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In the spring of 1960 three men accidentally discover a decaying body on a deserted island, later identified as the body of a Danish codicologist who had been missing for several months. An investigation ensues and the case is mysteriously linked to the contents of a medieval manuscript known as the Book of Flatey. Before long another body is found in Flatey, but this time an eagle has been carved into the victim's back in blood, in the ancient Viking tradition.
When the gutted body of a businessman is discovered in the Icelandic embassy in Berlin, Iceland's best detectives are sent to Germany to investigate the crime. The stab wounds and the murder weapon--an elegant hunting knife--suggest a ritualistic killing. But the only suspects present in the sleek modern office building were some of the island nation's cultural elite, including Jón the Sun Poet and ceramics artist Lúdvík Bjarnason. The victim is someone few would miss, and investigators Birkir and Gunnar, joined by forensics expert Anna Thórdardóttir, wager they have an open-and-shut case on their hands. What they find is anything but: The crime reeks of premeditation and vengeance, and leads the team into a sordid tale of international child abuse, arson, and retribution.
On a cold January morning in 1973, inside a stately old house in Reykjavik, blood pools around Jacob Kieler Junior from a fatal gunshot wound to his chest. Detective Jóhann Pálsson, an expert in the emerging field of forensics, is called to the scene and soon discovers something more unsettling than the murder itself: the deceased's father, Jacob Kieler Senior, a railroad engineer, was shot to death in the same living room nearly thirty years earlier. The case was officially closed as a botched robbery. Pálsson soon uncovers diaries that portray Kieler Senior as an ambitious man dedicated to bringing the railroad to Iceland no matter the cost. Sensing a deeper and darker mystery afoot, the detective and his colleagues piece together through the elder Kieler's diaries a family history rich with deceit...
"Daybreak was first published in 2005 by Forlagid as Afturelding"--Title page verso.
“A rose can rest in the casket for a thousand years without fading. An egg can remain there for centuries without going bad. A person could lie there for a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years, completely protected from time." What happens when the world starts to fall apart, and no one will take responsibility for mending it? Sigrun’s family, along with everyone else, finds refuge from the crisis in a new technology called TimeBox®, which lets you hibernate until the world’s problems solve themselves. But Sigrun’s TimeBox® opens early, and she wakes to a city in chaos, overrun by nature. Sigrun joins a roving band of kids and a wise researcher named Grace, who tells...
From the million-copy bestselling author, perfect for fans of Stieg Larsson, Anne Holt, and The Killing. __________ "Michael Ridpath is on the war path, trouncing the Scandinavians on their home turf. This is international thriller writing at its best, fine characters, page turning suspense and a great, fresh location." PETER JAMES __________ One thousand years ago: An Icelandic warrior returns from battle, bearing a ring cut from the right hand of his foe. Seventy years ago: An Oxford professor, working from a secret source, creates the twentieth century's most pervasive legend. The professor's name? John Ronald Reuel Tolkein. Six hours ago: An expert on Old Iceland literature, Agnar Harald...
Relaxing Nordic hygge in a novel; the entire story takes place in two minutes. In this story we hear the voices of an Icelandic fishing village. On a summer's day a young woman in a polka-dot dress cycles down the main street. Her name is Kata and she is the village choir conductor. As she passes, we glimpse the members of the village: a priest with a gambling habit, an old brother and sister who have not talked for years, and a sea captain who has lost his son. But perhaps the most interesting story of all belongs to the young woman on the bicycle. Why is she reticent to talk about her past? Why Peirene chose to publish this book: Reading this book was like embarking on a gentle journey – with music in my ears and wind in my hair. Yes, there is some darkness in the tales, and not every character is happy. But the story is told with such empathy that I couldn't help but smile and forgive the flaws that make us human. 'A heart-warming gem of a novel' David Mills, The Sunday Times 'An exceptional novel, full of music, sun and longing' Fréttablaðið
The compelling world of the Vikings and their descendants, preserved in the sagas, poetry, and mythology of medieval Iceland, has been an important source of inspiration to artists and writers across Europe, as well as to scholars devoted to editing and interpreting the manuscript texts. A variety of creative ventures have been born of the processes of imagining this distant 'hyperborean' world. The essays in this volume, by scholars from Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, and the UK, examine the scholarly and artistic reception of a variety of Old Norse texts from the beginnings of the manuscript tradition in twelfth-century Iceland to contemporary poetry, crime fiction, and graphic n...
THE STUNNING FINAL INSTALMENT OF THE MULTI-MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING DARK ICELAND SERIES **Sunday Times BOOK OF THE MONTH** 'Jónasson is an automatic must-read for me ... possibly the best Scandi writer working today' Lee Child 'Is this the best crime writer in the world today? ... Truly a master of his genre' The Times 'The engaging Ari Thor returns in this darkly claustrophobic tale. Perfect mid-winter reading' Ann Cleeves 'A stunningly atmospheric story. Ari Thór Arason returns in this pitch-perfect, beautifully paced crime novel ... Ragnar Jónasson is at the top of his game, and a master of the genre' Will Dean ______________ A blizzard is approaching Siglufjörður, and that can only ...
One cold autumn night, a woman is found hanging from a beam at her holiday cottage. At first sight, it appears like a straightforward case of suicide; María had never recovered from the death of her mother two years previously and she had a history of depression. But then the friend who found her body approaches Detective Erlendur with a tape of a séance that María attended before her death and his curiosity is aroused. Driven by a need to find answers, Erlendur begins an unofficial investigation into María's death. But he is also haunted by another unsolved mystery - the disappearance of two young people thirty years ago - and by his own quest to find the body of his brother, who died in a blizzard when he was a boy. Hypothermia is Indridason's most compelling novel yet.