Title: Voices
Author: Arnaldur Indriðason
Publisher: September 26th 2006 by Harvill Secker
ISBN: 1846550335 (ISBN13: 9781846550331)
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 320
Quick Review: 4 stars (out of 5)
Why I Read It: I was traveling to Iceland an
d wanted to read something written about Iceland.
Where I Obtained the Book: At my local library.
Synopsis: The Christmas rush is at its peak in a grand Reykjavík hotel when Inspector Erlendur is called in to investigate a murder. The hotel Santa has been stabbed to death, and Erlendur and his fellow detectives find no shortage of suspects between the hotel staff and the international travelers staying for the holidays. As Christmas Day approaches, Erlendur must deal with his difficult daughter, pursue a possible romantic interest, and untangle a long-buried web of malice and greed to find the murderer. Voices is a brutal, soulful noir from the chilly shores of Iceland.
Review: This book grabbed me from the first page. This is the first one I had read in this series, I had skipped a few and was catching up with the ongoing plot. The way the tourist went along their way not knowing about the dead body in the basement, was the way life is. Then finding out about the man whose body it was, a famous child singer whose life had taken many twists and turns, developed the story further. The story is haunting, thought provoking, a tear jerker, and hard to put down. The song playing at the end still makes me think about this book. Detective Erleneur is endearing, his life, struggles and family make him real. The description of the Icelanders and their lives, made me want to visit even more.
The history behind the man and his life before he worked at the hotel were interesting. His sister and father not being able to accept him for who he was, his mother’s death and how that changed the course of his life. I still think about this book and I read it a couple of years ago. It is an amazing story, one you won’t soon forget. I have read all the books in the series that have been translated into English. I love the Erlender series and wish I could read Icelandic, so I could read them as they are written.
Author Biography: Arnaldur Indriðason was born in 1961, the son of an Icelandic author, Indriði G. Þorsteinsson. Having worked for many years as a journalist and critic for an Icelandic newspaper, he began writing novels. At one week in the summer of 2003, his crime novels occupied the top five spots in the Icelandic bestseller list. He is best-known for his series about the detective Erlendur Sveinsson.
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