Inspector Erlendur returns in this gripping Icelandic thriller. When a skeleton is discovered half-buried in a construction site outside of Reykjav...
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Nov 18, 2008
Nancy
rated it: 
Don't pick this one up if you want something warm and fuzzy -- it's definitely the opposite. But then again, it's gloominess somehow seems a propos, considering not only the main story here, but the ongoing story of Erlandur Sveinsson, the main character here. He's not a happy man, nor does he have any reason to be -- his children hate him, his ex-wife lies about him and he's got ghosts from his past that continually haunt him. But as a detective, he's got to let all of that go so that he can
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Feb 04, 2012
Mary
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This is yet again, another great read from this author. I love this series with the desperate Erlendur and his troubled life. Here, his drug addict daughter, loses her baby and lies in intensive care, close to death herself. Erlendur is involved in a cold case of bones that have been uncovered in a site where a lot of the landscape has changed and the initial timeline is that the bones are maybe 50/60 years old. There is a back-story of a family who once lived nearby during WW2 and the wife who
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Dec 05, 2011
Carolyn
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Any doubts about Arnaldur's talent as a wonderful novelist are absolutely dispelled in this multi themed book. On the simplest level, it is a detective thriller in which Erlendur and the team are investigating the origin of human bones found in a new building project. It quickly transpires that these remains are at least 50 years old, making the identification of the victim very difficult.
This is where Erlendur is able to exercise his special talent: searching for missing person/s has in More...
This is where Erlendur is able to exercise his special talent: searching for missing person/s has in More...
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Aug 25, 2008
Gary
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Cold Case
If you're a fan of crime fiction and well-plotted mysteries, and are on the lookout for a fresh new face in a crowded genre, then you'll be doing yourself a favor by trying Arnaldur Indridason and his captivating "Silence of the Grave".
Back from last year's "Jar City" is Erlendur Sveinsson, the jaded Reykjavik police detective plodding bitterly though a life of regrets. A skeleton is found while excavating a new housing project, quickly deter More...
If you're a fan of crime fiction and well-plotted mysteries, and are on the lookout for a fresh new face in a crowded genre, then you'll be doing yourself a favor by trying Arnaldur Indridason and his captivating "Silence of the Grave".
Back from last year's "Jar City" is Erlendur Sveinsson, the jaded Reykjavik police detective plodding bitterly though a life of regrets. A skeleton is found while excavating a new housing project, quickly deter More...
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Feb 08, 2009
Toni
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In a Reykjavik suburb during a building excavation, a body is found in a shallow grave. This part of the city was once open hills. Detective Erlendur and his team investigate and hope this will solve a cold case. Things are never that simple...Complicated by the age of the burial, Erlendur team's work slowly through all the possibilities... The hills reveal more than their share of family tragedy, brutally and heartache..
Erlendur is also confronted by the mess of his own family. Eva More...
Erlendur is also confronted by the mess of his own family. Eva More...
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Dec 08, 2008
Austensibly
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A skeleton is unearthed while a suburban housing tract is being built outside of Reykyavik, bringing a world-weary inspector known for carefully reconstructing cold cases to the scene. He's a cold fish himself. Meticulous to the core, he calls in archeologists to fully uncover the skeleton, then laments his decision as they apply their learned methodology, waiting out the clock. In fact, there are few characters in this book that don't leave you feeling as though Icelanders must have ice wate
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Jan 24, 2012
Ishmael
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A worthy second novel/mystery. From the opening line: He knew at once it was a human bone; to the closing line, takes the reader on quite a ride. He also has a way of closing a series of paragraphs, with a line that grabs your attention and shifts everything so you are no longer certain where the storyline is going: The only thing they found of Jon was his hand. It was in a blue mitten.
The setting is Iceland. Erlandur is an excellent detective, but not so excellent a father, divorced and e More...
The setting is Iceland. Erlandur is an excellent detective, but not so excellent a father, divorced and e More...
