Arnaldur Indridison - Jar City

review by Malcolm on show
Jar City by Arnaldur Indridison RRP £7.99 Kindle £4.74

Product Description
A man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat. There are no obvious clues apart from a cryptic note left on the body and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Detective Erlendur is forced to use all the forensic resources available to find any leads at all. Delving into the dead man's life he discovers that forty years ago he was accused of an appalling crime. Did his past come back to haunt him? Finally, Erlendur's search leads him to Iceland's Genetic Research Centre in order to find the disturbing answers to the mystery. This prizewinning international bestseller is the first in a new series of crime novels set in Iceland.


From the Back Cover
A man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat. The only clues are a cryptic note left on the body and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Delving into the dead man's life Detecive Erlendur discovers that forty years ago the victim was accused of an appalling crime, but never convicted. Had his past come back to haunt him?

As Erlendur struggles to build a relationship with his unhappy daughter, his investigation takes him to Iceland's Genetic Research Centre, where he uncovers disturbing secrets that are even darker than the murder of an old man.
My Review

This is the first of the Reykjavic Murder Mysteries with Detective Elrlendur making hisdebut appearance. I recently read a later novel by Indridason – Hypothermia – and enjoyed it so much I decided to start from the beginning.

The dead man is called Holberg and he was accused many years ago of raping a woman – but the policeman investigating had no sympathy with the victim and she is left to bear the rapists child, a daughter Audur. Audur dies aged 4 apparently of a brain tumour and Holberg for some reason has a photo of her grave. Audur’s mother commits suicide shortly after.

Erlendur’s enquiries reveal that Holberg’s sister also died of a brain tumour and his curiosity takes over. Couold there be a link between the sister and Audur? He has Audur’s body disinterred and a new post mortem carried out – but the skull is empty – there is no brain. He tries to track down the pathologist and discovers that the medical school used to have a huge collection of formalin pickled human organs used for teaching and research – the collection was known as Jar City. But in recent years being more sensitive to the feelings of relatives the collection had been dispersed or destroyed – but one pathologist had kept some organs to keep privately. Could he have Audur’s brain? A macabre subject – but I remember only to well the fascination of the Pathology Museum at Cambridge – the appendix of a Trinity Fellow filled with lead shot from the game he had gluttonously devoured at high table, the livers of drinkers and patients with pernicious anemia, aneurism – lovely!

Anyway this is a thrilling tale of buried bodies, brain tumours and the genetic disease that lead to the deaths of the women in Holbergs famly and ultimately to his murder.

Definitely in the genre of Wallander and Rebus – I shall be reading more!

MFMartland Broadcast on Radio Scilly 7 April 2011