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Jar City: A Thriller (Reykjavik Thriller)
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 839.6935
EAN: 9780312340704
Edition: 1st
ISBN: 0312340702
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: October 01, 2005
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Release Date: September 15, 2005
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur
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Editorial Review:
Jar City introduces American readers to a new crime writer from Iceland whose work has created an international sensation. Arnaldur Indridason has been compared to such luminaries in the field as Henning Mankell, Georges Simenon, Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall; everyone agrees that here is a world-class writer.
When a lonely old man is found murdered 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, who heads the investigation team, discovers that many years ago the victim was accused, though not convicted, of an unsolved crime. Did the old man’s past come back to haunt him?
As the team of detectives reopen this very cold case, Inspector Erlendur uncovers secrets that are much larger than the murder of one old man--secrets that have been carefully guarded by many people for many years. As he follows a fascinating trail of unusual forensic evidence, Erlendur also confronts stubborn personal conflicts that reveal his own depth and complexity of character. Like all great crime fiction, Jar City is about much more than murder, and avid suspense fans are about to discover a first-rate writer who has already received rave reviews around the world.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Byzantine plot, anonymous characters
I'll say off the bat that I'm currently reading the sequel to Jar City, Silence of the Grave, and finding it pretty good. But Jar City: not so much.
Jar City isn't terrible, but it seems to me to suffer from two flaws. First, the plot is implausibly complex. The basic premise behind it--a kind of biomedical detective story--is clever enough. But the chain of evidence that leads the protagonist Erlendur ultimately to the murderer is torturous. Author Indridason himself must sense ... Read More
Rating:  - Dark Scandanavian mystery
Jar City and its sequel, Silence of the Grave, are dark, Scandanavian mysteries reflecting the dark dreary setting of Iceland when it's raining (which seems to be often). The lead detective, Erlendur, is badly divorced, possibly depressed, and disturbed by the events which seem to parallel his own pathetic personal life. The plots are complex and almost gripping. Both books are well translated from the Icelandic and are well worth reading. Just don't read them if you're feeling down.
Rating:  - I kept flipping forward to see what would happen next ...
The plot was quite engaging, but compared to American mysteries, the pacing was rather slow and it was full of existentialist angst. Nonetheless, despite a certain bleakness (typified by every scene involving vast quantities of rain and the indoor scenes often involving unpleasant smells), I found this book one I couldn't wait to get back to.
The plot involves a man found dead in his smelly basement flat. An inspection of the flat reveals a photo hidden away. The photo is of a child's ... Read More
Rating: - good fast read
I've always been fascinated by Iceland and was eagerly anticipating reading Jar City after seeing a blurb on it in Book Marks (or was it Pages--I can't remember). I really enjoyed this mystery. Even though it wasn't filled with twists (I figured out who had murdered the victim as soon as the wording of the crime scene message was revealed), I liked the straight-forwardness of it and the simplistic tone (although the simplicity might be a side affect of the translation?). And I had a lot of fun with ... Read More
Rating:  - Dreary...and not just 'cause it's in Iceland
Okay, I paid the full fare, bought the book, and read the entire thing. This is a dreary novel, populated with one- or two-dimensional characters, with an implausible plot (two rapes and two pregnancies? Who'da guessed? Oh yeah, Erlendur). The drug-addicted, pregnant daughter is a distracting soap opera that adds little to the narrative, even as a sidelight for Erlendur's personality and life style. He is a protagonist too unappealing and too manufactured to get into.
Overall,the writing ... Read More
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