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A Compelling Mystery In A Cold Climate

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By THEODORA SCHMID

Published: November 11, 2007

"Voices," by Arnaldur Indridason (Minotaur, $23.95)
Detectives in Iceland. Who knew? Icelandic author Indridason has written a compelling thriller that just happens to be set in Reykjavik. Were it not for the occasional description of a meal featuring unappealing fish or tourists wearing Icelandic sweaters, this novel could take place in any northern American city.

It is a busy Christmas season at an upscale hotel filled with tourists, when a very un-Christmaslike crime takes place. The hotel's Santa Claus is found brutally stabbed to death in his room in the basement. Oh, and he is found in his Santa costume, with his lower parts unclothed and wearing "protection." Hmmm. Detective Erlandur Sveinsson and his two associates are called to the scene.

Sveinsson is a complex man, for reasons that are revealed throughout the book. His partners are trying to solve the crime, while also trying to balance their family lives at holiday time. Sveinsson's family life is devoid of any traditional family obligations. He is long-divorced and has a tentative relationship with his drug-addicted daughter. Christmas plans do not figure into his schedule.

In the course of the investigation, dark secrets are revealed - in the victim's past, in those of several suspects, and, indeed, in Sveinsson's life.

As the detectives search for the solution to this brutal crime, the investigation reveals complex lives filled with hope and despair. This is a riveting and tender book.

Theodora Schmid is a school counselor at Monroe Middle School in Tampa.

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