Review by Brian Lowen on show 8th Sept 2011
One of the most boring books I’ve read – I’m surprised I managed to get to the end of this so-called thriller. I am sure all Icelandic people can not be as boring as Detective Erlunder as he tries to solve the mystery surrounding an apparent suicide. The author makes little attempt to involve you with the main character in his story, so you struggle to get into the story. There is no background to help you, even though there have been other books published featuring Detective Erlunder.
The story: One cold autumn night, a woman is found hanging from a beam at her holiday cottage. At first sight it appears like a straightforward case of suicide. Maria had never recovered from the death of her Mother two years previously and she had a history of depression. But then the friend who found her body approaches Detective Erlunder with a tape of a séance that Maria attended before her death and his curiosity is aroused.
Driven by a need to find answers, Erlunder begins an unofficial investigation into Maria’s death. But he is also haunted by another unsolved mystery – the disappearance of two young people 30 years ago – and by his own quest to find the body of his brother, who died in a blizzard when he was a boy.
I found the many tongue-twisting Icelandic names difficult to remember and got bored with the plodding investigation carried out by Erlunder. I realise most crimes involve this, but you do need something more, I think, to keep the reader interested. You couldn’t really call it a thriller until the last few chapters, by when you had worked out what had happened anyway.
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