The story behind Erlendur's Draining Lake investigation begins not with the discovery of bones in a lake bed, but in the 1950s in Leipzig. At that time it was part of the GDR, and students were being recruited to come to the university there to study. Some Icelandic socialist students were part of the recruitment effort -- but many discovered that there was a catch to their free education once they had been there for a while. Flashforward to the present, where a hydrologist examining a lake bed finds bones half buried there and calls police. As it turns out, the body was tied down with an old Soviet listening device, starting Erlendur and his team on an investigation that will take them back to the Cold War years. With very few clues to go on, including the identity of the dead man, Erlendur and his team have their work cut out for them. In the meantime, there's a few hitches in Erlendur's life: seriously drug-addicted daughter Eva Lind has runaway again, and while he's busy worrying about her, his long-estranged son Sindri shows up.

Indridason's writing is excellent, as always, and the fleshed-out back story of the students' years in Leipzig is a nice glimpse into the pitfalls of overzealous idealism. Erlendur is a character who has since the outset of this series been portrayed as very human, with real-life problems that don't seem to ever be resolved. The author is able to inject a bit of wry humor into his writing which is often dark and depressing -- there are no warm fuzzies or nice touchy-feely happy endings where everyone goes home happy and satisfied in this series. If that's what you're looking for, then pass on these novels.

The Draining Lake is not my favorite of Indridason's novels, but it was still a great read. He continues to follow his pattern of the past's connection to the present, which is one of my favorite motifs in a mystery novel. The book is well written, and my only criticism is that at times things seemed to move very slow. But I still very highly recommend not only this book, but the entire series. You'll want to start with the first book in translation, Jar City, and make your way through all of the books before coming to this one if you want the best reading experience. People who enjoy Scandinavian crime novels will want to read this one, as will people looking for a good mystery novel in general. ( )

Although this was every bit the page turner as the other entries in the Inspector Erlendur series, for some reason this installment didn't grab me as much as the others. Nonetheless I continue to look forward to more books by Indridason as they are translated into English. ( )

The is a gripping and haunting story taking place in present day Iceland and partly in East Germany during the Cold War era.

The tale begins when waters of Lake Kleifarvatn mysteriously recede revealing a 30 year old skeleton weighted down by Russian listening equipment. Police inspector Erlendur and his team, detectives Elinborg and Oli reopen the Missing Persons files and the investigation leads them to the University of Leipzip and the long-buried history of Icelandic espionage, Communist party recruitment and murder.

The case provides the reader with a deep look at Erlendur a deeply private man haunted by memories of his younger brother who vanished when they were children and of his two estranged children. We have with this story a fascinating glimpse of the academic politics during the Cold War with a denouement as unsuspected as it is tragic. The author once again has written an astonishing thriller. ( )

In 'The Draining Lake', Arnaldur Indridason has produced one of the most captivating multilayered books I have read in years. On its face, the book is a police procedural that is exotic only in the sense of its Icelandic setting. Underneath the murder mystery, Indridason gives the reader a stunning and sobering recreation of the East German surveillance society in the 1950's. Indridason incisively describes what pervasive `interactive surveillance' did to people, outwardly and inwardly. Along the way he powerfully describes the power of love and memory.

The book opens with the discovery of an old skeleton that has been exposed by the slow draining of a lake near Reykjavik. The skeleton is all the more unusual in that it was tied to and weighed down by an old Soviet radio transmitter. The kind that might have been used by a spy. It has all lain at the bottom of the lake for some thirty years.

A second narrative describes life for a group of student Icelanders on scholarship at Leipzig in the 1950's. The students all arrive as devoted socialists. They experience a tightly controlled society where everyone is expected to spy on everyone else. The students' reactions to this totalitarian state vary. Some rebel, some are co-opted, some actively collaborate. Tomas falls in love with Ilona, a Hungarian dissident also attending school in East Germany. Their love, its fate, and Tomas's memory of it dominate this second narrative.

Meanwhile, Erlendur Sveinsson and his fellow police detectives begin to slowly unravel the knot and chase the various strands that emerge. (All the while Erlendur deals with his not entirely satisfying personal life.) The strands - and the two narratives - are eventually made to come together. This aspect of the story is a completely satisfying police procedural.

The book contains a murder mystery, a spy tale, and a love story, but it is the haunting description of life in East Germany that lifts the reading experience to higher level. And yet, Indridason's characters do not simplistically equate Stalinist regimes with socialism. Indeed, most have retained their ideals years later. A stupendously good read; intelligent and nuanced. Highest recommendation. ( )

"The Draining Lake" by Arnaldur Indridason is an engaging and historically informative mystery that opens with a skeleton that is revealed by the receding waters of Lake Kleifarvatn near Hafnarfjordur in Iceland. Forensics determine the body has been in the lake since at least 1970 and that the cause of death was most likely the blow to head as indicated by the hole in the skull.

The police investigation led by Erlendur Sveinsson quickly divides into two tracks: one track follows the disappearance of a farm equipment salesman who left his new car at a train station and vanished into the night; the other track follows the investigating team's efforts to determine why the body was weighed down with a Russian radio transmitter manufactured during the Cold War. Interwoven into these clues are two love stories: one narrated by the anonymous voice of the murderer as he tells his story from the beginning and another love story told by the woman who waited one night for the boyfriend who never showed up, a farm equipment salesman who drove a new Ford Falcon. Also interspersed in the investigative account are insights into the personal lives of Erlendur and his team.

The historical background on Iceland's place in the cold war, as well as a glimpse into the various facets of socialism as practiced in Europe after WWII, adds a unique dimension to the intriguing murder plot. The U.S. Cold War involvement in Icelandic politics is particularly fascinating for American readers.

All-in-all, "The Draining Lake" provides a very satisfying reading experience for readers of crime fiction. I highly recommend it. ( )