Review by New York Times Review
LIONESS: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel, by Francine Klagsbrun. (Schocken, $40.) Meir has often been as reviled in Israel as she is admired in the United States, but perspectives are shifting. Klagsbrun's absorbing biography suggests this woman politician made history in more ways than one. AN ODYSSEY: A Father, a Son, and an Epic, by Daniel Mendelsohn. (Knopf, $26.95.) A distinguished critic and classicist, Mendelsohn uses Homer's epic as a vehicle for telling his own intricately constructed story of a father and son and their travails through life and love. PRESIDENT MCKINLEY: Architect of the American Century, by Robert W. Merry. (Simon & Schuster, $35.) McKinley tends to be forgotten among American presidents, overshadowed by his successor, Theodore Roosevelt, but he was largely responsible for America's 20th-century role in the world. Merry's measured, insightful biography seeks to set the record straight. THE COLLECTED ESSAYS OF ELIZABETH HARDWICK, edited by Darryl Pinckney. (New York Review, paper, $19.95.) These impeccably economical essays, collected here with a wise introduction by Pinckney, offer a rich immersion in Hardwick's brilliant mind and the minds of the writers she read so well. NOMADLAND: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, by Jessica Bruder. (Norton, $26.95.) In this brilliant and compassionate book, Bruder documents how a growing number of older people, post-recession refugees from the middle and working class, cross the land in their vans and R.V.s in search of work. THE SHADOW DISTRICT, by Arnaldur Indridason. (Thomas Dunne/ Minotaur, $25.99.) In this moody Icelandic mystery, a retired police officer investigates a present-day murder with apparent links to another crime, committed during the waning days of World War II, when the neutral nation was occupied by Allied troops. A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYONE WHO EVER LIVED: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes, by Adam Rutherford. (The Experiment, $25.95.) With a heady amalgam of science, history and a bit of anthropology, Rutherford offers a captivating primer on genetics and human evolution as told through our DNA. THE LAST BALLAD, by Wiley Cash. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $26.99.) Cash's novel revisits a 1929 textile union strike that turned deadly; his heroine is based on a real-life union organizer and folk singer now mostly lost to history. CATAPULT: Stories, by Emily Fridlund. (Sarabande, paper, $16.95.) This powerhouse of a first collection - by an author whose debut novel, "History of Wolves," was a finalist for this year's Man Booker Prize - is notable for its deft mix of humor and insight. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 30, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
Iceland is the setting for this mystery within a mystery, with one death taking place during the WWII occupation of the country by Allied soldiers, and the other in the present day. The historical story heavily features the upheaval of the Situation, when the previously isolated country was overrun by foreigners, many of whom struck up scandalous relationships with locals. One such woman and her boyfriend stumble upon a body during a clandestine meeting, a murder that remains unsolved in the present-day portion of the story, when police are investigating what seems the routine death of a man at home. The intertwining stories will keep readers engaged until the book's unexpected ending; also absorbing are Indridason's characters, who make wartime and today's Iceland come to life. The dialogue rings true and imparts a forthright yet gentle tone that matches the harsh but dreamy landscape, which is lovingly described. Indridason is an award-winning crime writer, so this will sell itself to mystery fans, but also try it with military-history buffs.--Verma, Henrietta Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This outstanding series launch from Indridason (the Inspector Erlendur series) opens with the police entering the Reykjavík apartment of pensioner Stefán Thórdarson, who has died in his bed, apparently of old age. The subsequent autopsy reveals that he was smothered. Only some old newspaper clippings, about a crime dating back to 1944, offer a clue, which is pursued by a retired policeman who grew up as a poor kid in the Reykjavík neighborhood that gives the book its name. Flash back to Reykjavík in 1944. The city is teeming with American soldiers, who are dating Icelandic women. One such courting couple discover the body of a young woman named Rósamunda; the two policemen who investigate determine that she was murdered. Another case, in the countryside, has similarities, and is connected to Icelandic folklore, notably the huldufólk, mythological "hidden creatures." What happened to Rósamunda and the other woman? And what's the link to Thórdarson's murder? Indridason provides a great window into Icelandic culture as he explores his recurring themes of greed and abuse of power. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Konrad, a retired Icelandic police detective, is assisting in the investigation of the suffocation of an elderly man. Looking through the victim's personal effects, Konrad finds yellowing newspaper articles regarding the murder of a young woman whose body was discovered outside Reykjavik's National Theater during World War II. Searching old police files, the intrigued detective uncovers scant information on the original case investigated by Flovent, an Icelandic cop, and Thorson, a Canadian military police officer. Early on, readers learn that the deceased gentleman is Thorson, who, having new information on the 70-year-old murder, probed these leads. As Konrad retraces Thorson's steps, readers also follow the initial case as it moves forward. The award-winning author of the "Inspector Erlendur" series (Into Oblivion) continues his modus operandi of simultaneously covering a current and cold case in this new series set during the war years. The inspectors, past and present, are formidable characters, and the blend of police procedural with Icelandic folklore is intriguing. VERDICT While not as dark as lndridason's previous works, this is a welcome addition from a master of the genre. [See Prepub Alert, 5/15/17.]--Edward Goldberg, Syosset P.L., NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A retired detective discovers a puzzling link between the death of a 90-year-old man and the murder of a young woman in Reykjavk during the American occupation in 1944.Icelandic novelist Indridason introduces dogged detective Konrd in the first book of a new crime series. After police find pensioner Stefn Thrdarson dead in his bedroom, they attribute the man's passing to natural causes. During the autopsy, though, the pathologist finds indications that he was smothered with a pillow. Over dinner with a former colleague, retired detective Konrdwho finds himself a bit boredvolunteers to look into the case for the short-staffed department; he discovers that Thrdarson had recently been investigating the 1944 murder of Rsamunda, a young seamstress, whose body was found behind the National Theater by two loversa philandering American GI and his nave Icelandic girlfriend. For Konrd, the case rouses his curiosity thanks to his late father's indirect connection to the victim's parents and a sance gone bad. The story shifts from present day Reykjavk to 1944, when British and Americans troops occupied Iceland during World War II. Thrdarson, then known as Stephan Thorson, a Canadian officer working with the military police, collaborated with Flvent, a local detective, to investigate Rsamunda's murder. Following every lead, they learn of Rsamunda's abortion and question a local herbologist who tells them the far-fetched story that Rsamunda claimed to be raped by the hulduflk, elves in Icelandic folklore, but they also learn of Hrund, a farm girl who told a similar story and later disappeared, an apparent suicide. Back in contemporary Reykjavk , Knrad follows Thrdarson's clues from the past investigation, determined to find the old man's killer and the connection to Rsamunda's and Hrund's deaths. With minimalist prose, Indridason skillfully weaves the present-day murder with the past in this classic whodunit that ends with a satisfying and logical resolution. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
