Reviews

Voices by Arnaldur Indriðason

moviebuffkt's review against another edition

3.0

Weird and dark. The content felt dated but I couldn’t stop reading.

ericbuscemi's review against another edition

4.0

I added this book to my to-read shelf after reading this article, 'The top 10 crime novels in translation.' And to that, after finishing it, I say good call, Guardian!

This was an intriguing tale of the murder of a hotel doorman who dressed as Santa Clause for hotel holiday events, and was found, in the basement room of the hotel where he squatted, wearing the top half of his Santa costume and nothing but a condom on his bottom half. It had a likable, if tortured, protagonist in Detective Erlunder, and an enjoyable mystery, which was very cozy in that despite everyone's ability to come and go from the hotel as they pleased, the detective himself never left until after solving the crime, actually sleeping in a room of the hotel and eating at their buffet for the duration of the mystery.

I'm deducting a star for the story lingering on a few unnecessary plot diversions that didn't really take away from the story, but didn't add much either

Spoiler

The secondary case the other detective was working, the flashbacks to Erlunder's tragic childhood past, the romantic subplot involving the crime scene technician, etc.

. But all in all, I would recommend this story, especially to those that already like Nordic crime fiction, such as [b:The Millennium Trilogy|7822895|The Millennium Trilogy|Stieg Larsson|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1275608877s/7822895.jpg|6814263], [b:The Keeper of Lost Causes|10822858|The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q, #1)|Jussi Adler-Olsen|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388270380s/10822858.jpg|7211561], and [b:The Hypnotist|9835731|The Hypnotist (Joona Linna, #1)|Lars Kepler|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388193356s/9835731.jpg|7184205].

A final note: While the book's title doesn't make much sense from reading the dust jacket blurb of the book, it is actually fairly central to the story's theme and will make much more sense after reading.

roquerynn's review against another edition

3.0

Endlich mache ich mit der Elendurreihe weiter. Für mich war dieser leider bisher der schwächste Band.

elspethm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Too many characters and stories going on in this book. Also the child abuse was surprising to come upon and made the book harder to enjoy. 

saltycorpse's review

4.0

Indriðason just keeps getting better with each book he writes, and he's not shy about exploring issues like domestic violence, pedophilia, and other abhorrent shit in depth without being gratuitous and over-the-top.

Voices is the third of his Erlender novels, focusing on the homicide of a former child-star who is found murdered in a hotel where he was working as a doorman. It explores robbed childhood, the tragedy of prejudice against homosexuality, and how fucked up and greedy yet complex family relationships can be.

Excellent novel.

iriswildeboer's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

ingabbjarna's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence

Minor: Rape

livingawayfromreality's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

Christmas special - not my favourite but might be a fun reread cozying up next to the fire on Christmas Eve. 

fastasashark's review against another edition

4.0

Changed this from 3 to 4 stars mostly because I also wanted to take into account one of the main reasons I read the Erlendur books. I don't only just read them for the mysteries themselves but for the setting and also the messiness of life, family life and the sense of isolation and loneliness that Indridason is so good at writing into his books. This mystery takes place a few days before Christmas and on Christmas Eve. He did a very good job at writing in those complicated family relationships (or lack of relationships) and conflicts and how messy feelings of detachment and loneliness can be as a result, especially in the backdrop of the Christmas season when others are always asking what everyone else is doing for the holidays. The mystery itself didn't exactly blow my mind, it was more the background stories that really pulled me in and made this a 4 star read for me.

sklewis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0