Murder on ice

Talk about cold cases ... In The Darkness Knows (2017), a fascinating mystery by Arnaldur Indridason, the well-preserved body of a man missing for 30 years is found in a melting glacier in Iceland. Konrad was the cop who led the investigation at the time. Now retired and restless, he is prompted by the discovery of the body to pursue his own independent investigation of what is now clearly a murder.

A witness at the time of Sigurvin's disappearance had said that a business associate named Hjaltalin had threatened to kill him, making Hjaltalin the prime suspect. Yet there was never sufficient evidence to charge him with anything, especially with no body, and Konrad had always had doubts about his guilt. Yet now the police are again focusing on Hjaltalin, who is dying of cancer.

The key to solving the case turns out to be another death, this of a man who may have been a witness to the original crime but, because he was a boy at the time, had never come forward. Later he may have talked about it too much, for he has been killed in a suspicious hit-and-run. If Konrad can solve this case, perhaps he can solve the much older one.

Subplots abound in this fine murder mystery, including an even colder case involving the murder of Konrad's own father, also a cop, but reputed to be a dirty one.

Arnaldur (I am following the Icelandic tradition of referring to people by their first names) has written a number of fine mysteries and thriller, and The Darkness Knows ranks among the best.