Product Description

A man is found murdered in his Reykjavik flat. There are no obvious clues apart from a cryptic note left on the body and a photograph of a young girl's grave. Detective Erlendur is forced to use all the forensic resources available to find any leads at all. Delving into the dead man's life he discovers that forty years ago he was accused of an appalling crime. Did his past come back to haunt him? Finally, Erlendur's search leads him to Iceland's Genetic Research Centre in order to find the disturbing answers to the mystery. This prizewinning international bestseller is the first in a new series of crime novels set in Iceland.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #135968 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Val McDermid
'A fascinating window on an unfamiliar world as well as an original and puzzling mystery'

From the Publisher
A fascinating window on an unfamiliar world as well as an original and puzzling mystery - Val McDermid

About the Author
Arnaldur Indrioason was born in 1961, the son of an Icelandic author. Having worked for many years as a journalist and reviewer for an Icelandic newspaper, he began writing novels. He won the Nordic Crime Novel Award for Tainted Blood (originally published in the UK under the title Jar City) and, in the following year, for its sequel, Silence of the Grave. Tainted Blood is his first novel to be translated into English.

Customer Reviews

A story from the real world
Tainted Blood is a wonderful introduction to Indridason's work. The novel is set in a grey, rainy Iceland, with a number of characters whose lives are damaged or flawed. Some parts are suitably depressing, and there is a streak of fatalism in the characters that is reminiscent of Henning Mankell's work.

I shall give none of the plot away, except to note that the Icelandic location proves to be important - part of the plot would be implausible anywhere else. The two leading detectives make a well-matched pair, and Erlandur's relations - or lack of them - with his ex-wife and children are a recurrent theme in the novel. A pat on the back too for the excellent translation; I speak no Icelandic, so I cannot tell whether it is accurate, but it manages to convey differences between characters' backgrounds in the dialogue and to give the strong impression that the book was written in English in the first place.

The death of a monster
Inspecteur Erlendur has to solve the murder of an elderly man, Holberg, who is found with a crushed skull in his own appartment. During the investigation Erlendur finds out that Holberg was a real monster whose past has now caught up with him. Erlendur's quest in the pouring Iceland autumn rain takes him via rapes, heartless policemen, illegitimate children and murder in the past to a solution that has everything to do with modern times. And in the meantime he has to cope with pain in his breast and a daughter that is on drugs.

A book from Iceland in the best tradition of the Scandinavian thrillers: a slightly chagrined police inspector and a lot of attention for the backgrounds of the crimes and victims. A skillful mixture of thriller and literature. Wonderful to read.

a rival to Mankell
A first rate piece of Crime writing that avoids many of the cliches inherent in the genre and is strong enough stand outside of Crime, appealing to any fans of good fiction. Personally I think this does challenge Mankell, although other reviewers are not so sure yet. Worth investigating now as we are early in the series. One to watch with interest.