Publication
Vintage, c2007.
Collection
Series
Status
Available
Description
Unofficially investigating a suspicious suicide, Inspector Erlendur becomes increasingly unsettled by the unsolved cases of two young people who went missing decades earlier under circumstances tied to his own past.
Media reviews
Like most Scandinavian mysteries, the Erlendur stories are gray in tone and texture although they lack the gruesome quality of the writings of Mr. Mankell or Steig Larsson. The characters with whom Erlendur works are often ordinary people, bitter, unhappy or disappointed in life, which is why the
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detective is so adept at analyzing what they may have done and why. There is little dramatic about his investigations, but there is a great deal of realism.
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Hypothermia, excellently translated by Victoria Cribb, is beautifully written, moves at a pleasing speed, and is full of interesting observations. It is more than just another crime fiction book – it is also a book sentiments; love, loss, longing. It tells sad stories without happy endings, but
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in a remarkable and very insightful fashion. One of the very appealing aspects of this book is how the psyche of the detective – Erlendur – which has evolved and emerged gradually in the series, is also at the same time a constituent in both the mystery and it’s “solution”.
Hypothermia is, to my mind, the best novel so far in one of the best modern crime fiction series. A lovely book
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The Nordic crime novel is now almost a genre in its own right. Arnaldur Indridason's latest Icelandic saga embodies many of the defining features:....This is a humane, unsentimental study of grief and guilt, which is both moving and unsettling. It's also a softly gripping narrative, without ever
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resorting to fight scenes, car chases or torture.
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Nordic detectives get ever gloomier, but for Erlendur, senior detective in Reykjavik, life is brightening. ...Indridason has a remarkable understanding of grief and its persistence. But the book is not all gloom: the suspect husband has theatrical connections and there is a brilliantly funny
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account of a disastrous Othello set in Reykjavik in the 1940s, with Othello a colonel in the American army and Desdemona a local girl involved with GIs.
The answers to Erlendur's quests, however, do not lie in modern Reykjavik. There are superbly descriptive interludes of the magical Icelandic landscape, in which many secrets are hidden. In addition, Indridason combines psychological acuteness with great stylistic economy and a pleasing pace.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member lit_chick
“He opened the door on to the decking. It was only two steps down and a couple more yards to the edge of the lake. There had been a freeze over the past few days and a thin film of ice covered the water nearest the shore. In some places it had frozen to the rocks, like a paper-thin sheet of glass
A middle-aged historian, Maria, commits suicide at the summer cottage she owns with her husband. Erlendur learns from her husband and friend that she had been distraught, beside herself with grief, over the death of her mother. Further investigation reveals that Maria had experienced "grief-related hallucinations" not only recently, but also following the death of her father when she was but a child. Her visions were not fearful, but other-worldly, and they had led to Maria’s visiting a medium to explore the phenomenon. An old family friend further discloses that Maria was deeply interested in the afterlife, and in spiritualism. Erlendur “had found no evidence of foul play until recently when he had heard a name that had come up before. The name sparked off odd ideas about connections …” (Ch 24)
As Erlendur and his team work to unravel the events surrounding Maria’s death, two cold cases cross his desk which speak to eerie coincidence: both missing persons, an unrelated young woman and young man, not a trace ever found of either. And Eva Linde is doing well, and spending more time with her father. She’s also pushing both him and her mother to meet, to explore the possibility of having at least a civil relationship for the sake of their daughter.
Indridason is a favourite Scandi-crime writer. His plot lines are always layered and solid, as are his characters. I thoroughly enjoy the glimpses we get into Erlendur’s character in his personal, private life – a little more disclosed in each novel. If Scandi-crime is your pleasure, this one is highly recommended.
