Tainted blood in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 20, 2008 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: noir, iceland

An intriguing Icelandic mystery suffused with a sense of quiet tragedy.

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 02, 2022 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, audio, translation, mystery-nord, mono-covers

I got off to a rough start with this book. A lot of the issues I had were "me" problems, not the book's fault at all.

I listened to the audiobook, and I always have an attention problem at the beginning of any audiobook, so I missed some things. Plus the Icelandic names are unusual and hard for me to remember who was who. I kept confusing Erlendur and Elinborg, they both sound like "errlinbur" to me. So a quarter of the way in, I was thinking: "what is going on? First he is inspecting a murder s I got off to a rough start with this book. A lot of the issues I had were "me" problems, not the book's fault at all.

I listened to the audiobook, and I always have an attention problem at the beginning of any audiobook, so I missed some things. Plus the Icelandic names are unusual and hard for me to remember who was who. I kept confusing Erlendur and Elinborg, they both sound like "errlinbur" to me. So a quarter of the way in, I was thinking: "what is going on? First he is inspecting a murder scene, then he's asked to check on a missing woman as a favor to a friend, then there is some other guy he's looking for, then there's a rape charge against someone. I thought this was a murder, why is this a rape now?" I kept listening, and the connection slowly became clear to me.

The "jar city" of the American title is a collection of body parts in jars kept in various medical research facilities - the detective is horrified to discover this practice, but I failed to understand why he is so shocked and upset. Isn't it fairly normal for medical researchers to have tissue samples? (The Icelandic title is "The Bog" which perhaps makes more sense, but is less attention-getting.)

The mystery is all wrapped up in genetic studies which were probably cutting edge when this was first published, but by 2022 it's all old hat.

The cover art of my edition (same cover shown on the GR page) is very striking. When they discovered that one of the persons of interest was a hobby photographer, and had buried rolls and rolls of film under his house, I was hoping that it would tie into the cover image, but it did not.

The audiobook was read by George Guidall, who reads with the same exact voice and style that he uses with the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn, which is a series I enjoy, but it's a pulpy thriller, so that's the attitude I brought to Jar City, also. It was hard to take it seriously.

Also, I am just so over detectives with messy family situations, ex-wives who hate them, substance abuse problems, the works, and I am sick of mysteries that involve pornography, sexual abuse, and rape. Can't you just murder someone without raping them? Is that not enough these days?? ...more

Like · see review

Sep 16, 2007 Pam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Read April 06 & re-read for book discussion in 08/07

TITLE/AUTHOR: JAR CITY by Arnaldur Indridason
RATING: 5/A
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Mystery 2004, 275 pgs
TIME/PLACE: 2000, Reykjavik, Iceland
CHARACTERS: Inspector Erlendur
COMMENTS: 1st in police procedural sent in Iceland.
An old man is found murdered in his apt. A cryptic note
& a photo of a young girls grave from 40 yrs ago are
clues that lead Inspector back to cold case. Excellent debut!

Like · see review

Mar 22, 2019 Jen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, murders-mysteries-thrills, nordic, science-related, z-2019-read, around-the-world

The mystery in this Icelandic police procedural was pretty good, but I felt like I was missing something when it came to the characters. Possibly that's because this is the 3rd book in the series and the 1st and 2nd aren't available in English, so I couldn't start at the beginning. Or maybe it was the translation, which seemed a little spotty in places. Still, a decent, atmospheric read. ...more

Like · see review

Nov 03, 2010 Madeleine rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller, series, scandinavia

Good option for police-detective mystery/crime fiction (which I realize I *just* said isn't my thing). The Icelandic setting is cool, the translation seems good, and it's not too graphic/gross/etc. I was concerned that I would feel like I was missing a lot of backstory (this is not the first book in the series, but the first to be translated into English), but that wasn't an issue. ...more

Like · see review