Scan barcode
A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
Voices by Arnaldur Indriðason
3.0
‘Who appointed you the conscience of the world?’
Just days before Christmas, Gudlauger Egilsson, Reykjavik hotel doorman, handyman and occasional Santa Claus is found stabbed to death in his room in the hotel basement. Detective Erlundur , and his team of Óli and Elínborg are called in to investigate.
It seems that Gudlauger , a long-term hotel employee, was largely invisible to his co-workers. And none of the staff seem very keen to assist the police. Erlendur takes a room at the hotel, partly to irritate the manager and partly because he cannot face the emptiness of his flat. Staying in this room, which is neither nice nor effectively heated, gives Erlendur an opportunity to observe the hotel at work and to focus on the case.
As Erlendur discovers more about the life of the victim, he also becomes introspective about his own life. Elínborg is distracted by the concurrent case of a schoolboy who has been badly beaten. A gang of young bullies may be involved, but Elínborg thinks the boy’s father may be involved.
Each of these strands involves some level of dysfunction in families, and an absence of effective communication. Each of the storylines complement each other without slowing the pace of the story. And the answers? Who did kill Gudlauger, and why? The mystery is solved in the final pages, but what a sad journey it is.
This is the third novel in the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries, which now totals six. It is the first I’ve read, but I’ll be looking to read the others (in order).
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Just days before Christmas, Gudlauger Egilsson, Reykjavik hotel doorman, handyman and occasional Santa Claus is found stabbed to death in his room in the hotel basement. Detective Erlundur , and his team of Óli and Elínborg are called in to investigate.
It seems that Gudlauger , a long-term hotel employee, was largely invisible to his co-workers. And none of the staff seem very keen to assist the police. Erlendur takes a room at the hotel, partly to irritate the manager and partly because he cannot face the emptiness of his flat. Staying in this room, which is neither nice nor effectively heated, gives Erlendur an opportunity to observe the hotel at work and to focus on the case.
As Erlendur discovers more about the life of the victim, he also becomes introspective about his own life. Elínborg is distracted by the concurrent case of a schoolboy who has been badly beaten. A gang of young bullies may be involved, but Elínborg thinks the boy’s father may be involved.
Each of these strands involves some level of dysfunction in families, and an absence of effective communication. Each of the storylines complement each other without slowing the pace of the story. And the answers? Who did kill Gudlauger, and why? The mystery is solved in the final pages, but what a sad journey it is.
This is the third novel in the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries, which now totals six. It is the first I’ve read, but I’ll be looking to read the others (in order).
Jennifer Cameron-Smith