At first, I found the police procedural business quite interesting: I've never known the forensic Scene-Of-Crime boys followed in such detail! But with the interleaving of the victim's diaires, I began to smell the distinctly fishy odour of padding. The diary entries do effectively demonstrate the descent of a mind from enthusiasm, via obsession, to something like madness; but their sketchiness serves merely to tell when they should show - can't the author manage (or be bothered?) to realise his story more effectively?

It's no worse than OK, as my three stars indicate - but no better, either. I must take issue with at least one other reviewer here: this novel IN NO WAY approaches Larsson's Millenniium trilogy in readability, characterisation, theme, or any other quality I can think of. Except, perhaps, that there is quite a lot of snow involved. ( )

Set in Iceland in 1973, the book begins with the discovery of Jacob Kieler, Junior, who has been found shot in his museum-like home. To add to the mystery we are told that his father, Jacob Kieler, Senior, was also found shot in the same room thirty years earlier. So who is the killer and why have these two men been targeted?

The story is told in alternating chapters from the perspective of the various police officers involved in the investigation, and Jacob Senior's diaries over his lifetime. Jacob Senior spent his life trying to bring a railroad to Iceland and spent many years in Germany studying and planning. Jacob Junior spent his life trying to maintain his father’s legacy and turn the family estate into a museum.

I've long been a fan of crime stories set in Iceland but I have to admit this wasn't my favorite. I enjoyed the forensics part of the investigation but I grew weary of all the details on railroads and Jacob Senior's obsession with them. As always, the Icelandic names can be difficult to remember and I would have preferred the author use a different name for one of the characters. The story covers a lot of ground and sometimes features unnecessary details. However, I enjoyed it for the most part and then ending came as a real surprise to me. It was written a number of years ago and I would consider reading one of the author's current books.
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In Reykjavík in 1973, police investigate the death of Jacob Kieler Jr. who was found dead in his home. His father, a prominent engineer obsessed with building a national railroad, had been killed in the same way in the same spot almost 30 years earlier. The story focuses on the police investigation, giving the perspectives of various members of the investigative team, and Jacob Sr.’s diaries written between 1910 – 1945. The police set out to find the connection between the two deaths.

The book is very slow-paced. Not only does the investigation proceed slowly, but the diary entries included at the end of each chapter slow things down even further. The diary entries reveal Jacob Sr.’s fixation with trains and give historical information about Iceland in the first half of the 20th century, but do little to advance the plot. The constant rambling on and on about trains becomes tedious.

Is there anything less interesting than journal entries that read like this: “There are two locomotives: Pionér, built by Arnold Jung in Germany in 1892; and Minør, built by Jungenthal in Bei Kirchen in Germany the same year. The gauge is 90 cm . . . ” and “the professor shows us calculations on energy efficiency for railway trains powered by steam. Apparently only 6% efficiency is achieved. I am looking forward to learning about locomotives powered by electricity. The professor says that such a train was first demonstrated here in the city in 1879, and the first extensive electric railroad, between Bitterfeld and Dessau, was open in 1911 (15 kV, 16.7 Hz). An engine that Rudolf Diesel had completed before his death last year is also thought to be very promising.” and “Mauretania is 31,932 tons, 232 meters in length, and achieves a maximum speed of 25 knots, one of the fastest ships now sailing the Atlantic Ocean.” and “Plotted the Threngsli gradient survey onto graph paper. Weighed myself, I am 73 kilos . . .” and “The cross ties (1.60 x 0.22 x 0.11 m) will be made of impregnated pinewood mounted with 12-cm-wide baseplates. The price, 6.00 kr. per item, is a little high, but is based on the present high price of timber and the cost of creosote being 150 kr./ton.” My eyes glazed over several times!

There is a lot of unnecessary information given outside the journal entries as well. The author feels he has to explain the technology used by the investigators. For example, “he did have equipment back at the lab for doing a so-called paraffin test, where warm paraffin wax was applied to the hands to see if they revealed nitrates left by a gunshot, but recent research had shown this method to be very inaccurate.” Then there’s this explanation: “Fingerprint powder works by sticking to traces of grease left behind when a finger touches an object; the grease carries the same pattern as the finger itself, and the powder therefore displays an accurate copy of it. The trick was to use the right powder for the circumstances. It must not cling to the surface bearing the fingerprint, and it must be the correct color: black powder was used on light surfaces, gray powder on dark ones. Different methods were applied depending on whether the fingerprints were old or recent. This powder was designed to show up on only recent prints, those containing grease and moisture, and not old prints, which consist mainly of salts.” Such extraneous details just slow down the pace even further. This is a novel, not a technical manual on forensic methodology.

There is little character development. Egill, incompetent and aggressive, is a stereotypical bad cop. Hrefna, the only woman on the police team, has the most potential as a round character but there is insufficient focus on her. Why include the death of a very minor character instead of developing the main characters?

The ending is very dramatic with several major surprises. The solution to the mystery surrounding the deaths of father and son is a bit far-fetched; it made me think of something one would find in a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

The storyline has potential, but was clumsily executed. A good editor would have tightened the plot and insisted on more character development. Thematic development could also be improved so obvious statements like “Perhaps things will change one day, and people will be able to live the way they were created” and “Many a man might have gained wisdom had he not considered himself wise already” would be unnecessary.

Though I tend to like Icelandic mysteries, this one was a disappointment.

Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski). ( )

House of Evidence. Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson. 2012. This is not the author I thought I’d read, but that’s okay for a cheap Kindle book. It is a police procedural, set in Iceland. The police are called to a big old house to investigate a murder. They find out that the father of the murdered man was also murdered at the house in almost the same way. I read more than I ever wanted to read about railroads in Iceland! Jacob Kieler, Sr. spent is life trying to bring a rail road to Iceland and Jacob Kieler, Jr. spent his life trying to maintain his father’s legacy and a make his mansion into a museum. Chapters alternate between Senior’s diary and the murder investigation. There are some interesting twists and turns in the plot ad we get glimpses of the personalities of the investigators. I almost stopped reading it as I got sick of reading about the trains, but the characters were interesting and the ending was truly a surprise. ( )

I downloaded this as part of Amazon’s ‘Kindle Deal of the Day’ offer because the author was born in Iceland so it would count towards my World Challenge.

It is 1973 and Jacob Keiler Junior’s body has been discovered in the hall of his house – he had been shot, echoing the unsolved death of his father some 28 years earlier. The police and forensic teams are quickly on the scene to investigate the death. It falls to a young female detective, Hrefna, to read Keiler senior’s diaries – many volumes of them - which may provide evidence to help the team to solve the murder.

Each chapter of the novel starts with the current investigation and ends with excerpts from the diaries – the first started in 1910, the last completed just before his death in 1945. The main theme running through the diaries is Keiler Senior’s desire to build the first railway in Iceland. I was a bit worried that it might be dry, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all.

It took me a while to work out who was who due to the unfamiliar names, but once I’d done that I was off and enjoyed it. The closest I've come (geographically) is Swedish author Stieg Larsson! This is nothing like that though - it's a much gentler story with not much description of gore (!) but I really enjoyed the way the story built and it was such an enjoyable read. I didn’t work out whodunit, so I very much enjoyed the ending when the reveal was made! ( )