Post WW2 thriller set in Lithuania, Germany, and France
Police procedural set in REYKJAVIK, Iceland
20th January 2025
Shrouded by Sólveig Pálsdóttir, police procedural set in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Translated by Quentin Bates
Shrouded is the fourth in a series of police procedural crime novels from Iceland’s Sólveig Pálsdóttir. Fans of the series will need no introduction to police detectives Guðgeir Fransson and Elsa Guðrún, though the book can be read as a stand-alone novel. The author includes a fascinating amount of detail about their close working relationships, and the minutiae of the characters’ lives. This, together with information descriptions of the seasons and their surroundings in Reykjavik city and the Icelandic hinterland, is what draws me to Sólveig’s books and makes me love them. The author also weaves elements of Iceland folklore and superstition into this very credible and engaging plot.
The story begins with a retired woman, Arnhildur, being brutally killed in a graveyard in Reykjavik on her way home from a séance. She leaves a daughter, who is disabled after a riding accident, and an estranged sister. More than that, she leaves a great mystery as to who might want to kill her and why. She seems to have been someone who led a quiet life, trying to make ends meet, with no enemies. Guðgeir and Elsa Guðrún have little to go on, and suspicion falls on various people in turn, all to no avail. Guðgeir’s interest in the ancient beliefs of rural Iceland lead him to interview the medium who held the séance and to pursue the supernatural aspects that his colleagues prefer to dismiss. As usual in Solvéig’s books, each of the characters has their own quirky personality and the storyline is thoroughly engaging. I might suggest that I guessed who the perpetrator was before the end of the book but to be fair, I suspected almost everyone at one point or another. Just as the author intended!
Corylus books are a treat: they produce a wonderful selection of books in translation, beautifully bound with French fold covers and each is a guaranteed good read. This series is no exception, and I wholeheartedly recommend this book in particular.
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