Arctic Chill: An Inspector Erlendur Novel (An Inspector Erlendur Series, 5)

As a 35 year fan of foreign and domestic police procedurals, Indridason has moved to THE TOP of my list. If you like Mankell, Steig, Wahloo and Schowall(SP?) find this series. You will be hooked.
Yes there are some misspelling but its ridiculous to let this bother you...like dust on a Rembrant, the genius shines through.

"Arctic Chill" is my first experience with Arnaldur Indridason's police procedurals, so I do not have the earlier novels in the series to use as a yardstick. "Arctic Chill" is, in fact, the fifth of six "Reykjavik Thrillers" (if, that is, they were translated and published here in the order in which they were written) to be translated from the original Icelandic for publication in the U.S. And I am intrigued enough by the book's main characters, atmosphere, and attention to detail that I will be seeking others in the series.

When he sees the little Asian boy frozen to the ground in a pool of his own blood, Erlendur fears the child has been the victim of a hate crime. What he sees, however, deeply disturbs him for an additional reason; it reminds him of his own little brother, lost to a blizzard decades earlier. Erlendur soon discovers that the mixed-race child is the son of a Thai woman who had the courage to move to Iceland to begin a new life in her husband's home country. Worryingly, the woman also has an older son who has not been seen since before his younger brother's body was found not far from the apartment they share with their now divorced mother.

Detective Erlendur and his Reykjavik police colleagues, in their effort to find the boy's killer, begin their enquiries, naturally enough, at his school. There, they learn of the day-to-day racism and harassment mixed-race immigrant students suffer at the hands of fellow students, and perhaps even a teacher or two. Interview by interview, clue by clue, one discovery leading them to the next, Erlendur and his crew begin to close in on the killer. "Arctic Chill" is an excellent police procedural but the book is about much more than solving one murder.

Author Arnaldur Indridason takes a hard look at what immigrants, especially those from Asia or Africa, face when they come to Iceland. As in every country, native citizens have mixed emotions about immigration. On the one hand, they appreciate the willingness of the immigrants to work at the low paying jobs that have to be done. On the other, they fear that their country's culture will be forever corrupted by people who make no effort to assimilate into the dominant society. This is especially true in a country, like Iceland, that has a relatively small population through which to defend its cultural heritage. As Detective Erlendur himself says at an early stage of the investigation, "This is all so new to us. Immigrants, racial issues...we know so little about it."

Indridason gives the reader a good feel for life in modern Iceland, a way of life still largely influenced by the demands of the country's harsh climate. Long, cold winters with very short days do not encourage neighbors to spend much time getting to know each other and Detective Erlendur and other characters in the book seem to have developed a rather fatalistic attitude as a result of the forced lifestyle.

This portion of a paragraph from near the end of the book (a scene in which Erlendur stands alone over a grave in freezing weather) says it best: "There were no final answers to explain the life-long solitude of the person in the urn, or the death of his brother all those years ago, or why Erlendur was the way he was, and why Elias was stabbed to death. Life was a random mass of unforeseeable coincidences that governed men's fates like a storm that strikes without warning, causing injury and death."

"Arctic Chill" won't cheer you up - and that's the point. This is a highly atmospheric book with a message and some characters I want to get to know better.

I like the way the author tells the story using deductive and inductive thinking to problem solve. Also I find his descriptions of Iceland, its various characters their backgrounds and the history of his country very enlightening.

When PW describes Erlendur as a character with "enormous depth," my suspicions rise. Am I being had? After all, the Erlendur I just read about was a cardboard cutout who had nary an interesting -- let alone professionally competent -- thought or thing to say.

When PW says that the author "lays bare the plight of Thai women brought to Iceland", I know I'm onto something. After all, Arctic Chill doesn't make any more incisive observations about Thai women and their presumptive plight beyond noting the sad but simple fact that such women are, in many quarters, met with discrimination or racism. Hardly a "lay[ing] bare" of what I assume is a very complex social issue in modern Iceland.

But when PW gushes about how "Indridason has produced a stunning indictment of contemporary society" then I know the joke's on me. Because the novel I read was a complete piece of drivel, and a shallow one at that. Indridason has nothing but the most superficial things to say about contemporary society, Icelandic society, or...well...just about anything, really.

If that were all, I could at least chalk Arctic Chill up as a quick-reading bit of entertainment. But not only can't Indridason write an effective social commentary, it turns out, he can't tell a remotely interesting story either. Arctic Chill is lousy from start to finish. And roughly 2/3 of it is pure padding.

If PW's reviewer didn't write his/her review under either duress or the influence of powerful narcotics, I'll eat my hat. Spare yourself!