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beneath which the water swirled.” (Ch 2)A middle-aged historian, Maria, commits suicide at the summer cottage she owns with her husband. Erlendur learns from her husband and friend that she had been distraught, beside herself with grief, over the death of her mother. Further investigation reveals that Maria had experienced "grief-related hallucinations" not only recently, but also following the death of her father when she was but a child. Her visions were not fearful, but other-worldly, and they had led to Maria’s visiting a medium to explore the phenomenon. An old family friend further discloses that Maria was deeply interested in the afterlife, and in spiritualism. Erlendur “had found no evidence of foul play until recently when he had heard a name that had come up before. The name sparked off odd ideas about connections …” (Ch 24)
As Erlendur and his team work to unravel the events surrounding Maria’s death, two cold cases cross his desk which speak to eerie coincidence: both missing persons, an unrelated young woman and young man, not a trace ever found of either. And Eva Linde is doing well, and spending more time with her father. She’s also pushing both him and her mother to meet, to explore the possibility of having at least a civil relationship for the sake of their daughter.
Indridason is a favourite Scandi-crime writer. His plot lines are always layered and solid, as are his characters. I thoroughly enjoy the glimpses we get into Erlendur’s character in his personal, private life – a little more disclosed in each novel. If Scandi-crime is your pleasure, this one is highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member ctpress
One cold autumn night, a woman is found hanging from a beam in her summer cottage. At first sight it appears to be a straightforward case of suicide; but some strange facts are revealed when Erlendur digs deeper into the woman’s past.
This one might be the best I’ve read so far in the
There’s a sense of closure for Erlendur in the heartbreaking finale scene. After being pushed out of his shell by his daughter Eve - Is he finally able to find some relief in his grief over his lost brother? I hope so.
This one might be the best I’ve read so far in the
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Erlendur-series. Indridason had me guessing all the way to the very end. What really happened to Maria? Inspector Erlendur is obsessed with finding out the truth, even when there’s almost no sign of a crime committed. At the same time he’s investigating two missing persons cases that might be connected.There’s a sense of closure for Erlendur in the heartbreaking finale scene. After being pushed out of his shell by his daughter Eve - Is he finally able to find some relief in his grief over his lost brother? I hope so.
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LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
There's a subtle elegance to this particular story, considering it's a novel of crime fiction. There are no raging maniacs with axes hanging about, no serial killers, and no serious threats to the people of Reykjavik. In fact, there seems to be a lull in crime as this story opens, and Erlendur has
[Sigurdur Oli asks] " 'What's it to you?'
'Nothing,' Erlendur said. 'Absolutely nothing.'
'I thought you were only interested in missing-person cases.'
'Suicide is a missing-person case too,' Erlendur said and hung up on him."
Given Erlendur's background with the brother who was lost in a blinding snowstorm, his interest in the lost is no surprise. And it's no surprise that he identifies with the ones left behind, for example, the grieving father who has checked in with Erlendur every year since his son vanished. For this man, time is running out because he's dying, and Erlendur wants him to go with answers. There's another missing persons case Erlendur goes back to as well -- that of a young woman who vanished one day, car and all. But it's the suicide that takes most of his time, as he gets into the head of the dead woman, just trying to figure out why.
Hypothermia is an excellent novel, and will give you pause to consider the nature of grieving and loss as you follow Erlendur throughout. Probably more than any of the previous novels in the series, place is itself a character, especially the cold and lonely lakes of Iceland. I loved this book and cannot recommend it highly enough.
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some time to go back to some very cold cases. While pondering the ones that got away unanswered, he becomes involved with a new case, that of a woman who was found hanging in her vacation home. There are no signs to indicate anything other than suicide, but her friend Karen isn't so sure. Karen brings Erlendur a cassette tape of the dead woman's previous session with a medium and gets his attention. Working on his own, with no official police involvement, Erlendur works to find out why this woman took her own life. In a brief phone chat with Sigurdur Oli, when Erlendur notes that he wants to know "why she committed suicide," Erlendur explains why:[Sigurdur Oli asks] " 'What's it to you?'
'Nothing,' Erlendur said. 'Absolutely nothing.'
'I thought you were only interested in missing-person cases.'
'Suicide is a missing-person case too,' Erlendur said and hung up on him."
Given Erlendur's background with the brother who was lost in a blinding snowstorm, his interest in the lost is no surprise. And it's no surprise that he identifies with the ones left behind, for example, the grieving father who has checked in with Erlendur every year since his son vanished. For this man, time is running out because he's dying, and Erlendur wants him to go with answers. There's another missing persons case Erlendur goes back to as well -- that of a young woman who vanished one day, car and all. But it's the suicide that takes most of his time, as he gets into the head of the dead woman, just trying to figure out why.