Jan 08, 2012
Monica
rated it:
When a teething child at a birthday party turns out to be chewing on a long buried human rib, it's the beginning of another hard slog for Erlendur and his team.
The bone came from a construction site, and it will require the help of a team of archaeologists to unearth the entire skeleton. In the meanwhile, the detectives are canvassing residents of the sparsely populated area, trying to find out who may have lived nearby during WWII. There was an American army base, and a few local f More...
The bone came from a construction site, and it will require the help of a team of archaeologists to unearth the entire skeleton. In the meanwhile, the detectives are canvassing residents of the sparsely populated area, trying to find out who may have lived nearby during WWII. There was an American army base, and a few local f More...
Dec 29, 2011
Eve
rated it:
This book was a little slow to start, but I nonetheless finished it in two days. I enjoyed it because it was 1) set in Iceland (a country about which I knew nothing when I cracked the cover) and 2) the developing mystery, characters, and different storylines kept me in suspense until the end. Be forewarned - it's a gentle build of tension until the end. But in the final 30 pages when the strings of the story started to come together, I found myself wanting to flip ahead and make sure it worke
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Oct 24, 2011
Cmorice
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Ce roman, prix Clé de verre 2003 du roman noir scandinave, signe le grand retour du commissaire Erlendur et des adjoints Elinborg et Sigurdur Oli. Les lecteurs français avaient été conquis par le précédent roman noir d’Arnaldur Indridason. Ils le seront de nouveau avec cette épatante histoire qui navigue entre passé et présent, et dont la mémoire historique forme la dynamique interne.
Tout commence par la découverte sur un chantier d’un squelette vieux de soixante ans par le commissaire et s More...
Tout commence par la découverte sur un chantier d’un squelette vieux de soixante ans par le commissaire et s More...
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Jul 29, 2011
Catherine
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A corpse is found on a hill in the outskirts of Reykjavik. It looks like it has already been there for a long time, but the excavation goes terribly slow because a team of archaeologists is carrying out the work. In the meantime inspector Erlendur and his colleagues try to get a picture of what happened 50 to 70 years ago. Slowly but surely they find out the awful truth. In between the story line of the investigation, there is another storyline about a family consisting of a father, mother, 2 br
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Jun 10, 2011
C
rated it: 
Loved how it was set in Iceland.
Detectives are trying to figure out the identity of bones found buried in a new subdivision outside Reykjavík. The story flashes back between the detectives in present day and a woman, her three kids and her abusive husband. The woman marries this man after her first husband dies and after they're married he turns out to be a total psycho. She is subjected to systematic physical and verbal abuse and her children are verbally abused as well. She tri More...
Detectives are trying to figure out the identity of bones found buried in a new subdivision outside Reykjavík. The story flashes back between the detectives in present day and a woman, her three kids and her abusive husband. The woman marries this man after her first husband dies and after they're married he turns out to be a total psycho. She is subjected to systematic physical and verbal abuse and her children are verbally abused as well. She tri More...
Nov 22, 2010
Danielle
rated it:
I always enjoy reading mysteries set in foreign lands for the extra fillip of a free armchair traveler experience. Lately I’ve embarked on Janwillam van de Wetering’s fine and lively Amsterdam cops series. I own a collection of Georges Simeon’s classic Maigrets, which are some of the most tightly plotted of all police mysteries. A foray into modern post-Maoist China and colorful Mumbai were also on my reading list these last few years, not to mention John Burdett’s wild and crazy Bangkok stor
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Jun 29, 2010
Sandra
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Not a book to read if you’re having a down day! It starts when a guest at a child’s birthday party notices that the baby is teething on a human bone---and it gets darker from there. In fact, this novel makes it difficult for me to believe that the sun ever shines in Iceland. The murder mystery is essentially the investigation of this cold case. To whom does the bone belong? How did the person meet his or her death? Was there a perpetrator? Who was it and is he or she still alive?
The More...
The More...
