Jar city (2004)

A Reykjavík murder leads Erlendur towards old injuries and evidence that reaches beyond the immediate victim. Bernard Scudder's translation keeps the investigation spare and sombre, with family history carrying as much weight as forensic ingenuity. Read for the uncomfortable connections between records, bodies and people who were not listened to. It is an early English entry into an existing Icelandic series, rather than the detective's first case.