Hypothermia is an excellent novel, and will give you pause to consider the nature of grieving and loss as you follow Erlendur throughout. Probably more than any of the previous novels in the series, place is itself a character, especially the cold and lonely lakes of Iceland. I loved this book and cannot recommend it highly enough.
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LibraryThing member whirled
Having devoured the first five Erlendur books in recent months, I must confess I found Hypothermia slightly less engaging than the rest. That is partly because Erlendur undertakes an unofficial investigation into a suspicious suicide, which means his usual cohorts Sigurdur Óli and Elinborg are out
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of the picture. On the other hand, the thread about Erlendur's complicated family history continues, allowing fans to fill in a few more gaps about the taciturn detective. The forbidding Reykjavik weather and stomach-churning Icelandic 'cuisine' are also there to help create a familiar gloomy mood. I just didn't find all the talk of seances, spiritual beliefs and the afterlife particularly interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member cameling
An historian is found hanging from a noose in her holiday cottage and a case of suicide is declared. Detective Erlendur, for want of a gruesome homicide to solve, starts to wonder what would cause a seemingly well adjusted woman decide to take her life, leaving behind a grieving husband and many
In an unrelated incidence, the anniversary of his own mother's death looms and with it, memories of his brother who had gone missing during a blizzard when he was 10 years old surface even more frequently.
A visit from an old man whose son had been missing for 30 years gets him reviving a cold case, driven to try and find answers for a father who was himself ill and unlikely to visit him again.
His quiet persistence leads him to raise more questions and uncover interesting answers. He discovers unrecorded medical experiments, love and secrets.
Different from his earlier works, this novel, nonetheless keeps you as enthralled as the others.
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friends. With nothing pressing at work, he begins a private investigation of his own, to try and understand the woman and her past, and his curiosity unravels a childhood with a protective mother who succumbed to cancer 2 years ago, and a traumatic death of her father when he drowned in a lake when she was but 8 years old.In an unrelated incidence, the anniversary of his own mother's death looms and with it, memories of his brother who had gone missing during a blizzard when he was 10 years old surface even more frequently.
A visit from an old man whose son had been missing for 30 years gets him reviving a cold case, driven to try and find answers for a father who was himself ill and unlikely to visit him again.
His quiet persistence leads him to raise more questions and uncover interesting answers. He discovers unrecorded medical experiments, love and secrets.
Different from his earlier works, this novel, nonetheless keeps you as enthralled as the others.
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LibraryThing member willmurdoch
Not really as cold as the title sounds. The Icelandic names are very fun and sound thrilling to timid anglo-saxons. The foods are a bit scary though...
LibraryThing member mtnmamma
an ok mystery, not easy to care about the characters, summer readin sort
LibraryThing member axelsabro
Typically depressive Scandinavian protagonist, but a good rea, his books are hard to put down.
LibraryThing member Ameise1
This is a marvellous story which is taking place in Iceland. Detective Erlendur does his research in his special own way. He can't leave small incidences alone. He is following track to all gossips also they are looking of no importance. His investigations are looking like jigsaws which finally
I enjoyed this story very much. It was enthralling from first until the very last page. I can strongly recommend it.
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come out as whole pictures. Next to a current case he is also solving a 30 years old case and is following his own past up.I enjoyed this story very much. It was enthralling from first until the very last page. I can strongly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member SuzReads
Excellent book! This was my first "Icelandic thriller" and I have to say it was definitely different from an "American thriller" but I still enjoyed it. A detective from Iceland is presented with a suicide that looks suspicious to him so he investigates it even after everyone else has given up on
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it. He is also still trying to find people who have been missing for 20 years. The author does a great job of weaving the multiple investigations together with the life and background of the detective to give us a better understanding of why the detective hates to give up on his cases. Being labeled as a thriller, I expected the pace of the action to be faster but I found the characters so compelling that I was glad to have the extra time to learn about them as the story progressed. If American thrillers are action packed roller coaster rides, then this Icelandic thriller was more like a haunted house ride - periods of calm in which to examine the mysteries of the human psyche mixed with surprising jolts. A very nice ride and I would definitely recommend this book! Show Less
LibraryThing member ritaer
Erlander is forced into meeting with ex-wife by his daughter, con't let go of a suicide and eventually proves it is a murder, but one he cannot prosecute. We are reminded how his brother's disappearance is a blizzard has shaped his life. A dark story.
