Iceland

Reactions to an author taking a detour away from a much loved series, or style (or both for that matter) can vary.  Some readers love the chance to head into new territory, others find that departure too much of a step, and long to return to the familiarity of the series, the known characters or the styling.  And as with everything, for this reader, it all depends. 

OPERATION NAPOLEON is a thriller, set in Iceland, but based around the mystery of a plane that went down at the very end of World War II.   To take this that little bit further again from the Erlendur Sveinsson Crime Fiction series, this book also has a central female character.   Kristin is pulled into a dangerous world of secrecy and power games when all she is trying to do is discover the truth behind her brother's fate - there on that remote glacier.

I suspect that whether or not a departure from the known works is often to do with the quality of the storytelling.  OPERATION NAPOLEON is, undoubtedly, a thriller.  There are lots of nefarious goings on, there's danger and conflict, there's the unknown of what was in that plane, why there is so much desire to find it, and claim what it is carrying.  So whilst there are many of the elements that a thriller requires, and the pace and plot that supports the discovery of those elements, there are some quintessentially "Indridason" elements to the story.  There are some wonderful characters that the reader can identify and sympathise with - it always helps to have somebody to be "barracking for". 

There is also the way that this author always manages to weave the landscape and the culture of Iceland into his books, and the way that he uses family relationships as a basis for characterisation and exploration.  In this case we have Kirstin and her brother, and the two brothers whose farm sits at the base of the glacier.  The relationship between both sets of siblings is interesting - perhaps more tantalising in the case of the farmers, but undoubtedly the motivation for Kirstin's involvement.

There is a bit of a twist in the tail of this story though, and fans of alternative history may find the final proposition a little difficult to swallow or even maybe a little confronting.   Given that the book declares itself pretty well as a thriller, this reader found OPERATION NAPOLEON less problematic than other stories of the same nature, having said that, alternative histories do make me twitch.

The good thing about OPERATION NAPOLEON is that it has the basic structure, and many of the required elements of a thriller, but with sufficient characterisation, and a great sense of place and culture that would make the book appeal to readers less fond of the pure thriller format, provided that aspect of rewriting history isn't too firmly in your pet hates listing.

Less of a review - closer to a drool, HYPOTHERMIA is the latest in one of my all time favourite series of books from Icelandic author Arnauldur Indridason.  If you've not read any of the earlier books, coming to HYPOTHERMIA from the start could still work, but part of what is really wonderful about this series is the slow unfolding of the backstory of the central detective Erlendur. 

Erlendur is very much of the "rumpled / crumpled" detective genre - somebody who life has dealt some complicated hands to.  Whilst he shuffles those cards, the reader is taken through his current life, his relationships with his estranged children, his childhood and his family tragedy.  Still with that Nordic sense of constraint, thoughtfulness and introspection, there's also something lighter and hopeful in the sub-themes of HYPOTHERMIA, despite the puzzling suicide of a woman in a beautiful lakeside location.  Her obsession with the loss of her mother, and the drowning of her father when she was a child takes Erlendur back to what happened to events from her childhood, somehow giving him permission (or the will) to explore his own history, and the death of his young brother in a blizzard many years before.

Within this series there has always been a strong sense of Icelandic culture and beliefs, from their particular personal name conventions in earlier books, to a real sense of the relationship between the present and the supernatural in this book in particular.  And it's not just Erlendur's personal circumstances that leads to an exploration of the past and the present - there is often a theme within the books that pursues exactly the effect that past events (sometimes hidden, sometimes not) have on the current lives of many of the characters.

Along with the rumpled / crumpled detective styling, Erlendur has an admirable sense of justice and duty.  He doesn't give up, he doesn't accept the obvious (in this case the rapid verdict of suicide) and he is prepared to stick to the task until the truth is revealed - no matter what the consequences.  Having said that he, and this author, are not unaware of the effect of this sort of persistence.  Grief, loss, guilt and confusion are beautifully illustrated, as is there often a cheeky sense of humour.

HYPOTHERMIA is an outstanding example of everything that is wonderful about crime.  The book transports the reader to the place and the culture in which it is set, the landscape, the people, their particular way of looking at the world are woven into the threads of grief, loss, cause and effect seamlessly.  There is pace to the story, alongside lyrical, beautiful storytelling and there are wonderful, believable, flawed characters to follow.  Hopefully for lots of books to come.

There are some authors who are on my buy immediately list.  Some of these books I can happily hoard - waiting until just the right moment to sit and enjoy them.   And there are the ones that are buy and read immediately.  ARCTIC CHILL has definitely been one of those books.  As soon as it arrived in the house it danced around before my eyes until I could finish what I was reading and start this one.

And you know when you've picked up a fabulous book because you find yourself sitting in the car, reading it - "it's no problem I can wait in the car while you run in and do ......".  You don't mind missing meals, you forget your favourite TV shows and you're finding excuses to miss meetings and social events so that you can just finish this book.

ARCTIC CHILL is also one of those unputdownable books because of the stylish way in which it scratches a number of itches - works on those points that I think make good crime fiction stand head and shoulders above many other possible reading options for me.

There's discussion and revelations of the society in which the crime occurs.  In this case there is some stark observations of the difficulties of immigration within Icelandic society - from both the immigrants and the native resident viewpoint.  The portrayal of both sides of the issue was fair, and deftly done - no preaching / no overt support for one side or the other.  Many of these elements have considerable echoes with issues that arise in my own country, and the reminder that intolerance, suspicion as well as acceptance can be anywhere is both timely and pointed. 

There's also one of those tremendous senses of place.  Not just because Iceland is different climatically from elsewhere, but also in the way that the society itself is portrayed.  Obviously it's a much smaller country than so many others, and their societal structures work differently from many that - for example - I'm used to.  But the way that the Icelandic sensibility is portrayed in all of the Indridason books is revealing, without being a travelogue, too sentimental or too much of a documentary.

There are also great individual characters.  The focus switches a little around a central group of police investigators all of whom take a different prominence throughout the individual stories, and throughout all the books.  The central investigator though, the wonderfully rumpled, questioning, almost quixotic Erlendur always remains the central focus of the team though.  His own personal background is complicated by the disappearance of his brother as children - an event that he has never fully come to terms with - and his divorce from his wife and separation from his children.  All throught their adult years Erlendur and his two children have struggled to form a relationship which works for them all, and that struggle, whilst not taking over from the investigation or the crimes in each book, adds a level of sadness and somewhat unexpectedly hope to Erlendur.

And finally there's a good story about the death of a little boy.  A child who it seems nobody could possibly have wanted dead.  Unless there is a racial motive.  Maybe revenge.  The ultimate resolution is stark in what it says about the true nature of so much violent crime. 

These books are definitely police procedurals, but they incorporate a lot of social commentary and personal insight.  As atmospheric perhaps as Henning Mankell's Wallender series, Erlendur, however, isn't Wallender and there's a very different personality at work here.  If you haven't read any of Arnaldur Indridason's fabulous books, then start somewhere with the series.  If you can go back to the beginning, then you'll learn about him and his team as the books progress, but each also stands alone if you can't.   The books so far have been:

• Jar City (also published as Tainted Blood)
• Silence of the Grave
• Voices
• The Draining Lake
• Arctic Chill