#12: The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason

A retired police detective, at the behest of a family friend, looks into a troubled young woman's death in Arnaldur Indridason's The Girl by the Bridge.

This is the third in Indridason's newer series featuring Konrad, and it weaves in threads from his continued search to solve his father's murder as well as look into the fate of a little girl who supposedly drowned in a local pond.  Both cases involve the community of psychics and mediums in Iceland, an interesting twist.

Indridason is one of my favorite crime writers, Scandinavian or otherwise, so I always appreciate when a new novel of his appears in translation.  Although this novel isn't a good jumping off point for new readers I'll always recommend his new work.

I checked this out from the Henry County-New Castle Public Library in New Castle, Indiana and read it quickly.

#20: Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason

A Reykjavik cop has been haunted by the loss of his younger brother in a blizzard long ago, and in his spare time he has roamed the rural area where he grew up; but when he hears about a woman who went missing during a similar storm in the 40s, he decides to investigate on his own in Arnaludur Indridason's Strange Shores.

He gently pokes at a very cold case that nobody seems to care much about now, and talks to a lot of eccentric elderly people; but what seems like a rather mild outing, with the past far removed, comes into grisly focus.

Starting with Jar City, I think Indridason's Erlendur novels are one of the great Scandinavian noir series; but this one gets as inky-black as they come, with a very downbeat ending that seems to spell the end of his adventures.

But Indridason is not done writing, and has already penned a few historical novels and crime stories featuring some of Erlendur's supporting cast.

A great series, but start at the beginning and enjoy.

I checked this out on audiobook from the New Castle-Henry County Public Library in New Castle, Indiana.

#50: The Darkness Knows by Arnaldur Indridason

A body shows up in the ice melt of a glacier, and a retired Reykjavik police detective starts to try again to finish out a long-unsolved case, in Arnaldur Indridason's The Darkness Knows.

Indridason is one of my favorite crime writers, not just one of my favorite Scandinavian authors.  His Erlendur novels, beginning with Jar City, are all strong.

This is the second novel featuring Konrad, the retired detective, following on The Shadow District.  Some of his own sometimes troubling backstory comes out more in this one, and a third seems likely in the offing as his father's murder (a part of both novels) still remains unsolved at the end.

The Darkness Knows is a very solidly-assembled puzzle with interesting characters and situations, and that dash of inky blackness known to fans of Scandinavian noir.

I got this from New Castle-Henry County Public Library and read it steadily.

#74: The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indridason

During World War II, in an Iceland awash in Allied troops, a young woman known to date soldiers is found murdered; many years later, an elderly man is killed in his bed, with threads tying back to that long-ago unsolved case in Arnaldur Indridason's The Shadow District.

The Shadow District is the first in a new series from Indridason.  His novels about morose Reykjavik cop Erlendur are noteworthy (start with Jar City and keep reading), but these have a totally different vibe, with a military police investigation in the 40s and a contemporary storyline following a recently retired police detective who gets an itch to solve this cold case.

The parallel timelines are interesting, especially if you aren't aware of Iceland's role in World War II (which I wasn't).

This is a very solid police procedural from one of my favorite Scandinavian authors.  I will look for the next in this series.

I checked this out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read it quickly.

#9: Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason

Dogged but unremarkable Icelandic cop Sigurdur Óli reluctantly tries to help a friend being blackmailed with explicit photos, but quickly gets involved in a complex, murderous scheme in Arnaldur Indridason's Black Skies.

 I am a huge fan of Indridason's police procedurals featuring flawed but insightful detective Erlendur (the first translated into English was Jar City) but this novel features a supporting character from the earlier novels, one of Erlendur's colleagues.  It is a change of pace in tone (including some lighter subplots), but still features much of Indridason's very solid storytelling.

I am always on the lookout for more of Indridason's writing.  This one I checked out from the Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana and read quickly.

#2: Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason

Morose Reykjavik cop Erlendur becomes fascinated with a depressed woman's suicide as tragedies in his own past resonate, ending with him taking up an unofficial investigation that uncovers more family trauma in Arnaldur Indridason's Hypothermia, part of his long-running police procedural series set in Iceland.

This is one of my favorite authors in the spate of gloomy Scandinavian imports that have reached these shores in recent years.  Each novel features great characters that grow and change along with complex crime drama.  The philosophical underpinnings of most of the mystery novels from Scandinavia offer a welcome change of pace from American crime fare.  And it's not often you see a U.S. detective/protagonist tuck into a boiled sheep's head in jam.

The dead of winter probably wasn't the ideal time to pick up Indridason's latest, but when I see the newest one on the shelf I can't resist.  This series starts with Jar City, recently made into a movie, and all entries so far come recommended.  I thought this one was perhaps the best yet.

I borrowed this book from the Morrison-Reeves Library in Richmond, Indiana, and read it at a good clip.