The Flatey Enigma by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson

The first is a dead man found on a nearby uninhabited island. Two murders on or near Flatey island take place within a few months (astonishing, given Iceland's negligible murder rate). Reader's are exposed to a deep and violent Norse history belying what in all other respects appears to be a peaceful Icelandic society. Imagine Brown's story where we chase down clues in old manuscripts while - within the confines of an island and its simple inhabitants - being thrown under an ice cold shower and presented with prose authored in typical Scandinavian bleakness and hyper realism and you'll come close to a description of Viktor's novel. It is a peculiar story reminiscent of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code but stripped of all sensationalism and the glamour Brown favors. The Flatey Enigma is one of the first books noticed by publishers as originating from Iceland (at least those in translation) - some two years before Arnaldur's successful Jar City made it's way into crime fiction headlines.

And for most of the twentieth century publishers agreed. Iceland with a population of 321,857 is considered the most sparsely populated country in Europe and given that at most 1 or 2 murders annually are reported in the entire country it is not the first place readers might venture to discover new crime fiction authors. Full of surprising humor, complex clues, and brooding intensity, The Flatey Enigma is so captivating you won’t be able to put the book down until Kjartan has cracked the code. Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson’s Glass Key–nominated Nordic mystery captures the era with visceral authenticity and the austere quiet of a world far off the beaten track. Kjartan, the district magistrate’s representative sent to investigate the crime, soon finds himself descending into the dark, dangerous world of ancient legends, symbology, and secret societies to find the killer.

This time, in the ancient Viking tradition, the victim’s back has been mutilated with the so-called blood eagle. After it is found to be a Danish cryptographer missing for months, the ensuing investigation uncovers a mysterious link between him and a medieval manuscript known as the Book of Flatey.īefore long another body is found on Flatey, another tiny island off the western coast. But for the decaying body discovered by three seal hunters, winter is a matter of permanence.

Near this deserted island off the western coast of Iceland, the dawning of spring brings with it new life for the local wildlife.

The Flatey Enigma by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson