'A fascinating window on an unfamiliar world as well as an original and puzzling mystery'

Tainted Blood was originally published in English with the title Jar City.

A man is found murdered in his Reykjav-k flat, and the police have no obvious leads. The man lived alone and had no family, and of his only two friends, one is serving time for an array of petty crimes and psychotic violence, and the other hasn't been heard of for twenty-five years. Erlendur and his colleague Sigurdur -li head the investigation team. They find a computer filled with downloaded pornography, and in a desk, the photograph of a young girl's grave and the cryptic note left behind by the killer. Delving into the dead man's past, they discover that forty years ago he was accused, though not convicted, of rape. Now Erlendur has to follow his instincts when his colleagues are losing faith in the investigation. Foraging into the past, Erlendur discovers that the city of Reykjav-k has one or two secrets of its own, secrets it would rather keep. Jar City is the first in a new and exciting series of crime novels from the land of the saga. A runaway success in Iceland, it cannot fail to leave a lasting impression among readers in England.

Arnaldur Indridason was born in 1961, the son of an Icelandic author. Having worked for many years as a journalist and critic for an Icelandic newspaper, he began writing novels. At one week in the summer of 2003, his crime novels occupied the top five spots in the Icelandic bestseller list.

2008-05-30 Maybe 3.5 stars would be right.

It's a bit of a slow-burner but still an okay read. I really enjoy a good crime novel and sadly found this to be a little tame. I began the book full of expectations but not a lot happens. There's a good side story involving Erlendur's daughter but other than that it's one crime that isn't exactly scinttilating stuff. What it does have to it's advantage is good characters, who are imaginable thanks to good writing. That's what disappointed me the most, Indridason can actually write yet the pace of the novel lets it down a little or maybe I just need something with a bit more get up and go.