19 | July | 2013 | The Angry Grey Cat Reads

This is the second book I have read in the series. I read Jar City,which is book 3 in the series. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Book 1 & 2 have been translated into English. Starting with book 3, does not seem to have impacted my enjoyment of this series.

Here in book 4, Silence of the Grave, we again meet Erlendur as he investigates a body found at the site of a now demolished chalet. The book is told in current time as Erlendur attempts to solve the crime and also in the past with the tragic story of the family that inhabited the house. The sense of dread builds as the book progresses. We all know that a human body has been found, but not who is it and meanwhile we are reading about the horrific circumstances of the family.

As a story on the side, we again meet Eva Lind, Erlendur’s drug addict daughter and she has a story line within the book. Her story line serves to reveal aspects of Erlendur’s past and more of his relationship with Eva and his ex-wife. The mystery is surprising, especially the twists surrounding the identity of the body.

Very good mystery and I look forward to reading more in this series.

I just finished Awakening by S.J. Bolton. I will start off by saying that I love all the books I have read by this author. Sacrifice, her debut novel, in particular sticks out in mind as excellent. Awakening is a good mystery novel. The snakes alone make it particularly scary, especially as someone who lives in an older house and knows how they could get in if they wanted to and hide in nooks and crannies. {{{insert shudder here}}}

The protagonist is Clara Benning, a physically and emotionally scarred veterinary surgeion, who does a great deal of wildlife rescue work. She prefers her animal charges to people. The other characters like Matt, Sean and Sally are well developed and fit seamlessly together. The misdirection worked very well and I was surprised at the ending. The novel seemed well researched in terms of the snakes, not that I am an expert by any means.

S.J. Bolton writes in an extraordinarily well paced style. There are no dull moments or “filler, everything is purposeful. The book is a mystery and yet it also explores a “monumental change” for Clara through the events in the book and the people she meets, in her perspective and outlook on life. She is certainly a character that shows growth and change.

I would definitely recommend this book, although I did prefer Sacrifice over it.