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The Shadow District cover art

The Shadow District

By: Arnaldur Indridason, Victoria Cribb - translator
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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Summary

Old crimes, new consequences.

The Past

In wartime Reykjavik, a young woman is found strangled behind the National Theatre, a rough and dangerous area of the city known as 'the shadow district'. An Icelandic detective and a member of the American military police are on the trail of a brutal killer.

The Present

A 90-year-old man is discovered dead on his bed, smothered with his own pillow. Konrad, a former detective now bored with retirement, finds newspaper cuttings in the dead man's home reporting the shadow district murder that date back to the Second World War. It's a crime that Konrad remembers, having grown up in the same neighbourhood.

A Missing Link

Why, after all this time, would an old crime resurface? Did the police arrest the wrong man? How are these cases linked across the decades? Will Konrad's link to the past help him solve the case and finally lay the ghosts of wartime Reykjavik to rest?

The Shadow District is the first in a major new series of novels from the worldwide best seller Arnaldur Inridason.

©2017 Arnaldur Indridason (P)2017 Random House Audiobooks

What listeners say about The Shadow District

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Really enjoyable.

A really good mystery, couldn't wait to get back to it when I had to stop listening. Made even better with the usual excellent narration from Sean Barrett.

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3 people found this helpful

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Gripping and unusual storyline

Beautifully written with excellent characterisation. This story has you guessing all the time. Good use of historical setting and does not lose you in the time changes as the mystery deepens.
Simply excellent reading by Sean Barrett which keeps the narrative flowing and clear.

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2 people found this helpful

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Blame it on the Huldufólk!

As a fan of Scandi - noir, always please to find an author new to me in that genre.
The Shadow District is very intriguing cold case tale that switches easily between it's two settings, wartime Iceland & present day Reykjavik.
The demise of an elderly man, deemed murdered, sets retired detective Konrad on a quest that leads him to the investigation into death of two young Icelandic women during WWII. The circumstances of both cases were never satisfactorily resolved, despite the the Huldufólk, Iceland's elves / little people, linking the two girls stories. Realising the present day murder, maybe due to the discovery of new evidence, he retraces the dead mans footsteps.


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Great narration and good story

I really enjoyed this book set in wartime and present day Iceland. The main characters are believable and relatable and I love this narrator very much.
My only downside to this story is that sometimes, I found it was a little hard to tell which time zone you were meant to be in. This might be because it's an audiobook and it would be more obvious if you were physically reading it yourself. It took me a while to get my head round all the different names and some of the names are used in both the past and present which doesn't help with the time zone issue.
Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it. Onto book 2!

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Not the greatest but still enjoyed it

We so like the narrator Sean Barrett and this was one reason I chose this book. The plot seemed to go back and forth too many times and at times it was a touch confusing. The story is not that wonderful.

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Excellent and intriguing

Great story, a Scandi Noir., believable characters and Sean Barrett did the usual sublime narration.

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well written

Absolutely gripping listen, fantastically read. It kept me totally enthralled throughout with all the twists, historical references, & the depth of the characters. Brilliant.

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  • Overall
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Enthralling

Fascinating and complex story set in an icy world where myths and complex family relationships entwine . Excellent narration ensured it was both clear and a pleasure to listen to.

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Good story, well read

I enjoyed this book, good characters and a fine plot. The story went between two different time periods but was easy to follow. One editing omission, but not too serious
Good narration as always by Sean Barrett.

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A great story, brilliantly read

I have read many books by this author but this is the first I have listened to. Thoroughly enjoyable and lovely to have those Icelandic names pronounced properly! Recommended to anyone who likes a police procedural story but this one is particularly cleverly and elegantly structured.

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