Book review: Outrage

A YOUNG man with Rohypnol in his pocket hits downtown Reykjavik in search of a suitable "date" to rape. However, in an immediate twist, he is the one who ends up naked with his throat cut.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Jul 2011, 13:21 BST
Updated 15th Jul 2011, 21:06 BST

OUTRAGE

BY ARNALDUR INDRIDASON

Harvill Secker, 320pp, 12.99

With Erlendur, Arnaldur Indridason's usual detective, gone walkabout in the wilds of Iceland, the case is left to his colleague Elnborg, a married mother of three, to solve.

It proves to be no easy task. The girl the dead man raped can't remember anything and it turns out that the rapist had inexplicably taken Rohypnol, too. Meanwhile, Valthr, Elnborg's eldest son, is blogging about her and his family with typical teenage truculence.

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Elnborg, with her insomnia and passion for Indian cookery, is by no means as interesting a character as Erlendur but she is a good copper. Her subtle interviewing technique and empathy soon uncover a very nasty story that leads her to one of those remote villages so beloved of film makers, where everyone is suspicious of outsiders and seems to have something to hide.

She has a nose for clues of all kinds but it is a particular smell that eventually enables her to unmask the culprit. Such stately, well-mannered entertainment is not to be sniffed at.