I was really into this story at the beginning. I'm absolutely obsessed with Iceland and the setting drew me in quickly. I could place myself at each location and I loved meeting the cast of characters. That is, for the first third of the book.

After that things began to turn. The book fell into a repetitive pattern with the interview style dialog. Not much was revealed naturally. So much was force-fed and the revelations became tedious and drawn out. The revolving door of characters became more two dimensional and before I knew it I had lost all drive to know the conclusion. ( )

The most compelling of books in the series so far. Much more focussed solely on Erlundur's investigation of an apparent suicide as well as two thirty year old cold cases. All of these are woven beautifully together along with the voice of the present day suicide. Very, very good writing and masterly story telling made this a great read. ( )

Another excellent book from this Icelandic writer. Indridason doesn't paint a very pretty picture of Reykjavic and Iceland but it is probably more realistic than the tourist brochures.

Detective Erlendur of the Reykjavic police force isn't very busy when a call comes in about a woman's body being found in a cottage on a lake outside of Reykjavic. Maria lived in the capital with her husband Baldvin, a medical doctor. It fell to Erlendur to notify Baldvin of Maria's death and that it appeared she had committed suicide. A few days later a friend of Maria's came to Erlendur with some concerns about the death; she had actually found Maria's body and she was having trouble believing Maria would commit suicide. She gave Erlendur a tape of a session Maria had with a medium. Maria had been obsessed with life after death, particularly since the death of her mother two years earlier. The friend wondered if this obsession had something to do with her death. Since Erlendur didn't have much on his plate at the time he started nosing around, asking questions of Maria and Baldvin's friends and acquaintances. This part of the investigation reminded me so much of the Columbo TV series as Erlendur kept rooting out more and more information. At the same time Erlendur was also looking at two cold cases of young people who had disappeared 30 years ago. The father of a young boy who went missing without a trace is near to death and Erlendur would like to solve the disappearance before he dies. Missing children is a cause close to Erlendur's heart since his own brother disappeared in a blizzard when he was young. No trace was ever found of him but Erlendur thinks of him every day and has been searching ever since. Only Erlendur's daughter, Eva Lind, knows about Erlendur's missing brother. Erlendur left his wife when Eva and her brother Sindri were very young and only recently has Erlendur been able to have any kind of a relationship with his children. The knowledge about Erlendur's missing brother seems to have gone some way to heal the rift between them.

As Erlendur accumulates more and more information about all of these cases a picture starts to emerge and the title is a clue to solving all of them. Quite captivating. ( )

Erlendur investigates the suicide of a married woman on his own in this book of the series. The woman, Marie, had been troubled by the death of her father and mother. She wanted to 'pass over to the other side' and make contact with her mother; this fact Erlendur was made aware of by the woman's husband Baldvin, a doctor.
As is usual with the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries, there is a great deal 'going on' in the pasts of the people being investigated. Also, Erlendur is obsessed with the case, a young man and woman who went missing 30 years ago.
Erlendur is dogmatic and worries away at clues/information, not letting go until he solves the puzzles. I was left wondering if there was to be a connection between the missing person's case and the suicide.
The plot in this one is perhaps a little bit predictable - indeed Indridason almost tees it up that way - but as ever its the mood cast by the wake of unsolved mysteries and the fractious nature of Erlendur's relationships with his own family that sustains much of the interest. ( )

I think this is the best one. ( )