⋙ PDF Voices Arnaldur Indridason 9781846550331 Books

Voices Arnaldur Indridason 9781846550331 Books

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Voices Arnaldur Indridason 9781846550331 Books

Looking for existential angst? Well, look no further. The protagonist of Arnaldur Indridason's Icelandic mystery series, Inspector Erlendur, is existentially bogged down with baggage galore. He lives alone in a self-described 'hole' that is littered with take-out boxes, books, and a room filled with nostalgic items from his dead parents' farm house. He looks everywhere for the vestiges of his dead brother whose death he feels responsible for when he was ten years old. He sees the depths of ruin in the people he investigates and quite frequently they mirror his own demons. Unable to face Christmas alone, he is staying at a big hotel that has no heat in his room.

This book has several narrative lines. The main mystery is about a hotel Santa who is found murdered in his basement room with his pants down and a condom on, stabbed many times. As Erlendur investigates, no one admits knowing this man who has lived rent free in the hotel for over 20 years. He was once a child prodigy, singing soprano so well that his father hoped he'd make it into the Vienna Boy's Choir. Unfortunately, his voice changed prematurely and he became a laughing-stock at his supposedly break-out concert.

Another story line takes us to a hospital where a young boy, badly physically abused, refuses to tell who the perpetrator was. Erlandur's colleague believes it is the boy's father despite the boy wanting to be returned to his father's custody.

Erlandur has been divorced for over 20 years. At the time of his divorce, he had two children who he never saw afterwards until recently. Eva Lind, his daughter, is a recovering drug addict and prostitute who is having trouble 'holding on' now. She was near death recently, having given birth to a still-born daughter near term and ending up in a coma. The infant died because Eva Lind's drugs toxified her system and Eva Lind can't forgive herself. She has looked up her father and is trying to develop a relationship with him.

Erlandur is living in self-hatred with survivor's guilt because of an incident that occurred in his childhood. When he was ten, he, his father and his younger brother went camping and were caught in a blizzard. Erlandur had been holding on to his brother's hand but unintentionally let it go. His brother's body was never found and Erlandur is tormented about why he lived while his brother died. The event sent his father into a lifelong depression and has weighed Erlandur down ever since. He rarely talks about this incident but thinks about it regularly, even returning to eastern Iceland where his brother died, and searches for his body.

The mystery of the Santa is very interesting but what makes this book stand out is the quality of the writing and the humanity of the characters. I have already started another book in this series and can hardly put it down.


Tags : Voices [Arnaldur Indridason] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The third novel in the award-winning Reykjavik Murder Mysteries. The Christmas rush is under way in a big Reykjavik hotel when the police are called to the scene of a murder. The hotel doorman (and long-time resident of its basement) has been stabbed to death. With the hotel fully booked,Arnaldur Indridason,Voices,Harvill Secker,1846550335,Crime & mystery,Fiction Mystery & Detective General

Voices Arnaldur Indridason 9781846550331 Books Reviews

This is the third book in the Inspector Erlendur series and I am trying to read them in order (8 more to go with a new prequel just published). Although I am not a great fan of mysteries I do enjoy one with more depth and character study than you normally find in many series. Indridason is a very good writer and Iceland a great backdrop to his stories.
I found this third book the weakest of the three I have read but by no means a bad book. It’s just more of a “who done it” that the first two books in the series. You see here Erlender is confronted with finding the motive and killer of a hotel Santa Clause found stabbed to death in his Santa suit with his pants down (I’ll let you fill in the blanks.) He slowly goes through the list of suspects as we get a well-developed back story of the murder victim. It appears he was a great choir boy singer up until the age of 12 when his voice changed. Recording of his young voice are now much sought after by collectors.
Several parallel stories are included as well as building on the Erlendur’s character as we learn of his brother’s going missing during there childhood. The impact of this and his relationship with his Father are learned. There are numerous other Father/Son and Sibling relationship conflicts in the books story line. I think it comes down to people growing into their own voice.
The conclusion is good and it makes sense and somewhat predictable, at least in hindsight. I read it at the beach and would consider this a good beach read. This is a well written “who done it” set at Christmas in cold, dreary Reykjavik, Iceland.
I am a big fan of Arnaldur Indridason. I found this particular book to be the most interesting of the series because of the backstory of the choirboy and the way the author was able to portray that world. Not only is Iceland an exotic locale for most readers, but the world of boy sopranos and child stars is an exotic locale of its own.

My one criticism of the series is the constant dwelling on Detective Erlender's guilt and grief over the death of his brother, which happened many years earlier. No matter how searing, it does not ring true that he would be tortured by it constantly even after all that time. Plus, the subplot about his drug addict daughter is not believable---that is, she as a character is not believable. I wonder if the author did not invent these two ponies so that they could be trotted out whenever the reader needed a break from the police procedural. However, they are tedious, and since Erlendur is portrayed as an intelligent and sensitive man, it is not likely he would have completely abandoned his children. In "Voices" he tries to link it to his brother's death but that really makes no sense. And also, people don't become drug addicts because their parents get divorced, or even if they get divorced and their father disappears, so that explanation for the daughter's addiction doesn't fly.
Looking for existential angst? Well, look no further. The protagonist of Arnaldur Indridason's Icelandic mystery series, Inspector Erlendur, is existentially bogged down with baggage galore. He lives alone in a self-described 'hole' that is littered with take-out boxes, books, and a room filled with nostalgic items from his dead parents' farm house. He looks everywhere for the vestiges of his dead brother whose death he feels responsible for when he was ten years old. He sees the depths of ruin in the people he investigates and quite frequently they mirror his own demons. Unable to face Christmas alone, he is staying at a big hotel that has no heat in his room.

This book has several narrative lines. The main mystery is about a hotel Santa who is found murdered in his basement room with his pants down and a condom on, stabbed many times. As Erlendur investigates, no one admits knowing this man who has lived rent free in the hotel for over 20 years. He was once a child prodigy, singing soprano so well that his father hoped he'd make it into the Vienna Boy's Choir. Unfortunately, his voice changed prematurely and he became a laughing-stock at his supposedly break-out concert.

Another story line takes us to a hospital where a young boy, badly physically abused, refuses to tell who the perpetrator was. Erlandur's colleague believes it is the boy's father despite the boy wanting to be returned to his father's custody.

Erlandur has been divorced for over 20 years. At the time of his divorce, he had two children who he never saw afterwards until recently. Eva Lind, his daughter, is a recovering drug addict and prostitute who is having trouble 'holding on' now. She was near death recently, having given birth to a still-born daughter near term and ending up in a coma. The infant died because Eva Lind's drugs toxified her system and Eva Lind can't forgive herself. She has looked up her father and is trying to develop a relationship with him.

Erlandur is living in self-hatred with survivor's guilt because of an incident that occurred in his childhood. When he was ten, he, his father and his younger brother went camping and were caught in a blizzard. Erlandur had been holding on to his brother's hand but unintentionally let it go. His brother's body was never found and Erlandur is tormented about why he lived while his brother died. The event sent his father into a lifelong depression and has weighed Erlandur down ever since. He rarely talks about this incident but thinks about it regularly, even returning to eastern Iceland where his brother died, and searches for his body.

The mystery of the Santa is very interesting but what makes this book stand out is the quality of the writing and the humanity of the characters. I have already started another book in this series and can hardly put it down.