Arnaldur Indriðason

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic or matronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name Arnaldur.

Arnaldur Indriðason
Arnaldur Indriðason at the Helsinki Book Fair, Finland, 2004
Born	January 28, 1961 (1961-01-28) Reykjavík, Iceland
Genres	crime fiction

Arnaldur Indriðason (pronounced [ˈartnaltʏr ˈɪntrɪðasɔn]) (b. 1961) is a popular Icelandic writer of crime fiction, most of his books featuring the protagonist Detective Erlendur^(fr).

Early life

Arnaldur was born in Reykjavík on 28 January 1961, the son of the writer Indriði G. Þorsteinsson. He graduated with a degree in history from the University of Iceland (Háskóli Íslands) in 1996. He worked as a journalist for the newspaper Morgunblaðið in 1981-1982, and later freelanced. From 1986 to 2001, he was a film critic for Morgunblaðið.

Writing career

His first book, Sons of Dust (Synir duftsins) came out in 1997, the first in the series with Detective Erlendur. As of 2010, the series includes 11 novels. Arnaldur has repeatedly proved to be the most popular writer in Iceland in recent years—topping bestseller lists time and again.^{[citation needed]} In the year 2004 his books were seven of the 10 most popular titles borrowed in Reykjavík City Library^{[citation needed]}. In 2006 his Erlendur novel Mýrin was made into a film, known internationally as Jar City, by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur.

Arnaldur's books have been published in 26 countries and translated into at least 20 languages, including Russian, Polish, German, Greek, Danish, Catalan, English, Italian, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, Chinese, Croatian, Romanian and French.

Awards

Arnaldur received the Glass Key award, a literature prize for the best Nordic crime novel, in 2002 and 2003. He won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award in 2005 for his novel Silence of the Grave.

Personal life

He lives in Reykjavík with his wife and three children.

Bibliography

Detective Erlendur series

• Synir duftsins (Sons of Dust, 1997)
• Dauðarósir (Silent Kill, 1998)
• Mýrin (Tainted Blood, also known as Jar City, 2000)
• Grafarþögn (Silence of the Grave, 2001)
• Röddin (Voices, 2003)
• Kleifarvatn (The Draining Lake, 2004)
• Vetrarborgin (Arctic Chill, 2005)
• Harðskafi (Hypothermia, 2007)
• Myrká (Outrage, 2008)
• Svörtuloft (2009)
• Furðustrandir (2010)
• Einvígið (2011)

Other novels

• Napóleonsskjölin (Operation Napoleon, 1999)
• Bettý (2003)
• Konungsbók (The King's Book, 2006)

Other writings

• Leyndardómar Reykjavíkur 2000 (one chapter; 2000)
• Reykjavík-Rotterdam (screenplay co-writer, 2008)