Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason

Review by Theodore Feit

 

This novel, now out in paperback, was published in hardcover a year ago, and we've been tardy catching up to this wonderful new author.  He's on a par with the best of them, Rankin, Mankell, Connolly, et al. And the setting is different: Iceland.  His protagonist, detective Erlendur, also holds his own with the best of them, Bosch, Rebus and their confreres.   He's moody, intuitive, introspective, dogged and morose:

 

"You think," he muses, "it won't affect you.  You reckon you're strong enough to withstand that sort of thing.  You think you can put on armour against it over the years and can watch all the filth from a distance as if it's none of your business and try to keep your senses.  But there isn't any distance.  And there's no armour.  No one's strong enough.  The repulsion haunts you like an evil spirit that burrows into your mind and doesn't leave you in peace until you believe that the filth is life itself because you've forgotten how ordinary people live.  This case is like that.  Like an evi l spirit that's been unleashed to run riot in your mind and ends up leaving you crippled."

 

The body of an old man is discovered, murdered in his basement apartment, unleashing a series of events and secrets as the investigation unfolds.  It is possible that the victim was a rapist some 40 years previously.  Clues and forensic evidence lead Erlendur forward into revelations that have been hidden for decades.   Jar City was a collection of organ specimens collected and saved at the medical school in the past for research and study.  Among them is the brain of a four-year-old girl who died of a brain tumor.   Genetic coding plays a part in uncovering the truth of her death and provides an essential link to the ultimate solving of the mystery.

 

The sequel to this fine novel, Silence of the Grave, was published last month, and is next on the agenda.  Stay tuned.