Sun on Fire is the second book I have read by Icelandic author, Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson. It’s a solid police procedural with echoes of an Agatha Christie closed room style of murder mystery. I like Ingólfsson’s writing style and the translation certainly seems to do the original Icelandic version justice. There’s a clarity of the prose that appeals to me. I quite liked the police characters, especially Birkir and could definitely read more of him. I like his style, deliberate, intentional and routine... very believable. Gunnar was a bit more of a comic relief although not a bad character.

The novel starts off set in Berlin in the Icelandic embassy which is a part of the five Nordic embassies complex. A particularly grizzly murder has occurred during a party that the ambassador has invited a seemingly disparate group of Icelanders who happened to have gathered in Berlin for some seemingly unconnected events. However, it’s the connection between the real reason the Icelanders have come to Berlin and the murder that is unapparent and somehow coincidentally related.

The central although absent figure in the story is Sunna, described in the kindest and most gracious of ways who through a series of tragic happenings died in a house fire. Her presence permeates the book and in fact ties a lot of events together. I guess this where the name of the book comes from, Sun on Fire... not sure what I think about that...

I can’t say I loved the ending of the book as much as the body of it. It seemed to climax kind of for the sake of climaxing and there was an inevitability about that that didn’t appeal to me. 3.5 stars for me rounded down to 3.

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads contest.

I have passed the book along to a friend who loves mystery/detective books and they are currently really enjoying reading it.

Another satisying Icelandic mystery from Ingolfsson. This story revolves around a murder in the Icelandic Embassy in Berlin. The murderer must have been among the small party that night in the Embassy. A group of 3 police go to Berlin to investigate. The story involves a hippie commune from the 70's, a fire, and a pedophile Icelandic businessman, the murder victim. By the end, the case is solved, almost improbably, by the detective. All the details are accounted for, including the improbable way in which the murder weapon was smuggled into the embassy.The bleakness of Iceland comes through in this book, particularly when the detectives are enjoying some of what Berlin has to offer.