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A review by sofijakryz
Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason
4.0
I had never read any Icelandic literature before, so I was not sure what to expect. Probably, Scandinavian noir.
Turned out that Arnaldur Indridason‘s „Jar City“ was a proper noir. With all the usual elements: a lonely, middle-aged detective – check, family problems – check, cold, gloomy environment – check, relatively innocent murder investigation turning into something way more complex and creepy – check.
The story begins kind of simply. Detective Erlendur ends up investigating a murder – a family from Reykjavik discover their neighbour dead. The murder would look like a usual crime but somebody leaves a note on the dead body. There are few clues on what may have happened. The dead man turns out to have been a loner; it does not look that this is burglary-gone-wrong. The only clue is an old photo of a gravestone with a name and a date.
This relative simplicity was something that made it interesting. Kind of reminded an early story on Wallander “Faceless Killers”. It is difficult for a reader to guess something; one ends up relying on Erlendur’s intuition and his investigation. The process of investigation is key here, with a search for clues, interrogations of potential witnesses and their memories. This investigation looked quite realistic – I would essentially imagine murder investigations playing out like that.
Indridason’s writing style is a bit minimalistic. Sentences, descriptions are short and to the point. There are some flashbacks on Erlendur’s past or family, although they are few and mostly scattered over descriptions of different situations. Perhaps except for the scenes where Erlendur sees his problematic daughter. There were some Nesbo-like dramatic scenes but Indridason does not go into dreary details so much. He sounds more realistic, down to earth and I liked that.
The story itself is not too bad, although I would have liked more hints for the readers, if only to try guessing things myself a bit more. It’s hardly possible to guess the culprit on your own – the readers end up relying on Erlendur and his understanding of situation. However, once that becomes clear, the very very last scenes become quite predictable.
I ended up reading through the book rapidly because it was so interesting to catch hints on what Iceland is like. Like depressive environment – it was pouring non-stop throughout the book. Like learning that as early as in October it is still dark around 8-9 a.m. and that it is already dark by 6 p.m. Like learning that when driving in a heavy downpour, one may end up in lava fields by accident… Low buildings (probably due to the earthquakes?). High consumption of lamb (characters frequently eat head of a sheep or lamb pate). Sailing/ships being a thing. Everyone knowing someone somebody knows. Names, like Ragnar…
I would so love to see Iceland.
So yes, I am really keen to read further books on Erlendur.
Turned out that Arnaldur Indridason‘s „Jar City“ was a proper noir. With all the usual elements: a lonely, middle-aged detective – check, family problems – check, cold, gloomy environment – check, relatively innocent murder investigation turning into something way more complex and creepy – check.
The story begins kind of simply. Detective Erlendur ends up investigating a murder – a family from Reykjavik discover their neighbour dead. The murder would look like a usual crime but somebody leaves a note on the dead body. There are few clues on what may have happened. The dead man turns out to have been a loner; it does not look that this is burglary-gone-wrong. The only clue is an old photo of a gravestone with a name and a date.
This relative simplicity was something that made it interesting. Kind of reminded an early story on Wallander “Faceless Killers”. It is difficult for a reader to guess something; one ends up relying on Erlendur’s intuition and his investigation. The process of investigation is key here, with a search for clues, interrogations of potential witnesses and their memories. This investigation looked quite realistic – I would essentially imagine murder investigations playing out like that.
Indridason’s writing style is a bit minimalistic. Sentences, descriptions are short and to the point. There are some flashbacks on Erlendur’s past or family, although they are few and mostly scattered over descriptions of different situations. Perhaps except for the scenes where Erlendur sees his problematic daughter. There were some Nesbo-like dramatic scenes but Indridason does not go into dreary details so much. He sounds more realistic, down to earth and I liked that.
The story itself is not too bad, although I would have liked more hints for the readers, if only to try guessing things myself a bit more. It’s hardly possible to guess the culprit on your own – the readers end up relying on Erlendur and his understanding of situation. However, once that becomes clear, the very very last scenes become quite predictable.
I ended up reading through the book rapidly because it was so interesting to catch hints on what Iceland is like. Like depressive environment – it was pouring non-stop throughout the book. Like learning that as early as in October it is still dark around 8-9 a.m. and that it is already dark by 6 p.m. Like learning that when driving in a heavy downpour, one may end up in lava fields by accident… Low buildings (probably due to the earthquakes?). High consumption of lamb (characters frequently eat head of a sheep or lamb pate). Sailing/ships being a thing. Everyone knowing someone somebody knows. Names, like Ragnar…
I would so love to see Iceland.
So yes, I am really keen to read further books on Erlendur.