EN: German Book Recommendation: Icelandic Roulette by Óskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson

The second crime novel which I have just read in German is Isländisch Roulette ("Icelandic Roulette") by Óskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson. Quite right, it is a translation from an Icelandic original, but as Swede, I simply could not leave it behind in the library shelf. Not only since it is such a small book - perfect to squeeze into a computer bag – but also because I wanted to get a sense of whether there really is a "Nordic crime fiction".

The story takes its beginning in 2010, in the midst of the Icelandic financial crisis, when one of the country 's best known entrepreneurs and millionaires is murdered and has his fingers cut off. After this the plot takes two parallel paths - in the present, we follow the police investigation and, in the past, we learn how the murder victim had once built up his wealth.

I considered this book extremely easy to read, with a fairly interesting plot. What I above all missed was an insight into typically Icelandic contemporary issues and how a celebrity murder affects such a small country as Iceland. That the police often has an infected (yet, like here, sometimes almost symbiotic) relationship with the media is portrayed in great detail, but honestly, is there any modern crime novel writer who does not dwell on that theme?  

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Isländisch Roulette by Óskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson can be found at the Pestalozzi libraries in Zürich.

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Deutsche Version (kommt bald)
Svensk version