Name: Jar city
ISBN: 0312340702

Arnaldur Indriðason

a Reykjavik thriller

Jar city

Laura Mauler

Really fantastic book, both the plot and the writing.

Izza

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. Delving into the dead man's life Detective Erlendur discovers that forty years ago he 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. Jar City is the first book in the series starring Detective Erlendur available in English

Jar City

Sian Wadey

I had to hunt a bit to find an I book for my A-Z of authors, but eventually I came across Arnaldur Indridason. 
I'd read a few translated books before and always found some of the text a bit stilted, but this wasn't the case at all with Jar City. The story flowed well, dialogue was plausible and realistic and no word seemed out of place.
The actual story itself was brilliant, full of twists, turns and unexpected surprises. The story stretches back to the 60's and the past of the murder victim and the people he has affected throughout his life. 
It's not always pleasant, but it's not 'gritty' which for me is a nice change. Murder mystery books can often be depressing and miserable, but this one did have a sense of humour, which again translated well into English.
I found this quite a quick read and once the story got going it was hard to put down. Each clue led to another, with the odd fiery confrontation and interesting characters.
The only problem I had was with the character names. I struggled to separate all of them at the beginning and lots of them have names starting with E. I suppose this wouldn't be a problem if it was a British or American book and I names that I recognised were used. However, once I got into it was easy to separate each of the characters, although I'm not sure I can spell or pronounce any of them!
Overall, an interesting murder mystery that's unputdownable and certainly the promise for more. I can't wait to read another!

Arnaldur Indridason

From Gold Dagger Award--winning author Arnaldur Indridason comes a Reykjavík thriller introducing Inspector Erlendur When a lonely old man is found dead in his Reykjavík flat, the only clues are a cryptic note left by the killer and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Inspector Erlendur discovers that many years ago the victim was accused, but not convicted, of an unsolved crime, a rape. Did the old man's past come back to haunt him? As Erlendur reopens this very cold case, he follows a trail of unusual forensic evidence, uncovering secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man. An international sensation, the Inspector Erlendur series has sold more than two million copies worldwide.

An Inspector Erlendur Novel

margot colville

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and the twist was good; however, I found it difficult to stay engaged with the text throughout.

Toni Turner

It was emotional. 
And i didn't expect that, hut its what got it to such a high rating for me. I read this for a college course and we were looking at gender roles. While this book had a lot of problem (which was expected) putting that aside the aspect of genetics was cool since it was a bit newer (not new enough to not have any real dynamic main female protags but whatever) 2002 newer. But 2002 is old now.

Jar city a Reykjavik thriller