Archive for the ‘Arnaldur Indridason’ Category

Ch-ch-ch-changes in the genre

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

 The other day on Facebook, author Robin Burcell, left, posed an interesting question: “Has your favorite genre shifted over the years?”

 This is what we do on Facebook when we don’t want to admit we have been pulled into the vortex of a great time waster – we ask important questioins. (Sorry, Robin, but I do the same thing…and I love it!)

All kidding aside, I find the question very intriguing, and timely.

Mysteries have indeed changed from the time I began to read them – when I was about 9 or 10; from the 1980s when I rediscovered mysteries to now; and from the time I began to review them, about 18 years ago.

  The genre has undergone a huge metamorphosis that continues to evolve each year. It has to in order to survive in the 21st century when reading habits are in flux, reading devices are on the rise and the economy is driving more people to the library.

 For me, the changes in the mystery genre have only improved it and I believe the genre will become even stronger in the years to come.

  The mystery genre now has more voices than it ever has. Thank providence for women authors such as Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky and Marcia Muller who showed us that detectives can come in all shapes, sizes, genders and races. I can’t imagine what the genre would be like unless those authors had been pioneers.

  The plots are more involved. For example, look back at Lawrence Block’s novels before the mid-1980s – they were good, they’ve always been good – but the length was about half of what today’s mysteries generally are. (By the way, if you haven’t discovered Block’s regular column in Mystery Scene, now’s the time.)

   We have more international voices. Who would have thought that Scandinavian mysteries would become so important? Or that stories set in myriad African countries would make an impact with U.S. readers? Or that Iceland could give us at least two superb authors —  Arnaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir.

   I used to avoid historical mysteries; now they are among my favorites. With the Internet and other resources, it’s easier for authors to do indepth research. The best historicals show us where we’ve been but also are a mirror to today. Ace Atkins has proved himself to be a real historian. His new novel Infamous looks at “Machine Gun” Kelly, one of the gangsters of the Great Depression but it also is about fame, power and the press.  The WWI stresses that show in Charles Todd’s series are just as relevant today.

  Change has been quite good for the mystery genre – but especially for its readers.

Posted in Arnaldur Indridason, Charles Todd, Lawrence Block, Sara Paretsky | 1,414 Comments »

Review: Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009


Arctic Chill
by Arnaldur Indridason
Minotaur Books, September 2009, $24.99

Chilling as an Arctic wind describes the murder scene that opens Arnaldur Indridason’s newest Icelandic police-procedural mystery. A 10-year-old, mixed-race boy is found stabbed and frozen to the ground in the garden behind his apartment home.
When his Thai mother arrives, she tells the police through an interpreter that her 15-year-old son is also missing. However, when the older brother is found, mute from shock, she whisks him away into hiding before the police can question him.

As Inspector Erlendur and his team of seasoned detectives question and re-question the boys’ neighbors, relatives, teachers and schoolmates, their only clue to the murder is the growing animosity between native Icelanders and the many Asian immigrants flooding their country. Woven into the investigation of Elias’ murder are two fascinating subplots, unsolved cases that haunt Erlendur and distract him. Or does wrestling with their knotty unknowns help him zero in on the boy’s killer?

Indridason’s writing is lean, even staccato at times, uncluttered with adjectives or adverbs. And yet his depiction of the bleak, sub-zero landscape is vivid. His crisp, interrogative dialogue, often without tags, never confuses the reader. His detectives investigate like the cops on Law & Order, following leads, questioning, carefully examining each piece of evidence. His multi-main-character point of views allow the reader glimpses into his character’s personal lives and unique crime solving techniques. The conclusion, although a surprise, is somewhat disappointing, but the “meat” of the story is so engrossing that the reader won’t mind.

Reviewed by Jackie Houchin

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Posted in Arnaldur Indridason, Reviews | 825 Comments »

Arnaldur Indridason’s Jar City on TV

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Ever since Lawrence Block’s Bernie the Burglar series was filmed as the dreadful Burglar, I’ve been leary of mysteries being made into movies.

Fortunately, the filmed versions of Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and, hopefully, the upcoming Shutter Island have changed those misgivings.
jarcity.jpg
So in that vein, I am excited that the filmed version of Icelandic  author  Arnaldur Indridason’s Jar City is now being shown on the Sundance Channel.

