Such smooth writing combined with careful plotting makes for a compelling read

Disappointing

Everything about this book was weak. The characters were written in a very poor way, and they have no depth.
The way they led this investigation was very weak and made them sound like a bunch of amatures who has no idea what they were doing. And that interrogation, my gawd, even kids can do better than this.
Like if you're writing a full book about a murder case at least do your homework in knowing and understanding how the investigations and interrogations happens.
And the way they were dealing with the evidence was a total mess.
The level of defection and stupidity in the interrogation'a questions was really something else.
I'm a huge fan of anything WW2 related, but they added the WW2 touch in the most boring and dull ways.
The script,the events and the plot were very tacky. And don't get me started with the atrocious ending.
I don't really understand the hype behind the book.
This is nothing but a waste of paper.

A good read that kept me page turning set in wartime Iceland. The plot was intriguing and Flovent and Thorson are two characters who I am enjoying getting to know.

Mager plotje dat je van mijlenver ziet aankomen :-(

7/10

I really enjoyed this -- the second in the Flovent and Thorson series. This one is a bit different than the first which had tracked the same crime in two different time periods. This wholly focuses on the WWII mystery and doesn't move forward to modern day.

It's an interesting perspective on what Iceland must have been like pre WWII and during the war. I never really think of Iceland as having been "occupied" but it was by both the British and the Americans. Having that as the backdrop into an investigation that includes Nazis, Americans, British, other Icelanders all as suspects was fascinating.

The mystery at the heart of the story is well done, with lots of viable suspects; the conclusion tracks all the way through and I really enjoyed the book.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley in return for a honest review.

I didn't love this one as much as [b:The Shadow District|35011768|The Shadow District|Arnaldur Indriðason|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493485145s/35011768.jpg|26640646], but it was still a really solid work of historical fiction and police procedural. I think my lack of enthusiasm here is mainly to do with the fact that I didn't care much for any of the characters outside of the ones we already knew, Flóvent and Thorson. However, the angle of Icelandic WWII history he covers here is an interesting one - German-Icelandic people during the war and their relationship with the two counties. Also interesting is that the 1940s element takes place before the 1940s plot of The Shadow District, and while Arnaldur had a modern plot to parallel in the first book, he looks back to the 1930s in this one. Meanwhile, he throws in a bit more about Thorson's character that could lead in an interesting direction in further books. I do love how this author imbues a fairly straightforward police procedural with so much information on Icelandic history and culture, and yet it's so subtle that the reader absorbs it without fulling realizing. Great stuff. Definitely looking forward to the next installment!

The fine print: received ARC from NetGalley.

Murder during the Blessed War
Review of the Harvill Secker hardcover (March 15, 2018) translated by [a:Victoria Cribb|2790834|Victoria Cribb|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] from the Icelandic language original [b:Þýska húsið|27418709|Þýska húsið (Reykjavik Wartime Mystery, #2)|Arnaldur Indriðason|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1446539100l/27418709._SX50_.jpg|47468714] (The German House) (December 1, 2015)

This was a police procedural set during the Allied Occupation of Iceland during the Second World War. Iceland had declared its neutrality at the start of the war. With the German takeover of Denmark (of which Iceland was still a territory at the time), Britain felt that it couldn't risk losing its mid-Atlantic port of Iceland to a further German invasion and instigated its own takeover. This was gradually phased into an American and Canadian occupation when British forces were required back home. Icelanders refer to this period as the Blessað Stríðið (Icelandic: Blessed War or Lovely War) and the consequent fraternization of Allied troops with Icelandic women as the Ástandið (Icelandic: The Situation).

Although The Shadow Killer (orig. 2015) is the 2nd of Indriðason's Reykjavik Wartime Mysteries following The Shadow District (orig. 2013), chronologically it documents the very first case of Icelandic CID detective Flóvent and erstwhile partner Canadian-Icelandic military policeman Thorson.

A man is found murdered in a Reykjavik apartment with a case of travelling salesman samples. At first he is assumed to be the apartment's occupant Felix Lunden, but the landlady eventually realizes it is a stranger. Felix Lunden himself has gone missing. He is the son of a known Nazi sympatizer Rudolf Lunden and when a German cyanide poison capsule is found in his effects it seems likely that the case relates to espionage. The murdered man was shot with a Colt 45 pistol, a sidearm of the occupation forces, which is why the military police are brought in. Was it a case of mistaken identity or was some sort of lover's triangle involved? Flóvent and Thorson have to uncover various family secrets before the truth is revealed.

I had previously read several of Indriðason's earlier books from his detective series featuring Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson, but eventually grew tired of their angsty tormented Scandi-noir style. Flóvent and Thorson were a much more comfortable partnership. The only angst being a hint that Thorson may have a troubled sexual identity. The setting of wartime Iceland was also unique and it was interesting to learn about the background to the Allied occupation of a 'neutral' country.

The translation by Victoria Cribb, who has 30 books of translation from Icelandic to English to her credit (as of October 2022), read very well.

Trivia and Links
You can read more about translator Victoria Cribb at The Loneliness of the Icelandic Translator, Publishing Perspectives, January 6, 2012 and at One of These Eccentrics Who Came to Iceland and Fell in Love with the Language, Icelandic Literature Centre, October 30, 2018.

Read about the British invasion of Iceland aka Operation Fork at Wikipedia here.
Read about the overall Allied occupation of Iceland at Wikipedia here.

My second adventure into Nordic noir. I don't usually read mysteries, but I've read 2 books by the author and have enjoyed both stories.