LibraryThing member enewt823
Another excellend entry in the Inspector Erlendur series. Two unrelated missing persons cases from 30 years ago haunt the inspector and finally get connected and solved by the depressive detective in this Icelandic mystery. The detective's son and daughter figure more in this book than others I
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have read, with Eva Lind (daughter) requesting a meeting between her long separated parents. There is also a suspected "suicide" being investigated off-the-books.With his obvious police intuition, Erlendur smells and discovers something fishy. Again, excellent read and definite recommend to fans of mystery, Indridason or Erlendur. Show Less
LibraryThing member bfister
When a woman is found, an apparent suicide, Erlendur grows curious about what led up to her death. Because it appears cut-and-dried, he pursues his curiosity unofficially, and while he's at it he revisits some unsolved missing persons cases. This series is, as usual, low-keyed and subtle, with a
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deceptively simple surface that conceals many layers. An excellent book, so long as you aren't expecting car chases, deviant serial killers, or explosions. Instead, Arnaldur sets off depth charges that resonate deep inside. Show Less
LibraryThing member jimrbrown
Another brilliant Erlandur story. Hope they translate more to English soon. After reading all his translated novels I feel the need to visit some of his beautiful-sounding but dark-sounding Icelandic locations.
LibraryThing member austcrimefiction
Less of a review - closer to a drool, HYPOTHERMIA is the latest in one of my all time favourite series of books from Icelandic author Arnauldur Indridason. If you've not read any of the earlier books, coming to HYPOTHERMIA from the start could still work, but part of what is really wonderful about
Erlendur is very much of the "rumpled / crumpled" detective genre - somebody who life has dealt some complicated hands to. Whilst he shuffles those cards, the reader is taken through his current life, his relationships with his estranged children, his childhood and his family tragedy. Still with that Nordic sense of constraint, thoughtfulness and introspection, there's also something lighter and hopeful in the sub-themes of HYPOTHERMIA, despite the puzzling suicide of a woman in a beautiful lakeside location. Her obsession with the loss of her mother, and the drowning of her father when she was a child takes Erlendur back to what happened to events from her childhood, somehow giving him permission (or the will) to explore his own history, and the death of his young brother in a blizzard many years before.
Within this series there has always been a strong sense of Icelandic culture and beliefs, from their particular personal name conventions in earlier books, to a real sense of the relationship between the present and the supernatural in this book in particular. And it's not just Erlendur's personal circumstances that leads to an exploration of the past and the present - there is often a theme within the books that pursues exactly the effect that past events (sometimes hidden, sometimes not) have on the current lives of many of the characters.
Along with the rumpled / crumpled detective styling, Erlendur has an admirable sense of justice and duty. He doesn't give up, he doesn't accept the obvious (in this case the rapid verdict of suicide) and he is prepared to stick to the task until the truth is revealed - no matter what the consequences. Having said that he, and this author, are not unaware of the effect of this sort of persistence. Grief, loss, guilt and confusion are beautifully illustrated, as is there often a cheeky sense of humour.
HYPOTHERMIA is an outstanding example of everything that is wonderful about crime. The book transports the reader to the place and the culture in which it is set, the landscape, the people, their particular way of looking at the world are woven into the threads of grief, loss, cause and effect seamlessly. There is pace to the story, alongside lyrical, beautiful storytelling and there are wonderful, believable, flawed characters to follow. Hopefully for lots of books to come.
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this series is the slow unfolding of the backstory of the central detective Erlendur. Erlendur is very much of the "rumpled / crumpled" detective genre - somebody who life has dealt some complicated hands to. Whilst he shuffles those cards, the reader is taken through his current life, his relationships with his estranged children, his childhood and his family tragedy. Still with that Nordic sense of constraint, thoughtfulness and introspection, there's also something lighter and hopeful in the sub-themes of HYPOTHERMIA, despite the puzzling suicide of a woman in a beautiful lakeside location. Her obsession with the loss of her mother, and the drowning of her father when she was a child takes Erlendur back to what happened to events from her childhood, somehow giving him permission (or the will) to explore his own history, and the death of his young brother in a blizzard many years before.
Within this series there has always been a strong sense of Icelandic culture and beliefs, from their particular personal name conventions in earlier books, to a real sense of the relationship between the present and the supernatural in this book in particular. And it's not just Erlendur's personal circumstances that leads to an exploration of the past and the present - there is often a theme within the books that pursues exactly the effect that past events (sometimes hidden, sometimes not) have on the current lives of many of the characters.
Along with the rumpled / crumpled detective styling, Erlendur has an admirable sense of justice and duty. He doesn't give up, he doesn't accept the obvious (in this case the rapid verdict of suicide) and he is prepared to stick to the task until the truth is revealed - no matter what the consequences. Having said that he, and this author, are not unaware of the effect of this sort of persistence. Grief, loss, guilt and confusion are beautifully illustrated, as is there often a cheeky sense of humour.
HYPOTHERMIA is an outstanding example of everything that is wonderful about crime. The book transports the reader to the place and the culture in which it is set, the landscape, the people, their particular way of looking at the world are woven into the threads of grief, loss, cause and effect seamlessly. There is pace to the story, alongside lyrical, beautiful storytelling and there are wonderful, believable, flawed characters to follow. Hopefully for lots of books to come.
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LibraryThing member cmeilink
I received a free copy of this book from First Reads and I couldn't put it down. The pace of the story was perfect and Indridason's characters were wonderful.
Erlendur is an inspector with the Reykjavík police force who becomes intrigued with the case of an apparent suicide. Although nothing seems
While pursuing the leads on this case, he also recommences his work on two long dead cases of a young man and a young woman who went missing 30 years ago. The father of the missing boy is dying and before he dies, Erlendur wants to uncover the mystery surrounding the boy's disappearance.
With excellent pacing, Erlendur slowly uncovers the truth behind the suicide and the disappearances. This book is a great read!
Although I've never read any of Indridason's prior works, I was so impressed by this book that I will be reading his other books as well. I highly recommend Hypothermia!
Erlendur is an inspector with the Reykjavík police force who becomes intrigued with the case of an apparent suicide. Although nothing seems
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particularly suspicious, he cannot let the case go and methodically follows the threads of the case to see where they might lead.While pursuing the leads on this case, he also recommences his work on two long dead cases of a young man and a young woman who went missing 30 years ago. The father of the missing boy is dying and before he dies, Erlendur wants to uncover the mystery surrounding the boy's disappearance.
With excellent pacing, Erlendur slowly uncovers the truth behind the suicide and the disappearances. This book is a great read!
Although I've never read any of Indridason's prior works, I was so impressed by this book that I will be reading his other books as well. I highly recommend Hypothermia!
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LibraryThing member missizicks
I found it hard to warm to this story at first. It was in a different style to the others, but once it got going it was as gripping as all the books in the series so far have been. It has an enigmatic ending.
LibraryThing member jmyers24
Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson is back full force in Hypothermia, the sixth title in Arnaldur Indridason's Icelandic detective series following a somewhat anemic Artic Chill. This time around the plodding but relentless Erlendur is called out to investigate the apparent suicide of a young woman named
Unlike earlier titles in the series, Hypothermia makes little mention of the rest of Erlendur's squad. But the narrative does build on the tragic event in Erlendur's childhood—the blizzard that caused his brother's certain death—and also adds to the story behind the detective's failed marriage. Of course, true to form, Erlendur is also working some cold cases from the past that he cannot bring himself to abandon--missing persons cases that he continues to investigate hoping against hope that he will finally solve them and bring some closure to their families. This stubborn persistence against all odds is what makes Erlendur an endearing character despite his rather dull and gloomy personality. He does not give up, and so we cannot give up on him.
