Review: Voices

I have been anxiously awaiting the third novel by Icelander Arnaldur Indridason to be translated into English. I am not alone in my adulation of his work; because Indridason’s novels have been shortlisted as well as winning a slew of awards not only in his homeland, but now internationally with ‘Grafarþögn’ translated and published as ‘Silence of the Grave’ winning the coveted CWA Gold Dagger in 2005 for best novel. It should also be noted that Indridason has won three years consecutively The Martin Beck Award [from Sweden] for best translated crime fiction novel for Voices [Roddin] in 2005 and the two previous books, Silence of the Grave [Grafarþögn] in 2004 and Jar City / Tainted Blood [‘Mýrin’] in 2003. The latter two also won the Glass Key Award from the Crime Writers of Scandinavia.

So, we move to the new book Voices [Roddin], a dark tale set in a classy Reykjavik hotel where Gudlauger Egilsson, the doorman-cum-handyman is found stabbed viciously to death in his basement room. Still dressed in his Santa Claus outfit about to entertain a group of children; a condom dangles surreally from his penis and so begins this dark tale. Summoned to investigate Erlendur and his police colleagues Sigurdur Oli and Elínborg converge on the bristling hotel. As the festive season approaches, Erlendur can not face spending Christmas alone in his flat, even though his daughter Eva Lind implores him to return [as she has successfully kicked her drug habit after the still-birth of her child]. Despite this, the world weary inspector takes a room in the hotel to blot out Christmas and focus on the murder investigation. He is not the only one lonely in this melancholic time, for his mentor [and former boss] Marion Briem calls him wanting to help in the investigation.

Soon Erlendur discovers that the condom-clad dead Santa / doorman was in fact a former child prodigy choirboy [until his voice broke], who had spent his adult life as a lowly odd-job man at the hotel. Elinborg as well as helping Erlendur and Sigurdur Oli is still preoccupied with a concurrent case of a schoolboy who was badly beaten by a gang of school bullies, but she senses something sinister about the boys’ father, a business man [facing bankruptcy] replete with a violent temper. The theme of family conflict is again mined for the plot as everyone in the world of Indridason has fractured and dysfunctional relationships with those who share their genes. This includes Erlendur, who is reminded about the tragedy that lurked in his past, and shaped his world view and why he searches the world for answers. Voices, like the preceding books virtually drip with sadness and melancholy. This makes the setting of a hotel at Christmas the perfect backdrop for this tale. As the Icelandic detectives delve into the case, they have to piece together the fragments of Gudlauger’s tragic life. The hotel-staff close ranks, but soon divisions appear as talk of large scale thefts, as well as organized prostitution surface. Gudlauger’s sinister relatives appear and they reveal just enough to pique Erlendur’s suspicions. Voices is rippled with flawed characters, and that includes the detectives, because it takes a flawed person to see the cracks in others, as well as the imperfections of the world at large. Seeing the world through the Erlendur’s eyes gives insight that at times makes you just weep:

Erlendur shut the door. He sat down on the bed and thought about the choirboy and how he found him in a Santa suit with his trousers round his ankles. He wondered how his path had led to that little room and to death, at the end of a life paved with disappointment.

At least Indridason shows a little compassion for the world weary Erlendur by making him and one of the female forensic officers – the middle aged Valgerdur start what appears to be a relationship of sorts, even if it draws the detective into conflict with his daughter Eva Lind. It is about time, Erlendur had a little happiness, as his world view is darkened because of everything he has witnessed as a child, right up to his role as a detective in a world filled with dysfunction and pathos.

I can not recommend Voices, [or his previous books Jar City / Tainted Blood and Silence of the Grave] highly enough, because to be uplifted in life we sometimes must drink from the well of the melancholic and fractured. The team of Arnaldur Indridason and Bernard Scudder are tremendous. If you crave more than a cursory glance at the lives of the fractured and dysfunctional, then head toward these tales of contemporary Iceland, but beware, as the grip of these works is as icy as it is addictive. The best work in the police procedural genre currently.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Ali Karim - RAM

Book Review: Voices