I can't remember when or where I picked this book up from but if I had to guess, I would say it must be a charity shop purchase as it's a bit beaten up. The fact that it is a Scandi/Nordic crime novel and set in Iceland must have been what appealed to me. What I was unaware of however, is the fact that this is the second book in a series and I have not read the first book. Despite this, when I selected the book from the jar I decided to give it a go and see how I got on with it.

The above synopsis sums the story up pretty well so there is little for me to add in this respect. The story hinges around the murder of Svana Geirs, a one-time minor celebrity who now runs a health club with connections to people with a bit of a shady past. The investigation involves an intricate web of dodgy deals and people from various different walks of life. All this is set against the backdrop of the financial crash and it's effect on Iceland as a society. This is a particularly interesting part to the story and something that really added a lot of depth to plot as a whole.

The writing is pretty good and I found that the book easy to read. I even managed to read the book in noisy environments which is something that I am often unable to do. The story is a bit plodding in places and there isn't a huge amount in the way of action. The lack of action isn't as issue to me as I find that the 'normal' detectives in these books often have super human recovery or strength at times of duress. The slow plot is a little frustrating in places, especially when it seems like Bates has gone off on a tangent to introduce a new character. This brings me on to the biggest issue with the book, the characters.

There are simply far too many characters in the book, several of which could have been dropped without detriment to the storyline in my opinion. I found myself a few times trying to work out who was being featured and this was further complicated by the Icelandic patronymic naming tradition. For example, the main character Gunna is actually called Gunnhildur Gisladottir and all the characters have two names which are interchanged throughout the book. This got a little confusing at times and had me flicking back at times until I had worked out what was going on. Whether reading the first book in the series would have eased this, I cannot say. It also felt like the ending came very abruptly, almost as if Bates had become bored.

Despite this, I enjoyed this book and I will keep an eye out of the first, and subsequent books in the series. ( )

#2 in Officer Gunnhildur series finds Gunna in charge of Rekyavik's Serious Crime Unit and seeking to solve the murder of a local celebrity. The victim
had an arrangement with 4 affluent businessmen who shared her sexual favors for financial support. A convicted murderer, with ties to one of the men, escapes prison and goes on a revenge spree. Gunna must determine if(how) the two cases are related. There's the incompetent Inspector and the savvy higher level Chief to whom Gunna reports.Fairly fast paced. ( )

'Agreed,' Helgi said, rattling his mug on the table. 'You know you get a free refill here, don't you?'

I'm liking this series. This time Gunna is working on intertwined cases that begin with the murder of a minor celebrity. The Icelandic police seem to be very keen on their free coffee refills; a quick search of my Kindle shows that it is mentioned at least 4 times. ( )

A pretty good policier, which lags a bit in the first two or one hundred pages. Sergeant (now Lieutenant) Gunnhildur (Gunna) has to solve two crimes, one of which is easy, and one of which is impossible in an Iceland with no money for public services.
She does so, but it takes some time and the guilty party turns out to be a handsome neer do well who is a vegetable due to an attempt by one of the people to kill him. Ah well, ( )

Cold Comfort features Gunnhildur “Gunna” Gisladottir, a police detective at Reykjavík’s Serious Crime Unit, in post-economic meltdown Iceland. Gisladottir and her team are tracking down a violent prison escapee and trying to solve the murder of a fitness expert/call girl with some well-connected friends.

This is an absorbing police procedural with sharply written, sardonic dialogue; as well as vividly drawn characters.
However, I found a couple of things unsettling. First, the storyline is quite complex and convoluted with what starts as two separate incidents merging into one investigation. Then the author adds to the complexity by having two sets of characters with very similar names: Bjartmar and Bjarki along with Skari and Skuli. Some of these characters are good guys, some are bad guys and some fall on both sides of the fence; and it really slows down the reading process when you have to mentally work out who is who and which fits where.
Having said that, I look forward to enjoying the rest of the Gunnhildur series. ( )