with missing-persons’ cases had led him to delve more deeply
into an ancient incident than he had ever intended, but he hadn’t been seeking
out a crime: in this instance the crime had found him” (204-205).
Of course,
the investigation into Matthildur’s death parallels Erlendur’s search for
answers to what happened to Bergur: “His sole intention was to uncover the
truth in every case, to track down what was lost . . . ” (221). And every night
Erlendur returns to the derelict farmhouse which had been his childhood home:
“part of him would forever belong to this place, a witness to the helplessness
of the individual when confronted by the pitiless forces of nature” (21).
Though the
book is a mystery, it is also an examination of loss and grief: “When a loved
one went missing time changed nothing. Admittedly, it dulled the pain, but by
the same token the loss became a lifelong companion for those who survived, making
the grief keener and deeper . . .” (280). It is this observation that explains
much of Erlendur’s behaviour, both in terms of Matthildur’s case and in terms
of his choice at the end.
Sadness
permeates the entire novel. Obviously, the loss of Matthildur and Bergur
overshadows all events: the “dismal plight” of survivors “doomed to live on in
the wreckage” and relationships “denied a chance to blossom” (188-189). There
is also, however, the loss of Iceland’s past and the destruction of her
pristine environment. At one point Erlendur observes, “He couldn’t understand
how on earth an unaccountable multinational, based far away in America, had
been permitted to put its heavy industrial stamp on a tranquil fjord and tract
of untouched wilderness here in the remote east of Iceland” (8). Later, he
bemoans the loss of “the old Icelandic storytelling tradition . . . linking man
to his environment . . . [and instilling] respect for the land and the forces
latent within it” (38).
There are
some unlikely coincidences that tarnish the plot, but the book is a fitting
ending to the series. What happens may surprise some readers, but I found the
ending is perfectly in keeping with Erlendur’s character as developed
throughout this series. In fact, I would argue that this ending was inevitable
from the very beginning.
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