An elderly couple are worried about their granddaughter. They know she’s been smuggling drugs, and now she’s gone missing. Looking for help, they turn to Konrad, a former policeman whose reputation precedes him. Always absentminded, he constantly ruminates on the fate of his father, who was stabbed to death decades ago. But digging into the past reveals much more than anyone set out to discover, and a little girl who drowned in the Reykjavik city pond unexpectedly captures everyone’s attention.
The Girl By the Bridge is a brilliant, chilling tale of broken dreams and children who have nowhere to turn.
Nominated for The Best Translated Crime Novel of 2021 in Sweden, by the Svenska Deckarakademin (The Swedish Crime Academy)
Nominated for The Drop of Blood – The Icelandic Crime Novel Award 2019
Longlisted for the CWA Dagger Award for Crime Fiction in Translation 2024
“Indridason’s books are novels of mourning, tended by the will of their heroes to do justice to the dead, to restore their dignity, to allow them to rest in peace.
Indridason thus composes thrillers in the form of tragedies, in which present and past are intimately mixed, where the dead have as much presence as the living.”
FRANCEINTER.FR
“An outstanding work, an uncanny tale of evils past and present.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“The second novel in Arnaldur Indridason’s intriguing new series,The Girl by the Bridge…is as darkly brilliant as anything he has written.” THE SUNDAY TIMES
“Indridason’s storytelling flows as smoothly as ever here, and Konrád, introduced in The Darkness Knows (2021) establishes himself as a compelling truth-seeker.”
BOOKLIST
“What affected me most was the rueful tenderness of Indridason’s prose. … Indridason’s signature melancholy still wafts through the novel.”
SARAH WEINMAN, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
“Scandi noir is alive and well and living in Iceland. Arnaldur Indridason’s novels have long been among the most reliable pleasures in the world of crime fiction and this week sees him return with the second in his Detective Konrad series following up The Darkness Knows published last year.
…Prepare to lose a day or two in its pages.” TEDDY JAMIESON, THE HERALD, UK
“Short, crisply written chapters move the action briskly along while keeping all the seemingly disparate pieces of the puzzle in the mix. Veteran Indridason weaves all these eerie elements together masterfully.
Superb crime fiction from an acclaimed virtuoso.”
KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW
“… it’s great to see the second book in his series about the aging detective Konrád in our roundup. … the bestselling Icelandic author of all time … haunting thriller.”
CRIMEFICTIONLOVER.COM, UK
“An unnerving story of old crimes and their enduring reverberations, [with] a powerful and well-earned denouement. This a treat for fans of brainy, complex mysteries.” PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
“How Indridason is able to tie this case to the present-day one is a thing of beauty. …It impresses me to no end that Indridason crosses the paths of the various narratives to create a compelling tale. The Girl By the Bridge shows the dark side of a country and town accustomed mostly to lightness, and it will shake readers in the same way that it does Detective Konrad.”
RAY PALEN, BOOKREPORTER.COM
★★★★★ (five stars out of five possible) “Arnaldur is one of those authors who makes it seem simple, but with The Girl by the Bridge, he really makes it seem like a breeze. The story flows so effortlessly that it’s not hard to imagine the author sitting down at his computer one day and writing the entire novel in one go.
Like Arnaldur’s last book, What the Darkness Knows, the main protagonist is retired policeman Konrad. The plot centers around an elderly couple who are acquainted with Konrad and ask for his help with a young woman facing addiction. But Konrad can’t stop thinking about a young girl who drowned in the Reykjavik city pond in 1961. The two storylines intertwine in a convincing way, everything enveloped by shame and tragedy.
The characters are interesting, and Arnaldur expertly describes people and places in a compelling manner, never weighing down his prose with unnecessary details. The dialogue is also excellent, simple and completely natural.
Although The Girl by the Bridge is a thriller, it doesn’t overwhelm readers with speed and action. Rather, readers get to enjoy a well-written book that makes their hair stand on end at just the right places in the story.
The story wends its way between past and present, and although Konrad is the main character, others get their share of the limelight too. Like so often before, the author’s historical knowledge is readily apparent in those parts of the book set in the past.”
JOHANN OLAFSSON, MORGUNBLADID DAILY, ICELAND
“Arnaldur is a consummate professional who doesn’t disappoint. No other crime fiction author in Iceland writes as well as he does, and his character development is always solid. Readers looking for meticulously crafted crime novels should not overlook his books. His latest, The Girl by the Bridge, once again shows that the author has great compassion for victims of violence.
Den islandske forfatter Arnaldur Indriðason skriver klassisk, disciplineret krimi, hvor det grå guld mobiliseres, og nøglen til krimigådens opklaring ligger gemt i alle de mange lag tilværelsen består af. Det er indlevelsen i en mors sorg og det langsomme, seje gravearbejde, hvor man ved, at man vil rystes og skræmmes af det, man finder.”
KOLBRUN BERGTHORDSDOTTIR, FRETTABLADID DAILY, ICELAND
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
(five stars out of six possible) “Here it is. The crime novel you should read this summer, if you only read one.
… breathtaking …”
BO TAO MICHAËLIS, POLITIKEN, DENMARK
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
(five stars out of five possible)
VN DETECTIVE & THRILLERGIDS 2020, THE NETHERLANDS
“The Girl by the Bridge proves once again that Arnaldur Indridason is a master storyteller.”
MARILYNSMYSTERYREADS.COM
“Indridason, one of the first and still the best of the brilliant crop of Icelandic crime novelists. Moody, filled with atmosphere … This is classic Indridason with a complicated plot … Strange, haunting and perfect for reading by firelight.” THE GLOBE AND MAIL
“There is a term called “Icelandic Noir” and if it wasn’t coined because of the works of Arnaldur Indridason an argument could be made that he is the leading author in the genre. His books are dark and gritty and very methodic.
… Looking for a good book? The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason is perfect for fans of Iclandic Noir and police procedural mysteries.”
LOOKINGFORAGOODBOOK.COM
(b.1961) has the rare distinction of having won the Nordic Crime Novel Prize two years running. He is also the winner of the highly respected and world famous CWA Gold Dagger Award for the top crime novel of the year More about the author
