Wednesday, May 06, 2015

The Flatey Enigma by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson


First Line: An easterly wind swept across Breidafjördur with the break of dawn, and a sharp spring breeze intensified the foam of the waves breaking on the strait between the Western Isles.

After three seal hunters find a body on a tiny deserted island off the western coast of Iceland, the district magistrate's assistant is sent to investigate. It's 1960, crime is very low in that area, and it's best not to send for the police from Reykjavik unless it's absolutely necessary.

When it's learned that the body is that of a missing Danish professor, some of the talk amongst the villagers turns to the Flatey Enigma, a set of questions based on the ancient Icelandic text that the professor was trying to solve. Just when the magistrate's assistant, Kjartan, feels that he's getting close solving the professor's death, another body is found-- this time mutilated in the ancient Viking tradition of the blood eagle. The police arrive from Reykjavik, but Kjartan knows that he and the villagers still have the inside track on solving the crimes.

Although the professionals from Reykjavik are finally sent for, it's the amateurs who really do the lion's share of the murder investigations in The Flatey Enigma, and I found following them around this remote area of western Iceland to be fascinating. As villagers are interviewed, as they help guide the magistrate's assistant from place to place, the reader learns a lot about the customs and food of Iceland in 1960. I have to admit that I tended to skim over the menus quickly because roast puffin breast and baby seal stew just don't appeal to me, but the food people eat says a lot about them, and it certainly does here.

I deduced the killer's identity early on, but I still enjoyed following the investigation because I was learning so much about Iceland. Each chapter in the book ends with information about the Flatey Book (which actually exists), ancient Icelandic legends that are contained within its vellum pages, and finally the forty enigma questions themselves. Sometimes inclusions like these interrupt the narrative and are annoying. They certainly weren't in this case.

Sometimes when I read a mystery, what I reap is so much more than solving a crime, and this is what happened when I read The Flatey Enigma. Yes, the mystery is interesting, but I feel as though I learned a great deal about the customs and the people of an area of Iceland far removed from its capital of Reykjavik.
 

The Flatey Enigma by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson
Translated from the Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbon
eISBN: 9781611090970
Amazon Crossing © 2012
eBook, 326 pages

Historical Mystery, Standalone
Rating: A-
Source: Purchased from Amazon. 


6 comments:

  1. Glad to see you liked this book, which has intrigued me since I first heard about it. I just don't have time to read it, but learning about Iceland would be interesting.

    And in M.J. McGrath's White Heat, set on Ellesmere Island, the food was similar to that described here. A few dishes were hard to even read about. I am very glad I stopped eating any mammals a long time ago, but I think if I hadn't, that book would have driven me to it.

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    1. You might think that I wouldn't have a problem with this, since I find haggis quite tasty.

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  2. This sounds very interesting - apart from the baby seal stew. LOL

    I like books that teach you a bit as well as the crime solving itself. It's amazing how much I've picked up from reading mysteries. And we shan't discuss haggis. ;-)

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    1. I would imagine-- as with a lot of cuisine-- the way haggis is prepared has a lot to do with how it tastes. I think I might've lucked out with my chef. :-)

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  3. I had this on my radar for a while, Cathy, and then it dropped off. I'm annoyed with me, too, because I did want to read it. Thanks for the reminder, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Maybe I'll actually remember to put it on my reading list this time!

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    1. We need to have some sort of sideboards on our radar so titles stop falling off. That's happened to me countless times!

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