Indridason has done a great job of producing a novel that can stand on its own or be read as part of the series. The plot contains some definite surprises and, as always, Iceland is a fascinating character in and of itself. This one's a definite win for Erlendur and Indridason.
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Maria who was found hanging from a beam in the living room of her holiday cottage by a friend, Karen, who had asked to use the lake cottage for the weekend. The lake by the cottage is also where Maria's father drowned when she was just a small child Although there is nothing at the cottage to suggest any other conclusion but suicide, Erlendur is disturbed by a tape Karen brings him of a session the deceased had with a psychic after her mother passed away. Without any evidence of a crime, Erlender cannot pursue an official investigation. Instead, he decides to pursue the case on his own, risking his career in the process.Unlike earlier titles in the series, Hypothermia makes little mention of the rest of Erlendur's squad. But the narrative does build on the tragic event in Erlendur's childhood—the blizzard that caused his brother's certain death—and also adds to the story behind the detective's failed marriage. Of course, true to form, Erlendur is also working some cold cases from the past that he cannot bring himself to abandon--missing persons cases that he continues to investigate hoping against hope that he will finally solve them and bring some closure to their families. This stubborn persistence against all odds is what makes Erlendur an endearing character despite his rather dull and gloomy personality. He does not give up, and so we cannot give up on him.
Indridason has done a great job of producing a novel that can stand on its own or be read as part of the series. The plot contains some definite surprises and, as always, Iceland is a fascinating character in and of itself. This one's a definite win for Erlendur and Indridason.
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LibraryThing member callmecayce
I think this was actually his best that I've read. I think maybe part of it was the fact that this book has a new translator, but really I think it's because the plot was so utterly enthralling. Usually, Indriðason's Detective Erlendur deals with a murder that he and his coworkers must solve. But
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in Hypothermia, there is no real murder, but instead a suicide. Which you think would make the novel kind of lame, but instead it's fascinating. It's about Erlendur's obsession with this suicide, as well as with several open missing persons cases. And we also get to spend more time with Erlendur's family, and his past. I really loved this one best. Show Less
LibraryThing member smik
When a woman hangs herself in her lakeside retreat, the friend who finds the body is convinced that while she was depressed she was not suicidal. Erlendur on the other hand wants to understand why she did it.
It appears that Maria has never recovered from the death of her mother a few months before,
Erlendur is visited by the father of a university student who disappeared nearly two decades before. The visits have become annual but now the old man reveals he has only a matter of weeks to live. Erlendur decides to make one last effort on the cold case and finds out something that he missed at the time.
Erlendur's own narrow scrape with death, when his younger brother disappeared, is never far from his thoughts. He tells his daughter Eva Lind that no day passes without him thinking about it. Eva Lind on the other hand wants her parents, estranged for nearly all her life, to get back together. Erlendur is convinced that it will never happen.
This is an engrossing, many stranded novel, delivered in Indridason's typically spare style. It progresses our understanding of what makes Erlendur tick, at the same time allowing the new reader to treat the book almost as a stand alone. Indridason gives sufficient backstory I think, although that is always hard to judge when you have read most of the offerings in a series.
It would be tempting to simply see HYPOTHERMIA as an Icelandic contribution to the police procedural genre, but in Erlendur we have a detective who is driven by more than the need to solve a case. In fact in this novel he is often operating outside the team. His colleagues know he is working on something but not what. He calls in favours and pursues threads because of hunches. Even when working with a colleague he will go beyond the agreed procedures.
It appears that Maria has never recovered from the death of her mother a few months before,
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or perhaps the drowning of her father when she was barely a teenager. She has been consulting psychics and is convinced her dead mother is leaving messages for her.Erlendur is visited by the father of a university student who disappeared nearly two decades before. The visits have become annual but now the old man reveals he has only a matter of weeks to live. Erlendur decides to make one last effort on the cold case and finds out something that he missed at the time.
Erlendur's own narrow scrape with death, when his younger brother disappeared, is never far from his thoughts. He tells his daughter Eva Lind that no day passes without him thinking about it. Eva Lind on the other hand wants her parents, estranged for nearly all her life, to get back together. Erlendur is convinced that it will never happen.
