1955. A young Icelander travels to Denmark to study Old Norse under an eminent compatriot: a brilliant but deeply disturbed Professor who since the war years has never forgiven himself for submitting, under unbearable pressure, to extortion by the Nazis of his most precious charge: the Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda, the jewel in the crown of old Icelandic manuscripts.

Lost in the bombing at the end of the war, the manuscript is now sought after by a group of neo-Nazis. The Professor and his pupil embark on a hazardous journey across Europe in search of this priceless heirloom, a treasure that some people are willing to die and kill for. They find and recover it, but not without also finding, and then losing for ever, the eight leaves that have been missing from the manuscript since it first came to light in the seventeenth century.

This is both a fast-paced thriller and a fascinating blend of history and fiction, about what can be sacrificed – and what must be sacrificed – for this most precious gem of Iceland’s cultural inheritance.

R E V I E W S

“In this story, Arnaldur turns over a new leaf. It might be classified as “a cultural crime story” in which one manifestation of the Icelandic cultural heritage, in this case a manuscript, is the centre of interest. …
The King’s Codex is cut from much the same cloth as The Da Vinci Code, one of the most popular crime novels of recent years…. Arnaldur has done his homework as usual and plays here with one of the most tantalising mysteries of Icelandic manuscript studies: the few pages missing from the Codex Regius and whose whereabouts is altogether unknown.  Arnaldur paints a vivid picture of Europe in the years after the Second World War: his descriptions of a bleak post-war Berlin are among the best parts of the book.”
KATRIN JAKOBSDOTTIR, CURRENT PRIME MINISTER OF ICELAND
(from Morgunbladid)

“When academic research reaches its limits, Arnaldur Indriðason’s novel, The King’s Codex, brings the imagination fully into play, showing us the lengths to which people are prepared to go in pursuit of treasures that arouse their emotions as forcibly as the Codex Regius of the Poetic Edda has done for centuries, both in Iceland and in mainland Europe. These same emotions can be harnessed in the service of wars and genocide, so we ignore them at our peril. In this book Arnaldur succeeds in raising awareness among the younger generation of the priceless cultural treasures entrusted to our care, with the ideas and emotions involved supplying the impetus for a powerful and credible contemporary thriller.”
GISLI SIGURDSSON, RESEARCH PROFESSOR AT THE ARNI MAGNUSSON INSTITUTE FOR ICELANDIC STUDIES
(from Morgunbladid)

Four stars of five possible.
“Arnaldur Indridason succeeds in enriching the genre … A compellingly written book.”
VRIJ NEDERLAND DETECTIVE- AND THRILLERGIDS, THE NETHERLANDS

Four stars of five possible.
MISDAADROMANS, THE NETHERLANDS

 Four stars of five possible.
CRIMEZONE.NL, THE NETHERLANDS