Jar City, filmed in 2006, will air at 11 p.m. Wednesday Aug 19 and then again on Saturday Aug. 23. Check out the Sundance Channel’s schedule.

When it was released, Jar City received quite good reviews. The New York Times called it “vivid and powerful.”

A comment on imdb.com, stated that Jar City could be “an episode of “CSI: Reykjavik” .”

Jar City also was quite popular in Iceland. In one year more than  83.000 people saw the movie. The total population of Iceland is 300.000. That bit of info came from our next-door neighbors who are Icelandic. (A shout out to Thor and Erla.)

Arnaldur Indridason also is popular.

In 2003, he had five novels on the Icelandic best-sellers list for a week, the only author other than J.K. Rowling to simultaneously hold the top three spots. In 2004, he sold 100,000 copies of his mysteries. That’s the year that his novels were seven of the 10 most popular titles borrowed from the Reykjavík City Library. Then there are his awards – two Glass Keys, a Swedish Caliber and the Golden Dagger.

A few years ago, I interviewed Arnaldur Indridason for Mystery Scene. (Issue No. 97, Holiday, 2006)

During our interview, we discussed Iceland as a setting for crime fiction, how he uses the history of the country in his novels and the changes the country has undergone.

Arnaldur’s novels are written in Icelandic. He has a good relationship with his English translator who also lives in Reykjavik. “He represents the books the way I write them,” he told me during the interview.

We also talked about the literacy rate in Iceland. Nordic and Scandinavian countries are known as being nations of avid readers, and Iceland is no exception, having also produced a number of authors.

Iceland also has one of the highest literacy rates in the world at 99.9 percent.

“Icelanders read a lot, and all kinds of books,” said Arnaldur during the interview.  “They love good writing, poetry, anything. They are open to new things and are willing to find new authors. We are proud of our writers because literature is our contribution to the world. We’ve been writing books since the 10th century with the Icelandic sagas. And those books are still hugely popular. Books matter very much in Iceland.”

I am most interested in how Jar City, which I liked very much and which made my best of the year, translates to the screen.

Then I’ll compare notes with my neighbors.

(For a bit more about Jar City, visit my Off the page blog.)

Posted in Arnaldur Indridason, TV Mysteries | 2,453 Comments »

ON THE ROAD WITH INTERNATIONAL MYSTERIES

Monday, February 16th, 2009

I may never get to Norway. I’d like to someday. There’s not much stopping me, frankly.

But as I get older, I realize that there are so many places I want to visit, so little time and that one has to sacrifice some places to enjoy others.

My father used to tell me you can’t do everything in this world. Took me a long time to believe him.

Instead, mysteries have given me the chance to vicariously visit the world. That’s why when I am asked to review a mystery set in a foreign country, I seldom turn it down.

So Jo Nesbo’s Nemesis gave me a view of Norway that was off the beaten path, showing the country and Oslo in particular as only an insider can. Amaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir have brought me to Iceland. Cara Black to Paris.  The list is endless.

I’ve been in London and England nearly a dozen times and for years I have relished novels written by authors from the United Kingdom about their countries. Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Peter Robinson, and Ian Rankin have given us insider’s views of England and Scotland. Declan Hughes’ The Wrong Kind of Blood opened up Ireland to me.

McDermid’s latest novel, A Darker Domain, not only showed me a part of Scotland that few know exist, but also took me on a side trip to Italy.

A few months ago while getting ready for a cruise that would go to England, France and Ireland, then trans-Atlantic to Canada, I packed the essentials. Oh, yeah, sure, clothes, make up and money were already in the suitcase.

I am talking about the real essentials of any trip – books. The cruise was 12 days and I worried that I was only packing 12 mysteries. (For the record, 12 novels taken, 12 read; had my suitcase been able to handle more I would have taken another five as I did run out of books. GASP!)

It wasn’t until I was in England that I realized that subconsciously every mystery I had chosen was written by a U.K. author. So while I was in London, I was reading Mark Billingham’s stand alone, In the Dark, Mo Hayder’s Ritual and Kate Atchinson’s When Will There Be Good News?

Aside from the thrilling plots and complex characters, mysteries sometimes act as travelogues.
So I wonder what foreign set novels have given you an unusual glimpse of a country or city?

Posted in Arnaldur Indridason, Cara Black, Declan Hughes, Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbo, Kate Atchinson, Mark Billingham, Mo Hayder, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid, Yrsa Sigurdardottir | 1,697 Comments »