This is an engrossing, many stranded novel, delivered in Indridason's typically spare style. It progresses our understanding of what makes Erlendur tick, at the same time allowing the new reader to treat the book almost as a stand alone. Indridason gives sufficient backstory I think, although that is always hard to judge when you have read most of the offerings in a series.
It would be tempting to simply see HYPOTHERMIA as an Icelandic contribution to the police procedural genre, but in Erlendur we have a detective who is driven by more than the need to solve a case. In fact in this novel he is often operating outside the team. His colleagues know he is working on something but not what. He calls in favours and pursues threads because of hunches. Even when working with a colleague he will go beyond the agreed procedures.
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LibraryThing member maneekuhi
Hypothermia is the sixth book in the Erlendur series by Arnauld Indridason, a series that continues to get better and better. The novel begins with a suicide, and like most Erlendur books it also deals with cases unsolved for many years. Add to this the on-going shadow of the tragic death of
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Erlendur's younger brother at the age of eight, a death that continues to haunt. There are many ghosts in this story, not the ghosts of halloween nor TV serials but rather the spirits who may await those who believe in life after death, the main theme of this book. This story is principally Erlendur's; his police colleagues play rather minor roles here, and that is a good break. His difficulties in connecting with his grown children remain, but there is positive movement in this story. Altogether a very satisfying addition to the series; fans will be eager for the next. Hypothermia earns a very rare 5-star from ths reviewer. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
Another excellent book from this Icelandic writer. Indridason doesn't paint a very pretty picture of Reykjavic and Iceland but it is probably more realistic than the tourist brochures.
Detective Erlendur of the Reykjavic police force isn't very busy when a call comes in about a woman's body being
As Erlendur accumulates more and more information about all of these cases a picture starts to emerge and the title is a clue to solving all of them. Quite captivating.
Detective Erlendur of the Reykjavic police force isn't very busy when a call comes in about a woman's body being
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found in a cottage on a lake outside of Reykjavic. Maria lived in the capital with her husband Baldvin, a medical doctor. It fell to Erlendur to notify Baldvin of Maria's death and that it appeared she had committed suicide. A few days later a friend of Maria's came to Erlendur with some concerns about the death; she had actually found Maria's body and she was having trouble believing Maria would commit suicide. She gave Erlendur a tape of a session Maria had with a medium. Maria had been obsessed with life after death, particularly since the death of her mother two years earlier. The friend wondered if this obsession had something to do with her death. Since Erlendur didn't have much on his plate at the time he started nosing around, asking questions of Maria and Baldvin's friends and acquaintances. This part of the investigation reminded me so much of the Columbo TV series as Erlendur kept rooting out more and more information. At the same time Erlendur was also looking at two cold cases of young people who had disappeared 30 years ago. The father of a young boy who went missing without a trace is near to death and Erlendur would like to solve the disappearance before he dies. Missing children is a cause close to Erlendur's heart since his own brother disappeared in a blizzard when he was young. No trace was ever found of him but Erlendur thinks of him every day and has been searching ever since. Only Erlendur's daughter, Eva Lind, knows about Erlendur's missing brother. Erlendur left his wife when Eva and her brother Sindri were very young and only recently has Erlendur been able to have any kind of a relationship with his children. The knowledge about Erlendur's missing brother seems to have gone some way to heal the rift between them. As Erlendur accumulates more and more information about all of these cases a picture starts to emerge and the title is a clue to solving all of them. Quite captivating.
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LibraryThing member jerhogan
Up to the usual strong standard of this series. A great setting - Iceland in Winter - for a crime novel, especially one read in a heatwave!
LibraryThing member bsquaredinoz
A woman is found hanged in her weekend cottage but all indicators point to suicide. Erlendur of the Reykjavik Police must talk to the woman’s husband but it seems to be a matter of routine. At around the same time Erlendur is reminded of one of his earliest cases: the disappearance some 30 years
I’ve been trying for a couple of days but I can’t seem to explain why I found a book in which there’s not a great deal of action as quite as compelling and moving as I did.
