THE GIRL BY THE BRIDGE - Arnaldur Indridason


 Detective Konrád (retired from the police) is still searching for those responsible for his father's murder when he is called by an elderly couple looking for help.  Their granddaughter, a young woman, is missing. She is a known drug smuggler and Konrád is reluctant to take the case, but the elderly couple have a loose connection to Konrád's wife and so he agrees to look into it but gets much more than he bargained for.

Some 50 years earlier in this area where Konrád is now investigating, the body of a young girl was discovered in the water under a bridge.  At the time, the case was declared an accidental drowning and subsequently closed. But upon talking with locals regarding the now-missing young drug mule, Konrád begins to suspect that there is some connection between the two cases, despite being half a century apart.

What he suspected was a simple drug-runner disappearance case turns into something much more, with the safety and welfare of children at its heart.

There is a term called "Icelandic Noir" and if it wasn't coined because of the works of Arnaldur Indridason an argument could be made that he is the leading author in the genre. His books are dark and gritty and very methodic.  His leading characters, Konrád here, appear to have seen too much of the dark side of humanity and carry little to no humor.

I've seen other reviewers write that Konrád is a difficult person to like and I think that greatly takes away from who he is.  While it's true that the character is not someone readers will wish was a personal friend, he is a solid and determined detective with a great moral compass.  Isn't that what you really want in a detective?  More than 'likeability'?

I liked how the mysteries, decades apart, slowly came together. Konrád's approach is rarely to jump in and make quick assumptions (although he does assume that the missing girl is a drug deal gone bad). His methodical approach might seem a little dull, given a rather even pace to the writing, but the revelation of information - the slow adding on of new bits - really helps to keep the reader engaged.

This is my second book in Arnaldur Indridason's Konrád series and I have read a few of his slightly more famous Erlandur series and I definitely enjoy these Konrád books more so far. These Konrád books seem to deal more with cold cases, eliminating some of the immediacy of solving the crime, allowing the detective (and the reader) to enjoy the process more

Looking for a good book? The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason is perfect for fans of Iclandic Noir and police procedural mysteries.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

* * * * * *

The Girl by the Bridge

author: Arnaldur Indridason

series: Konrád #2

publisher: Harvill Secker

ISBN: 9781787303515

paperback, 352 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in...
Read more

THE WALLED CITY - Ryan Graudin

Image
  Jin and her sister, Mei Yee, were taken and sold and then sent to the lawless Walled City to serve as prostitutes or slaves to anyone willing to pay. Jin managed to escape her captivity, but not the Walled City and she now lurks about, disguised as a boy and is trying to track down the brothel where her sister is still captive. Jin will work odd delivery jobs to earn a small bit of money and hopefully have a legitimate means of coming in contact with her sister's captors.  This is how she meets up with Dai, a mysterious boy who has somehow managed to avoid running with any of the gangs in the city but he seems to have his own unusual connections, which Jon could desperately use if she has any hope of finding Mei Yee. But Dai has his own desperate needs.  The story is told from the different perspectives of each character and we do bounce around quite a bit as the chapters are generally short. This never bothered me, which is slightly unusual as often I find this techni...
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - ...
Read more