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The Shadow District

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About this listen

Random House presents the unabridged, downloadable audio edition of The Shadow District by Arnaldur Indridason, read by Sean Barratt.

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 BESTSELLER ARNALDUR INDRIDASON

 Crime Thrillers International Mystery & Crime Mystery Thriller & Suspense Crime Thriller Fiction Suspense Detective

Critic reviews

This atmospheric tale covering 7 years is beautifully told (Marcel Berlins)
Indridason is a skillful plotter with a firm grasp of how to tell a story to keep the reader guessing… I will certainly look out the next in the series (Paul Burke)
A new, exciting direction for Indridason that will delight his existing readers and gain him new fans. The past and present fuse together brilliantly in this gripping story
All stars
Most relevant
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.

Enthralling

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

Excellent and intriguing

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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!

Great narration and good story

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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.

Gripping and unusual storyline

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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.

Good story, well read

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