Tainted Blood

Yes - another Scandinavian novel. Does Iceland count as Scandinavia?

Indriðason is the man who's just won the CWA Gold Dagger, and inadvertently caused them to change their rules regarding the language of first publication. This wasn't the book that won the award - that's still only out in trade paperback. But this is his first novel, and a thoroughly good one it is too.

We're introduced to Detective Erlendur of the Reykjavik CID. He has to investigate the murder of an elderly man in his basement flat. As the investigation proceeds, we're taken on a story that involves a serial rapist from the sixties, and a story that takes in a rare genetic disease.

I believe that the Icelandic Genetic Research Centre which enters into the plot is a truly unique research project in reality. Was it not used to establish who's most likely to have Viking blood?

Anyway, a great little thriller and I look forward to reading his next novels.