Svörtuloft by Arnaldur Indriðason

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Unfortunately, "Black Skies" by Arnaldur Indridason is a disappointment.  If I am counting correctly, this is the seventh book by Mr. Indridason that I have read and probably the weakest one. Not even close to the stunningly high quality of his "The Draining Lake" or "Silence of the Grave".

I find Iceland a totally fascinating country. The book allowed me to learn more about Iceland and its inhabitants. Mr. Indridason's diagnosis of the utter greed driving the entire banking industry in his country is astute, pretty grim and, damning. I am afraid it applies to any country, not just Iceland. So reading this book is definitely not a waste of time. The plot has some nice elements as well.

However, this time the author decided to focus on Sigurdur Oli, who is by far the least interesting character of the recurrent trio of detectives. Both Erlendur and Elinborg come through as fascinating personas. Sigurdur Oli is just plain boring. Moreover, I have grown tired of reading about childhood sexual abuse. It seems that every other mystery/crime drama book has this topic now.

Mr. Indridason is a wonderful writer. I hope he starts writing stand-alone mysteries. Why try to write the same book again and again?

Three stars (just barely).





View all my reviews