Around the neck of the skeleton is a listening device of Russian origin, and as the hydrologist who discovered the body notices, there is a hole in the skull suggesting that the body had been hit with a heavy object. It is surmised that the death occurred in the late sixties because the listening device dates to that era. Perhaps the reason for the murder is connected with the events of that era, namely the Cold War.

During the time of the Cold War promising Icelandic students were recruited to study at the university in Leipzig, Germany.  This opportunity seemed too good to pass up, but, as the Icelandic youths soon discovered, there was a price. Though the education was excellent they were constantly bombarded with extra meetings encouraging them to join the Socialist movement and follow the strict dictates of the Socialist Party.

Two such young men, Hannes and Tomas, gradually began to realize that they were being recruited to spy on their fellow students and report any activities toward free thinking to the leaders of the movement. Both have attended secret meetings in which free thought is encouraged. Hannes is deported and returned to Iceland. Tomas, smitten by a Hungarian girl  named Ilona, continues attending meetings even though he is “warned” by a leader of the Socialists that should he continue bad things could happen to him. It isn’t long before Tomas discovers the truth of these words.

Beyond an intricately woven tale which spans four decades, The Draining Lake provides an inside look at Iceland and Icelandic society. As Erlendur comments, Icelandic crime is not nearly as sophisticated as crime in other parts of the world. In fact most of the time detectives are involved in much more pedestrian tasks than investigating murder. In addition, the population of Iceland is small so the possibility of a resident being unknown to even a reasonable number of people is small.  Because of its geographic location, Iceland has a period of the year where it is basically dark all the time, but also the converse. Before the advent of satellites, Iceland was considered a strategically important place for the super powers of the world, and these powers made a point of establishing bases in the country.

The Draining Lake is the fourth in Arnaldur Indridason’s  series featuring Erlendur, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli. In each outing, the reader learns a little more of the lives of these characters prior to the beginning of the series. We have learned quite a bit in previous books about Erlendur’s grown children, his ex wife, his parents and his brother. He is still a tortured soul trying to deal (or not) with his emotional baggage. In this book, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli command a little more attention demonstrating that they have lives beyond their professional ones.

Bernard Scudder has done a commendable job in translating The Draining Lake.  In one situation the characters are speaking in English because the Czech does not understand Icelandic and Erlendur and his staff do not speak Czech. The dialogue spoken by the Czech reflects one unfamiliar with the English language.  It would be interesting to be able to read the book in the original Icelandic to see how Indridason has handled the conversation. Through his characters, Indridason occasionally makes some astute comments on society and language in general. I wholeheartedly agree with him when he mentions through Erlendur that political correctness has succeeded in making language totally impotent. We are reduced to monosyllables in order that we offend no one.

The Draining Lake  is a admirable addition to Indridason’s informative series of Icelandic mysteries. The mere fact that he can continue to come up with ideas for crime in a country where little crime exists is testimony to his skill as a writer. 

--Andy Plonka