The Draining Lake: An Inspector Erlendur Novel (An Inspector Erlendur Series, 4)

Nancy in Seattle, WA : This is the first book by this author that I read. I was captivated by gradual entanglement of the current day search, one could almost say quest, to identify who this murdered person was and the backstory of the students, then adults, who are the key to this tale. This search for the identity of a skeleton touches on the many types of identity within us all. The ideals and passions of youth. The mature reflections and longing of adulthood. The memories and regrets of old age. This is not a slam bang action story. It is more a quiet masterly building of lives that interconnect.

Since the Berlin Wall fell twenty years ago, many cold war secrets have come to light on both sides of the "Iron Curtain". Iceland, remote and politically "not a very interesting place" according to the locals, has apparently been drawn into some murky business left over from those days. Juxtaposing two streams of narrative - a present-day investigation into an unsolved disappearance from the seventies and a flashback account into student life in Leipzig in the mid-1950s, Arnaldur Indridason presents us with another gripping tale. The meticulously working gloomy detective Detective Erlendur Sveinsson again pursues his hunches with his own blend of determination and stubbornness even after his colleagues, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli, have given up. When an earthquake results in draining Lake Kleifarvatn of most of its water, a skeleton is found in muddy ground. Attached to it is some form of Russian listening device, raising interesting questions for Erlendur and his colleagues. A search into cases of missing persons of that period, the 1970s, opens several lines of inquiry for the detectives. Outcomes are inconclusive, yet Erlendur, with his keen interest in "missing person" cases, digs further and further. Among his personal dramas that have influenced his personal life was his brother's disappearance a long time ago. Since then, he has taken on such cases with particular dedication. Digging into the cold war files, however, brings with it more obstacles, secretive attitudes and false leads... Those who follow the series will be glad to find a few more puzzle pieces to the detective's personal life and a glimmer of hope that appears on the horizon for him. We also learn more about the members of his team. The author's detailed depiction of the Leipzig student scene brilliantly evokes the special atmosphere in East Germany: the Icelandic students are caught in the all-encompassing "interactive surveillance" system that covered everybody like a fine-mashed net of manipulation and control. Naïve idealism, disenchantment, personal opportunism were all ingredients for the story's high drama of love, betrayal, and the need for survival. For this component of the novel alone, Indridason deserves great praise. While the reader is learning earlier than the good detective about possible links between the past and the present, the two storylines come together eventually, although with some surprising twists. Another exquisite novel by Iceland's foremost crime writer. [Friederike Knabe]

If you've not been reading Arnaldur Indridason's great Inspector Erlendur series, it's worth starting with the first, Jar City, and reading in order. While the mysteries stand alone, the author has revealed the torments of his morose hero only gradually. Indeed, if you've not been following along, this review will reveal a few details you might prefer not to hear yet. As always, the murder being investigated draws Erlendur and his team back into some aspect of Iceland's recent, though often intentionally forgotten, past. In this case, the draining lake of the title, Lake Kleifarvatn, has revealed a thirty year old skeleton with a Soviet radio transmitter weighting it down. Indridason uses this plot as a vehicle for a deliciously savage attack on the old Communist Bloc and the young socialist nitwits from the West who bought into its lies. Meanwhile, Erlendur's daughter, Eva Lind, has gone missing again, but his son, Sidri, shows up. He casts some new light on both Erlendur's obsession with the brother he lost in a snowstorm as a boy--an apparently not uncommon occurrence in Iceland--and on Eva Lind's self-destructive behavior. It should have been obvious, but Sidri points out that Eva has basically made herself another one of the missing in order that her father will seek her too. While the narrative style makes it apparent who the killer was fairly early on, the politics of the mystery and the deepening of the main characters may make this the best book in the series.

The Draining Lake (Icelandic 2004, English 2007) is the 4th Erlendur Sveinsson mystery available in English translation. An earthquake has caused the slow draining of a lake revealing a skeleton with a hole in the skull, tied to a Russian radio device. Erlendur, who is enduring his enforced summer vacation by skulking in his apartment with the shades down, is rescued by his obsession with missing persons cases and assigned to investigate. The listening device is dated to the Cold War era, when promising left-wing Icelandic students were given Soviet scholarships to the University of Leipzig in East Germany. Tantalizing snippets narrated by one of these students reveal a fascinating slice of Icelandic history as Marxist idealism clashes with Fascist reality. While checking on people who went missing around 1970, Erlendur and his colleagues, Sigurdur Oli and Elinborg, focus on a salesman who disappeared, leaving a girlfriend and a new Ford Falcon behind. As the investigation slowly progresses, Erlendur struggles to maintain a relationship with his estranged children, dying former boss, and new love interest. Though Erlendur is a rather dour and gloomy protagonist, Arnaldur's novels manage to maintain a glimmer of hope and optimism through the noir Scandinavian fatalism. This highly recommended book is nominated for both the Barry and Macavity Awards for Best Novel. http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/A_Authors/Arnaldur-Indridason.html

This author has written another engrossing police procedural that keeps you guessing until the end. Even if the answer appears certain early on the character's private lives are in themselves engrossing. Life in Iceland is unknown to most people and I found it interesting to get a glimpse of the lifestyles and mind sets of people who live there. Erlander, the main character, has shown us his weaknesses and strenghs in three earlier novels, all excellent reads. Each one builds on his personality as well as those of his family and co-workers. This time we got a look at what life in East Germany was like under communist rule when some of the characters spend time in Leipzig. This story keeps the reader hooked to the end and leaves the reader with a sense of having to read on to learn more - and more - and more...