Jan 02, 2010
Joje
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I read this book just after “The Book Thief”. The social milieu is not very different, despite the differences in the countries, and yet the atmosphere is much bleaker. I guess that goes with being a detective novel, and no one has Hitler to blame it all on so they can get on with being warm human beings despite the disadvantages. How the most battered of all the characters ends up being the warmest, most human, however, does however stand out, just as in the English-language book. The main them
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Dec 26, 2009
Tony
rated it:
Indridason, Arnaldur. SILENCE OF THE GRAVE. (2006). ****. In a new suburb of Reykjavik, where new housing construction is under way, pieces of human bones are found in what would soon become the basement of a new house. Detective Inspector Erlendur and his staff are called to the scene. Not knowing if the bones are of historical interest or not, Erlendur calls in the staff of the archaeology department of the local college to perform the dig. From the few bones that they can see, however,
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Oct 02, 2009
When a toddler at her brother’s birthday party is found chewing on what turns out to be a human bone, Inspector Erlendur Svinsson is called on the case. It turns out that the bone is a piece of a skeleton found buried near a new construction site on the outskirts of Reykjavik--and the victim may have been buried alive: the skeleton’s chest is crushed and its hand reaches upwards, as if trying to dig itself out from the ground. As Erlendur and his team seek answers, their research takes them back
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Apr 09, 2009
The
rated it:
Although Nordmosen, another book from the same Icelandic author, was announced as the best Nordisk Krimi, I certainly think that Tavs som Graven (Silence as the grave) deserves the prize (not "price" as most Danes spell it :P ) better.
After reading Manden i Søen, Nordmosen and this book, I begin to believe that Indriðason is indeed an excellent Icelandic krimi author. Manden i søen is perhaps not as dazzling as the two latter books I mentioned but now that I know his writin More...
After reading Manden i Søen, Nordmosen and this book, I begin to believe that Indriðason is indeed an excellent Icelandic krimi author. Manden i søen is perhaps not as dazzling as the two latter books I mentioned but now that I know his writin More...
Sep 28, 2009
Jim
rated it:
It is just possible that the great literary works of the future will be in formerly humble genres such as mysteries, fantasies, and romance. Perhaps we will just admit that Moby Dick was the Great American Novel after all, and that we don't have to rewrite Don Quixote or the works of Balzac, Anthony Trollope, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Henry James.
During my travels, I tend to concentrate on mysteries and spy novels; and I would not be surprised that my thoughts are the result of readin More...
During my travels, I tend to concentrate on mysteries and spy novels; and I would not be surprised that my thoughts are the result of readin More...
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Jan 17, 2010
Martha
rated it:
This fairly dark Icelandic thriller reads like a screenplay - quick paced, little interior dialogue, nice tidy resolution. Domestic abuse throughout, but other than that, its a fun read.
The author has three stories going on at once - the grave site excavation, a hellacious family during World War 2, and the Inspector's daughter in a hospital. All three cut in and out, really making this a good thriller.
Observations:
1) Many sentences have no subject, such as (made More...
The author has three stories going on at once - the grave site excavation, a hellacious family during World War 2, and the Inspector's daughter in a hospital. All three cut in and out, really making this a good thriller.
Observations:
1) Many sentences have no subject, such as (made More...
Aug 23, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Detective Erlendur is a man as frozen as the chilly, bleak Icelandic landscape he inhabits. Haunted by the death of his brother who disappeared in a storm when they were just boys, never finding his body has eaten away at him ever since. Unable to move on from what happened, he abandoned his family years ago and his work is his sole companion.
In Silence of the Grave, the discovery of a skeleton prompts fears that a murderer has got away with the killing for decades. As well as tryi More...
In Silence of the Grave, the discovery of a skeleton prompts fears that a murderer has got away with the killing for decades. As well as tryi More...