As I read the book almost in a single sitting, I fell asleep at about 2:00am with a handful of pages to go and quickly devoured them the next morning, the word that kept popping into my head was yearning. Maria, the woman whose body was found hanged, is yearning so much for her mother who recently died and her father who died many years earlier that she is driven to seek out psychics and mediums. Erlendur too is yearning for a resolution to his own childhood tragedy which saw his only brother disappear forever in a wild storm one night. Erlendur adult daughter forces her estranged parents to talk with each other so that she might know the kind of family life she never had. And what dying father of a long-disappeared young man wouldn’t yearn to know what had happened to a much-loved son?
The way this is all teased out is via a rather simple but effective plot which involves Erlendur talking to the friends, relatives and acquaintances of both Maria and David and slowly piecing together each jigsaw puzzle. He does it without any official warrant so has virtually no assistance from his colleagues but the book is still a procedural of sorts I suppose.
Of course it’s impossible for a monolingual person like me to know for certain but I feel, by virtue of its invisibility if nothing else, that the translation is sensitive to the author’s original intent. It is certainly a very readable book in its English form. The sense of place in the book too is strong. Physically this is primarily due to the setting of several key scenes in and around Iceland’s lakes, in particular Lake Thingvellir (when Erlendur and his daughter spend a day driving around to see several lakes I couldn’t help but hit google for some images). Intellectually we see the interconnectedness between people and events that must be a part of life in a country f only 300,000 people and there is an undercurrent of the country’s folklore sitting, however uncomfortably, side by side with things modern.
Hypothermia is without the kind of explosive drama that a lot of crime fiction thrives on but, for me anyway, the subtle drama of these exquisitely depicted, intertwining stories was equally as intriguing. It is sad, though not depressing, thoughtful and ultimately quite beautiful.
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previously of a young man named David whose father is now dying and Erlendur feels obligated to look into the case one last time. Although there is no identifiable action to take on either case Erlendur finds them occupying his thoughts and he becomes somewhat obsessed by uncovering the facts relating to each incident.I’ve been trying for a couple of days but I can’t seem to explain why I found a book in which there’s not a great deal of action as quite as compelling and moving as I did.
As I read the book almost in a single sitting, I fell asleep at about 2:00am with a handful of pages to go and quickly devoured them the next morning, the word that kept popping into my head was yearning. Maria, the woman whose body was found hanged, is yearning so much for her mother who recently died and her father who died many years earlier that she is driven to seek out psychics and mediums. Erlendur too is yearning for a resolution to his own childhood tragedy which saw his only brother disappear forever in a wild storm one night. Erlendur adult daughter forces her estranged parents to talk with each other so that she might know the kind of family life she never had. And what dying father of a long-disappeared young man wouldn’t yearn to know what had happened to a much-loved son?
The way this is all teased out is via a rather simple but effective plot which involves Erlendur talking to the friends, relatives and acquaintances of both Maria and David and slowly piecing together each jigsaw puzzle. He does it without any official warrant so has virtually no assistance from his colleagues but the book is still a procedural of sorts I suppose.
Of course it’s impossible for a monolingual person like me to know for certain but I feel, by virtue of its invisibility if nothing else, that the translation is sensitive to the author’s original intent. It is certainly a very readable book in its English form. The sense of place in the book too is strong. Physically this is primarily due to the setting of several key scenes in and around Iceland’s lakes, in particular Lake Thingvellir (when Erlendur and his daughter spend a day driving around to see several lakes I couldn’t help but hit google for some images). Intellectually we see the interconnectedness between people and events that must be a part of life in a country f only 300,000 people and there is an undercurrent of the country’s folklore sitting, however uncomfortably, side by side with things modern.
Hypothermia is without the kind of explosive drama that a lot of crime fiction thrives on but, for me anyway, the subtle drama of these exquisitely depicted, intertwining stories was equally as intriguing. It is sad, though not depressing, thoughtful and ultimately quite beautiful.
Show Less
LibraryThing member reader68
Slow to get going but in the end it all comes together. 2 old cases of missing young people and one current suicide. Excellent.
Language
Original language
Icelandic
ISBN
9780099532279
Original publication date
2007