Silence Of The Grave

Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder

Praise for Indridasons previous novel featuring Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson, Jar City

“Classic mystery fiction, both compassionate and thrilling. Indridason is about to become one of the brightest stars in the genres dark skies.”

- John Connolly, author of Dark Hollow

“A great crime novel . . . excellent.”

- The Baltimore Sun

“Riveting. Look for Indridason to appear on critics shortlists for best new author, best mystery novel, and so forth.”

- BookPage

“Fans of mystery in general and Henning Mankell and Karin Fossum can only exult.”

- Library Journal (starred review)

“No wonder Arnaldur Indridason won so many awards. Hes a great storyteller, and American readers will overwhelmingly agree.”

- C. J. Box, Anthony Award-winning author of Out of Range

“Reminiscent of Simenon.”

- Reginald Hill, author of Dialogues of the Dead

“Gripping. . . . There is a Ross Macdonald element to all this . . . recalls Madeleine Nabb and Donna Leon.”

- Booklist

Construction work in an expanding Reykjavik uncovers a shallow grave. Years before, this part of the city was all open hills, and Erlendur and his team hope this is a typical Icelandic missing person scenario; perhaps someone once lost in the snow, who has lain peacefully buried for decades. But things are never that simple. While Erlendur struggles to hold together the crumbling fragments of his own family, his case unearths many other tales of family pain.

The hills have more than one tragic story to tell: tales of failed relationships and heartbreak; of anger, domestic violence and fear; of family loyalty and family shame. Few people are still alive who can tell the story, but even secrets taken to the grave cannot remain hidden forever.

Alive with tension and atmosphere, and disturbingly real, this is an outstanding continuation of the Reykjavik Murder Mysteries.

---Holger Kreitling, Die Welt (Germany)

Last year Jar City introduced international crime-writing sensation Arnaldur Indridason to rave reviews and a rousing welcome from American thriller fans. And now, Silence of the Grave, the next in this stunning series has won the coveted Golden Dagger Award. Presented by the British Crime Writers' Association, previous winners of this award include John Le Carre, Minette Walters, Henning Mankell, and James Lee Burke.

In Silence of the Grave, a corpse is found on a hill outside the city of Reykjavík, and Detective Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson and his team think the body may have been buried for some years.

While Erlendur struggles to hold together the crumbling fragments of his own family, slowly but surely he finds out the truth about another unhappy family. Few people are still alive who can tell the tale, but even secrets taken to the grave cannot remain hidden forever.

 Destined to be a classic in the world of crime fiction, Silence of the Grave is one of the most accomplished thrillers in recent years.

Translated from the Icelandic by Bernard Scudder

Praise for Indridason's previous novel featuring Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson, Jar City

"Classic mystery fiction, both compassionate and thrilling. Indridason is about to become one of the brightest stars in the genre's dark skies."

- John Connolly, author of Dark Hollow

"A great crime novel . . . excellent."

- The Baltimore Sun

"Riveting. Look for Indridason to appear on critics' shortlists for best new author, best mystery novel, and so forth."

- BookPage

"Fans of mystery in general and Henning Mankell and Karin Fossum can only exult."

- Library Journal (starred review)

"No wonder Arnaldur Indridason won so many awards. He's a great storyteller, and American readers will overwhelmingly agree."

- C. J. Box, Anthony Award-winning author of Out of Range

"Reminiscent of Simenon."

- Reginald Hill, author of Dialogues of the Dead

"Gripping. . . . There is a Ross Macdonald element to all this . . . recalls Madeleine Nabb and Donna Leon."

- Booklist

Inspector Erlendur returns in this gripping Icelandic thriller When a skeleton is discovered half-buried in a construction site outside of Reykjavík, Inspector Erlendur finds himself knee-deep in both a crime scene and an archeological dig. Bone by bone, the body is unearthed, and the brutalizing history of a family who lived near the building site comes to light along with it. Was the skeleton a man or a woman, a victim or a killer, and is this a simple case of murder or a long-concealed act of justice? As Erlendur tries to crack this cold case, he must also save his drug-addicted daughter from self destruction and somehow glue his hopelessly fractured family back together.

Like the chilly Nordic mysteries of Henning Mankell and Karen Fossum, Arnaldur Indridason delivers a stark police procedural full of humanity and pathos, a classic noir from a very cold place.

---Holger Kreitling, Die Welt (Germany)

Last year Jar City introduced international crime-writing sensation Arnaldur Indridason to rave reviews and a rousing welcome from American thriller fans. And now, Silence of the Grave, the next in this stunning series has won the coveted Golden Dagger Award. Presented by the British Crime Writers' Association, previous winners of this award include John Le Carre, Minette Walters, Henning Mankell, and James Lee Burke.

In Silence of the Grave, a corpse is found on a hill outside the city of Reykjavík, and Detective Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson and his team think the body may have been buried for some years.

While Erlendur struggles to hold together the crumbling fragments of his own family, slowly but surely he finds out the truth about another unhappy family. Few people are still alive who can tell the tale, but even secrets taken to the grave cannot remain hidden forever.

 Destined to be a classic in the world of crime fiction, Silence of the Grave is one of the most accomplished thrillers in recent years.