Voices and Balconies – the last of the Nordic Noir.
It’s the time of the year when, on opening the back door to let the sunshine in, it’s not uncommon to find a stray sheep or two grazing on our lawn. Spring has sprung! The daffodils and primroses are out in force and Easter is just around the corner, so I feel I ought to apologise for continuing to inflict my Nordic Noir obsession on you all. It’s time to put away those chunky knits and I promise this will be my last icy crime post – well, for a while at least!
If you like your Noir extra chilled, Arnaldur Indriðason’s Voices is about as bleak and wintry as you can get. Set a few days before Christmas in a hotel in Reykjavik, the long-serving doorman, whose various duties include dressing up as Santa, is found dead in his room, in his seasonal costume, in a sexually compromising position. Detective Erlendur and his sidekicks, Sigurdur Óli and Elínborg investigate the murder, and uncover the surprising secret past of Gudlauger, the victim.
What I loved about this book is the way that Indriðason capitalises on the myriad varieties of family dysfunction that people experience at Christmas, beneath the saccharine veneer of enforced goodwill. As well as Gudlauger’s sad story, Erlendur’s own fragmented family situation is further explored. His choice to stay at the hotel throughout the investigation captures how the festive season can turn the everyday normality of returning to an empty home into an exercise of painful loneliness. This was my third Erlendur novel and they keep getting better and better. This would be the perfect antidote to the excesses of Christmas for those who are grim and cynical like me!
Indriðason’s Detective Erlendur is brooding and enigmatic, and very likely inspired by the genius of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. Their Martin Beck crime series has become a firm favourite of mine, with as much weight given to police procedure and the rising tensions of detectives working under pressure as to the crimes themselves. Like Erlendur, Martin Beck immerses himself in his work to escape his less than contented home life. At times, he has an almost clairvoyant ability to crack a case, as the cogs of his keen mind silently whirr beneath the surface of his consciousness.
As much as I enjoy the Beck novels, I did blanche a little at The Man on the Balcony due to the subject matter. Since becoming a parent I’ve found it difficult to read or watch crime drama involving children as victims, so a novel about the killing of young girls in various parks across Stockholm was never going to be a comfortable read. However, the focus on the struggle of the police to solve crimes for which they only have two unreliable witnesses – a hardened mugger and a three year old child, made for a gripping read. The Beck novels are written with a deceptive brevity. They’re certainly a quick read, but continue to haunt you long after the final page is turned.
Lucy
Sarah
Sheep in the garden – how idyllic! Broken glass and suspect liquids are all I’ll find on my shared communal lawn 😦
I’m very tempted by all of these, and I’m trying to resist – I can see my TBR spiraling before my eyes!
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Finding sheep in the garden is lovely – but cows, less so. Thankfully that’s only happened once, but trying to extricate a herd of inquisitive cows from the garden without them trampling all the fences and flowerbeds in their wake was a bit of a challenge!
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I’ve read one of Indriðason’s which I did really enjoy, especially as food gets in there. I like it when there’s descriptions of dinners, even weird sounding Icelandic dinners, that make me think when we go for our trip, self catering and a big bag of pasta may be in order. 😉
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You’re not wrong there! I saw the film of ‘Jar City’ and the food in that was extraordinary. There’s one scene where Erlendur buys a sheep’s head for his tea, microwaves it and tucks into its brain with unfettered delight. Self-catering it most definitely is – you bring the pasta, I’ll bring the sauce!
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The Becks are my favourite – I just love them! I have a lovely matching set with his name spelled out on the spine – they’ll most definitely survive any culls! 🙂
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How fabulous! I’m dead jealous, although I must admit if I had the whole set, the children wouldn’t get fed until I’d turned the final page, so I’m probably best off accumulating them one by one!
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Ooh another Erlendur to add to my list – but based on your advice I might save this for Christmas when forced jollity always sets my nerves on edge:
I tried the Man on the Balcony – twice – but couldnt get into it. Maybe because it was an audio version. Any alternative recommendations?
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I’ve only read three Beck novels so far. ‘Roseanna’ – the first was good, but I think the second in the series – The Man who went up in Smoke – is probably my favourite so far. I’ve got one more on my shelves to look forward to, but I’m saving that for an emergency or it’ll be a long wait until the new year releases me from my book-buying ban!
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You have a year of book buying? Oh that’s brave – I set myself a six months target. So far have kept to that but am going to have to be strict otherwise once the leash comes off I might go into overdrive and buy twice as many books to make up for the deprivation
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Yep, a whole year – groan! I reckon I’ll have to be equally strict when the shackles come off in January or I’ll be binge-buying. I’m basically ok as long as I avoid all charity shops and secondhand bookshops, oh, and Amazon is most definitely off-limits. Still, only eight and a half months to go *sob* 😉
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