A review by dee9401
Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason

2.0

I was looking forward to trying another Scandinavian mystery, especially one set in a city that I actually visited back in 2000. The premise of the book was interesting but there was very little character development beyond two-dimensional characters and stereotypes of victims and perpetrators. The characters never jumped off the pages and sometimes acted in ways that furthered the plot rather than reflecting their back history. An example of the latter is every appearance of Erlendur's daughter, Eva Lind. Over time, she might have changed her attitude towards her father, but not at the pace set by the author. As for the story itself, it seemed a little melodramatic and overly complex and then tidied up too quickly in the end.

I gave the story two stars ("It was ok") since I truly wanted to read to the end and I wasn't shaking my head all the time. It was a quick read to boot.