Some more reading
I've just finished 2 books - one a children's book and one concluding the series about the Icelandic detective Erlendur.
Arnaldur Indriðason's series finishes with book #9, Strange Shores. It seems Erlendur has retired (I haven't seen 6, 7 or 8) and is on a holiday to the east of Iceland, the area in which he grew up before moving to Reykavik with his parents. He's camping in the ruins of his former family farm house and a chance encounter with a local farmer sets him off on the investigation of a disappearance in 1942. A local woman apparently disappeared during a severe snowstorm, during which a group of British soldiers also got into trouble. While all the soldiers were found, whether dead or alive, Matthildur's body was never found. Erlendur has known of this event since a child and it has always fascinated him, being similar to his personal tragedy of having lost his brother in a blizzard when they were children. Erlendur meets all the elderly people who are still around from the 1940s, who knew Matthildur or her husband and gradually teases out the long-hidden truth around the disappearance. At the same time, he continues to dwell on the fact that his brother was also never found and by the end of the book seems to come to peace with that part of his life.
The author of Phyllis Wong, Geoff McSkimming, wrote a series of books in the 1990s and 2000s about Cairo Jim, well-known archaeologist, little-known poet and member of the Old Relics Society. They seem to be a blend of history, fact and made-up humorous detail, describing Jim's explorations and adventures in ancient civilisations such as the Mayan Kingdom, Egypt and Ancient Greece. I had to start with book 11, Cairo Jim and the Lagoon of Tidal Magnificence (but Solveig has since found #1 in the school library). Jim and his usually travelling companions Doris the macaw, Brenda the Wonder Camel and Jocelyn Osgood, Valkyrian Airway's most experienced Senior Flight Attendant and Jim's good friend, fly from Egypt to Sumatra. They are in the footsteps of a Dr Schnitger, who found a Royal Palace built by the Maharaja of Srivijaya. In all his writings about his find, he only ever hinted at something very special about the Palace. Jim wants to discover for himself what the secret is. But he's not the only one. Captain Neptune F. Bone (who seems to be a regular rival of Jim's) is also on his way up the extinct volcano to the Palace and of course he is up to no good. Lots of fun and it's a pity these books are out of print.
Arnaldur Indriðason's series finishes with book #9, Strange Shores. It seems Erlendur has retired (I haven't seen 6, 7 or 8) and is on a holiday to the east of Iceland, the area in which he grew up before moving to Reykavik with his parents. He's camping in the ruins of his former family farm house and a chance encounter with a local farmer sets him off on the investigation of a disappearance in 1942. A local woman apparently disappeared during a severe snowstorm, during which a group of British soldiers also got into trouble. While all the soldiers were found, whether dead or alive, Matthildur's body was never found. Erlendur has known of this event since a child and it has always fascinated him, being similar to his personal tragedy of having lost his brother in a blizzard when they were children. Erlendur meets all the elderly people who are still around from the 1940s, who knew Matthildur or her husband and gradually teases out the long-hidden truth around the disappearance. At the same time, he continues to dwell on the fact that his brother was also never found and by the end of the book seems to come to peace with that part of his life.
The author of Phyllis Wong, Geoff McSkimming, wrote a series of books in the 1990s and 2000s about Cairo Jim, well-known archaeologist, little-known poet and member of the Old Relics Society. They seem to be a blend of history, fact and made-up humorous detail, describing Jim's explorations and adventures in ancient civilisations such as the Mayan Kingdom, Egypt and Ancient Greece. I had to start with book 11, Cairo Jim and the Lagoon of Tidal Magnificence (but Solveig has since found #1 in the school library). Jim and his usually travelling companions Doris the macaw, Brenda the Wonder Camel and Jocelyn Osgood, Valkyrian Airway's most experienced Senior Flight Attendant and Jim's good friend, fly from Egypt to Sumatra. They are in the footsteps of a Dr Schnitger, who found a Royal Palace built by the Maharaja of Srivijaya. In all his writings about his find, he only ever hinted at something very special about the Palace. Jim wants to discover for himself what the secret is. But he's not the only one. Captain Neptune F. Bone (who seems to be a regular rival of Jim's) is also on his way up the extinct volcano to the Palace and of course he is up to no good. Lots of fun and it's a pity these books are out of print.