Jun 24, 2011
Alibiserver
rated it:
This is my first Arnaldur Indidrason novel and at the surface level, Erneldur bears a lot of similarities to the more popular Kurt Wallander. Both have turbulent marriages, have estranged daughters, and own failings. What strikes me about Erneldur is how Indidrason writes about him.
A new development is taking place in the outskirts of Reykjavik, and along with the scent of progress comes the scent of discovery. After a kid found a human rib bone on that development, further digging rev More...
A new development is taking place in the outskirts of Reykjavik, and along with the scent of progress comes the scent of discovery. After a kid found a human rib bone on that development, further digging rev More...
Nov 10, 2009
Martha
rated it:
This is an interesting offering in the series by this author because it includes a journey from present day into the past. The reader never knows who it is buried upright in the secret grave until the last chapter. It is wonderful that, although the author gives us plenty of information, even revealing the whole story from a present day survivor perspective towards the end, noone can really guess the ending until the last few pages. These are the characteristics of a great mystery writer, and
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Mar 30, 2010
Yngvild
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Silence of the Grave (Grafarþögn) is a standard Nordic mystery with a focus on drug addicts and domestic abuse. Murder is just a side effect of all these social ills. The inevitably dour detective, distracted by his equally inevitable family problems, untangles a long skein of abuse leading from the lonely Reykjavík grave of a murder victim.
In other words, this is not suitable reading for a dreary November day when everything has gone wrong, but it does address issues that need to More...
In other words, this is not suitable reading for a dreary November day when everything has gone wrong, but it does address issues that need to More...
Apr 02, 2009
dannymac
rated it:
A fascinating read that'll appeal to anyone who has visited Iceland or who wants to go there. Its appeal will also be appreciated by those who enjoy a good mystery constructed out of complicated characters with a nod to an equally complex history. An intriguing read, I couldn't put it down once I got passed the first couple of chapters. It's written in an uncomplicated prose (every once in a while, the author throws in a $5 word just to make sure you're paying attention) with a linear narrative
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Jan 25, 2009
Ali
rated it:
This is probably not my usual sort of book. Although I sometimes read cosy type mysteries and Agatha Christie I tend to stay away from modern crime novels. This however is much more than a crime novel - although the mystery part of the story is very well done, and not gory and horrible at all. This is the story of the people of Iceland - a country I have always wanted to visit. The main character Erlendur a man obsessed with Icelandic stories of those who go missing in the snow or while travelli
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Aug 27, 2011
Rachel
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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May 05, 2011
S.D.
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This was our library mystery book club read for the month. I have become fond of books from across the pond. Mo Hayder, Ken Bruen, James Thompson, Peter James, Stephen Booth, are some of my favorite authors. SILENCE OF THE GRAVE is set in a village on the outskirts of Reykjavik, Iceland. Inspector Erlendur and his team are investigating a skeleton a construction crew uncovered. Archeologists are called in for the slow, meticulous unveiling. Without knowing if the deceased is a male or female,
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Jan 10, 2009
I actually read this book wice. The first time, my partner read it out loud to me from the print edition as we were about to leave for a trip to Scandinavia, including Iceland. I was able to get it a second time, purchsed on tape through Isis. I hope I can find his other books, and that I can afford them if they have to be purchased through Isis. The book began with an event that caught your attention right awa. The protagonist detective went to visit his sister's family. The little boy wa
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Jan 22, 2012
Erin
rated it:
Matt and I recently watched the movie version of the first book in this author's series, called Jar City. The story concerned both a strange murder in Iceland's capital city, and the protagonist's lonely life with a daughter trying to overcome a drug addiction.
Even though this seems a familiar story to many of us, I really liked the sequel to Jar City, Silence of the Grave. I think the protagonist, Erlandur, is well conceived. Yes, he has the haunting past and crappy home life of othe More...
Even though this seems a familiar story to many of us, I really liked the sequel to Jar City, Silence of the Grave. I think the protagonist, Erlandur, is well conceived. Yes, he has the haunting past and crappy home life of othe More...
