Icelandic Crime Fiction

[BeeGrylls]

Is there a new vogue for Icelandic crime fiction? Where did it come from? Has anyone read any Arnaldur Indriðason and is he any good?

I have just read Jar City by him.
A couple of years ago me and Dh went to see the film and enjoyed it. It's very dark. I got the book a couple of months ago and enjoyed it. I would recommend it.

I want to have a look at his other works.

I've read Silence of the Grave, which was pretty good, although a little slow moving at times.

Dp and dd1 (16) have just read and enjoyed Jar City. Having hated The Snowman and been unable to read the bloody girl with the stupid tattoo, I haven't tried it!

Read them all and enjoyed very much. Slow, dark and different.

Really like Jo Nesbo but think Camilla Lackberg is the best of them at the moment. Didn't rate KO Dahl. Loved Dragon Tattoo (though it is the best of the three).

I've read a book by Yrsa Siggurdsdottir (can't remember the name). She's a good storyteller. I think now that there are more translations it's opening up a new dark gothic style (don't mean gothic as in goth but proper gothic lit)

Hmmm - interesting - thanks all.

Quite up for traditional gothic. Dragon Tattoo books don't really appeal. Seem pretty gratuitously violent from what I've heard. Not up for anything too slow, either. I have a short attention span.

From the sounds of the recommendations, it seems I should check out Siggurdsdottir, Lackberg and Nesbo.

Jo Nesbo is brilliant - especially The Snowman and The Leopard. Recommend them for sure.

Indridason is better than Siggurdsdottir. Most of the others you mention in this thread are Swedish. I read the whole of the Martin Beck series (10 books) written in the 1960s and 70s by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, a couple of years ago and they were brilliant - they are a big influence on more recent crime writers - the current edition of Roseanna in print has an intro by Henning Mankell.