The Shadow District

By: Arnaldur Indridason

Narrated by: George Guidall

The Shadow District is the stunning first book in the compelling new series from award-winning Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason, whom reviewers are calling "a master".

A 90-year-old man is found dead in his bed, smothered with his own pillow. On his desk, the police find newspaper cuttings about a murder case dating from the Second World War, when a young woman was found strangled behind Reykjavik's National Theatre.

Konrad, a former detective, is bored with retirement and remembers the crime. He grew up in "the shadow district", a rough neighborhood bordered by the National Theatre. Why would someone be interested in that crime now? He starts his own unofficial enquiry.

Alternating between Konrad's investigation and the original police inquiry, we discover that two girls had been attacked in oddly similar circumstances. Did the police arrest the wrong man? How are these cases linked across the decades? And who is the old man?

A deeply compassionate story of old crimes and their consequences, The Shadow District is the first in a thrilling new series of novels by the worldwide best-selling author Arnaldur Indridason.

©2017 Arnaldur Indridason (P)2017 Recorded Books

Have you ever read a book and wondered...

Have you ever read a book with so many flaws and problems and wondered why you still enjoyed it? I have.

I actually enjoyed this book very much and will probably read more from the author.

It has a plethora of problems, none of which escaped me as I listened, but they didn't dim my appreciation of the work.

It is repetitive. The same clues and information are restated umpteen times to the point I could recite them in my dreams.
The characters are interesting, but not well fleshed out, really.
The plot was predictable. I knew what was coming all along the way.
The "twist" really wasn't much of one.
While not the fault of the author or reader, the Icelandic names and places were sometimes difficult to follow (and the one main character's name was the same as my cat's asthma medicine, lol. "Flovent")
The narrator was good, but not exceptional.

Honestly, I can't even really explain WHY I liked it, but I did. The characters were interesting. The juxtaposition of the two crimes across time was well done. The setting was interesting.

At any rate, I would actually recommend it, but with the proviso that it is far from perfect... I just found it a good read.

Liked this stiry

Excellent..deeply hidden secrets revealed after decades, good twist at the end..deep, dark, well performed

Confusing!

The story switches back a nd forth between two time periods and you don't know which period you are in, names are confusing as well.

Cold Case mystery in Icelandic setting

I love the Icelandic location, the character development, the mystery, and dealing with two eras simultaneously. it was missing a few layers for me personally but would fail at providing more clarity if pressed.

Well worth a credit!

I really enjoy Arnaldur Indridason's work. You get the flavor of the Icelandic character in his novels, as well as a really good police procedural/suspense story line. This particular novel had a lot of twists and turns, and traced the events thru through 3 timelines: far past, the recent past and the present - incredibly well done and it flowed effortlessly. Loved it, could not put it down, with surprises all the way to the end.