This is Arnaldur Indridason’s 5th book in his Inspector Erlandur series and I am slowly reading the books in order. Set in Iceland these police procedurals follow the crime solving of Erlandur’s team of investigators. The book increasingly are told against the estranged relationship Erlandur has with his drug addicted daughter and disconnected son who both here want to know more about their Father’s past… especially the death of Erlandur’s brother which still haunts Erlandur. The death has fueled Erlandur’s obsession with finding missing persons.
The major case here (there are a couple of sub-plots) is a rather basic who done it that attempts to shed light on how immigrants from Thailand clash with the mostly intolerant conservative homogametic Icelandic culture. A 10 year old boy is found dead in the street in the middle of winter with his blood already freezing his body to the ground. The boy is the half-Thai son of a woman who was brought from Thailand to Iceland by an Icelandic man she married. She later brought her 15 year old son from Thailand to live with them. This second son did not adjusting well to the new language or culture. He runs away after finding out his younger brother was killed. A teacher at the boys school tormented immigrant children. At the time of the murder the boy’s mother is divorced (as part of a pattern her husband had previously brought another Thai woman and divorced her). Erlandur and his team investigate starting with the theory that the murder had racial anti-immigrant overtones. (Substitute the United States for Iceland and Muslim for Thailand and the emotions and situation would ring true today.)
A lot happens during the course of the investigation and it feels real as everyone who could be involved is interviewed and eventually the murder weapon found. The book has a good pace and Indridason’s story and writing is rather bleak like his grey winter weather setting. The police work is depicted with a greater reality than just having a famous detective discover who done it. Erlandur is still toying with a new relationship and finding no joy in his feelings of guilt and unworthiness. Oh yes, his best friend also dies of cancer. He finally develops the major clue that solves the case as a result of his making a major error.
I have enjoyed all of Indrdason’s books I have read so far, but these last two less so than the early ones. This one is not awful and was entertaining but it hung a bit too much to the immigration issue which stereotyped some of the characters. The book is all very bleak as the title suggests. Maybe the next book will take place in the summer.

This is another dimension to our acquaintance with crime writers from Scandinavia and the countries bordering on the Arctic Circle. Based in Iceland this is quite an enjoyable thriller. The first half is very gripping from the point of the murder of a young boy originating from Thailand. It is well written and the reader wants to carry on finding out about the next episode.

Unfortunately, the story sags a little later on. This maybe because of the tendency in many crime novels to bring in some personal aspect of the investigating police officers. In this case, although some relevance to the main murder can be seen, the reader may begin to wonder why the writer cannot carry on with the main murder story. It breaks the spell for the reader. However, it must be said that the writer manages to keep the suspense up by way of only gradually revealing who was responsible for the murder and why.

The first part of the book is also interesting in that it brings out a dimension of immigrant life in Iceland that many readers may not be aware of. A focal point of the story of the presence of immigrants from many different countries, in particular from South East Asia like Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. We are never very clear about why they are present, except that in some cases it is Icelandic visitors to these countries after marrying local girls. But reminiscent of race relations in countries like Britain and France in recent years, the author brings in many points of contention between the immigrants and the local residents, and amongst the immigrant communities. Tensions amongst youngsters moving from one dominant culture to another are illustrated by means of their school and peer experiences. Attitudes of local residents towards immigrants are also examined around questions such as why should traditional practices be changed because of the immigrants.

An interesting read, but maybe the author’s other books may be able to keep the pace up right to the end.

I found this book to be lots of dialog with little about what people were thinking or how they were reacting. OK,but I will not buy from this author again.

Indridason once again writes a two-headed narrative that narrates the grit of police work within the context of Icelandic immigration policy. Each of his previous books follows the same thematic design, each moving to solve murder while addressing a broader social issue. And yet the author does not preach the merits of any particular view on the social issue but clearly explains how these issues affect the work of detectives and the daily lives of the people they meet.

Some reviewers fault the book for its shortcomings of translation or proofreading. Several note that "Indridason deserves better." The same could be said for these petty critics who seem to read with a red pencil. Get a life!!!

I have read all the books by A. Indridason and some are better than others for sure. In this book, there are vast amounts of translation errors, syntax errors, etc., but what struck me is the excruciatingly SLOW pace of the book. I am 3/4 of the way through it, the same themes are revisited over and over. It's an exercise in frustration reading it. Nobody knows anything about anything, where is Niran, racist people. There is very little movement. Also glaring is that the victim is almost completely lost. The people who are closest to him and who should care, seem to be more interested in denying that they know anything and becoming hostile when the police dig deep to try to and find the killer. I'm disappointed.

I like his books. they are a good escape for me. The story lines are well thought out and the main detectives all have their story lines. The detectives are thorough yet the killer is usually someone not mentioned until the last second. They aren’t a part of the story until the very end. I find it funny that I get to the end of his books and the killer(s) are completely unknown.