Black Skies: An Inspector Erlendur Novel (An Inspector Erlendur Series) - Hardcover

Indridason, Arnaldur

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1250000394 ISBN 13: 9781250000392

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2013

Synopsis

Arnaldur Indridason, whom The Sunday Times calls "one of the most brilliant crime writers of his generation," has thrilled readers around the world with his series set in Reykjavik. In Black Skies, Indridason further cements his position as one of today's top international crime writers.

A man is making a crude leather mask with an iron spike fixed in the middle of the forehead. It is a "death mask," once used by Icelandic farmers to slaughter calves, and he has revenge in mind. Meanwhile, a school reunion has left Inspector Erlendur's colleague Sigurdur Óli unhappy with life in the police force. While Iceland is enjoying an economic boom, Óli's relationship is on the rocks and soon even his position in the department is compromised. When a favor to a friend goes wrong and a woman dies before his eyes, Oli has a murder investigation on his hands.

From the villas of Reykjavík's banking elite to a sordid basement flat, Black Skies is a superb story of greed, pride, and murder from one of Europe's most successful crime writers.

"A sophisticated and complex thriller."
--Kirkus

About this title

About the Author

ARNALDUR INDRIDASON won the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Silence of the Grave and is the only author to win the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel two years in a row. The film of Jar City was Iceland's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and the film Silence of the Grave is in production with the same director. The film Contraband, starring Mark Wahlberg, was based on an Icelandic film written by Indridason, who lives in Reykjavik, Iceland.

From Booklist

With series favorite Detective Erlendur away on leave (as in Outrage, 2012), Indridason again spotlights Erlendur’s Reykjavik police colleagues, offering a strong series entry infused with his trademark emotional turmoil and psychological insight. Detective Sigurdur Óli is questioning his life’s direction after learning that Iceland’s recent prosperity (soon to disappear following the debt-crisis-fueled collapse) has made several of his schoolmates wealthy, and his long-term relationship becomes a casualty of the emotional distance his job requires. When his friend Patrekur asks him to unofficially discourage a blackmailer, he’s uncomfortable with violating regulations but reluctantly agrees. Unfortunately, when his visit interrupts a murder attempt on the extortionist, there’s no chance of hiding his involvement from the department. Suspicion falls on Patrekur, and Sigurdur scrambles to restore his unblemished record by proving he’s not an unwitting alibi. At the same time, a lost soul from a past case claims he has found his childhood abuser, hinting to Sigurdur that he’s ended his preying on children. Black Skies continues the series’ exploration of Iceland’s social ills, this time exploring how national prosperity has brought with it a different kind trickle-down effect: greed and malignant power working their way throughout society. --Christine Tran

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1250000394
• ISBN 13: 9781250000392
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336