The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2006, Síða 43

Vol. 60 #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
41
Oli, on the other hand, is well dressed, con-
servative, settled and composed. He is a
perfect foil for Erlendur.
Erlendur finds an old faded photo-
graph of a child’s grave in the back of
drawer in the victim’s apartment. This
leads to a search for the identification of the
child. The trail of clues being uncovered
sets in motion a thorough investigation of
the hidden life of Holberg, the victim.
Erlendur discovers that Holberg has been
responsible for at least two savage rapes.
The search for the rape victims takes
Erlendur, Sigurdur Oli and a female col-
league, Elinborg, on an interesting
sequence of interviews of people in notable
landmarks such as Keflavik, Husavik,
Thingveller, the University of Iceland and
the world renowned, Genetic Research
Centre. In his search for Holberg’s friends,
Erlendur finds that the man who took the
picture of the child’s grave has been miss-
ing for twenty-five years so another mys-
tery is added to the plot.
At the heart of the novel is the work of
Iceland’s Genetic Research Centre and the
use of genetic tracking. Erlendur is able to
follow clues as to the identity of the mur-
derer through the use of information gath-
ered from genetic medical data. His search
leads him to a doctor who still has several
jars containing organs preserved in forma-
lin. These are decades old and he has used
them for his own research. Apparently
organs were preserved in formalin in glass
jars and stored in a special room. These
organs were available for teaching and
research. The room was called Jar City,
hence this was chosen as the first name of
the book.
Arnaldur’s use of Iceland’s Genetic
Research Centre to help solve the mystery
of who killed Holberg provides an engross-
ing query into the implication of the
Genomics Company located on the out-
skirts of Reykjavik. The Company has col-
lected medical records, genetic and
genealogical information on almost every
Icelander.
Of particular note is Arnaldur’s revela-
tions as to how police treat women, espe-
cially rape victims. The description of
scenes involving taunting questions by
police officers and the grin on the faces of
rapists being questioned are so well written
that it is impossible not to be affected.
There is also the case of a bride who refus-
es to go to court because she knows she
will not be believed.
Tainted Blood has all the required ele-
ments of a thrilling murder mystery. It is
an amazing documentation of the intricate
procedures which must be followed to
solve a crime. Arnaldur has written a clever
mystery which can be enjoyed as a crime
novel and for its reflective revelations
about many social and political innuendos.
Rev. Stefan Jonas son
ARBORG UNITARIAN CHURCH
GIMLI UNITARIAN CHURCH
9 Rowand Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2N4
Telephone: (204) 889-4746
E-mail: sjonasson@uua.org