Indridason is the head of Icelandic crime fiction .. this book take us back to the start of Erlendur’ s career in the police and his dark thoughts of life. The atmosphere captures an atmosphere of foreboding and like a good potboiler builds up steadily. It was good also good to see the characters of Marion Brem and Halldora being introduced. Prequels are never easy as you bring to them so much knowledge of the future path of a character so I would say arhat anybody new to Indridason would benefit from beginning with this book and the move onto the others. A great addition to the Icelandic police library

If you are an Inspector Erlendur fan, this prequel to the series will take you back to the beginning and his life as an policeman patrolling the streets at night will provide depth to your knowledge of this famous Icelandic inspector.