Quentin Bates

Gunna Gísladóttir, a detective segeant in the Reykjavik police force, has a corpse on her hands. Though it seems likely the wealthy gentleman died of natural causes, he did so in rather unusual circumstances. Someone had tied him to a hotel bed as part of a discreet bit of bondage. Whoever his partner was has disappeared. Gunna soon discovers that hotels Chilled to the Bonearound the city are aware of a woman who men have been hiring to participate in such entertainments, only to abscond show more with their valubles as soon as they were tied up.

The absconder adds a bit of insurance by photographing the men in their embarrassing situation, just in case they decided to give her trouble. After a quick shopping expedition, she always calls the front desk to have her hapless, humailiated mark set free.

This con has been working out very well indeed for Hekla, who (readers soon find out) has put away enough money that she can begin to think about retiring – until an unfortuanate heart attack intervened. But that’s not the least of Hekla’s worries, as it turns out. A laptop she acquired during one of her jobs has something on it that some government officials want very badly.

In the third book in the series, Quentin Bates tosses a number of balls in the air and keeps them moving. Gunna is not the only one looking for the mysterious woman who takes the role of dominatrix in an unexpectedly prosaic direction. A criminal who has recently returned to Iceland after years in a Baltic prison is also on the hunt, hired by a desperate civil servant who lost a laptop.

Gunna is a great protagonist – down to earth, capable, wonderfully balanced even when her children throw challenges her way. Hekla, the conwoman, is also a sympathetic character, trying to take care of her family as her country is putting the pieces back together after a disastrous banking collapse. Even the aptly-named Baddó, a hard man who can kill people without remorse on his way to a missing laptop, comes to life as a fully rounded human being. There are a number of secondary characters, including Baddó’s criminal associates and unsavory officials who don’t want the emails on the missing laptop revealed. The frequent shifts from one point of view to another sometimes mades it hard for me (a lazy reader) to keep track of who’s who. Personally, I would have liked to spend as much page time as possible with Gunna.

Once again Quentin Bates gives us a view of a small country that has been buffeted by change, first pulled out of its traditional hard-scrabble economy by high-flying bankers, then doing their best to recover from the crash the bankers created as well as from the cultural hangover of having had too much wealth injected into their society too quickly. There is a sense, toward the end, that something fundamental is still out of joint, that there are crimes that the police can’t protect the people of their little island from. But there is also the promise that Gunna and her team will do their best, regardless. show less

Chilled to the Bone is an intricately plotted novel that moves like an Indy car racer from the second Gunna sinks her teeth into the investigation. From a woman doing a bit of discreet prostitution to insure her family's survival, to a very bad guy back home in Iceland after being released from prison in another country, to a missing laptop and very nervous government officials, Quentin Bates has crafted a tale that will keep readers piecing clues together until its conclusion.

But this book show more is much more than a clever story-- it has a central character who's rapidly become one of my very favorites. Gunna Gísladóttir juggles her professional and personal lives with practicality, intelligence, and a much-needed sense of humor. On the job, she inspires confidence in those around her with her self-deprecating air of calm and no-nonsense. She has an unerring intuition as she works her investigations, and fortunately she's got a boss who lets her run with it. When the terrier-like woman finally calls it a night and goes home, she seldom seems to get the peace and quiet she deserves, and it's due mostly to her son, Gísli. Gísli has a job on a fishing boat. Instead of a girl in every port, he has girls in one port... and they seem to be getting pregnant and showing up on Gunna's doorstep while he's off to sea. It's easy to see why she needs a sense of humor! Above and beyond all this, Bates lets us see that Gunna has secrets in her past, and he's being very slow in revealing them.

Chilled to the Bone, liberally laced with laughter and menace, can easily be read as a standalone, but if you crave strong characterizations, I would suggest that you begin at the beginning (Frozen Assets) so you won't miss a bit of Gunnhildur Gísladóttir. This woman is a keeper. show less

An engaging blend of blackmail, sexual mischief, coldly calculated murder and a solid police procedural, this Icelandic investigation combines a well-woven plot with a cast of intriguing characters. Sergeant Gunnhildur, the resolutely down-to-earth pragmatist, is the anchor around whom the storyline revolves, and she’s currently one of the most interesting female investigators in crime fiction.

Gunna however, doesn’t hog the limelight. She’s frequently in the wings, while the show more entertaining supporting cast take centre stage. There’s the part-time dominatrix who’s turned a hobby into a profitable sideline. A dipwit narcissist civil servant who’ll do almost anything to recover his missing laptop. His bullying boss, driven by terror of political humiliation.

Best of all is Baddo, a time-served ex-con who’s been banged up abroad and has every reason to steer clear of coming home, but reluctantly returns to Iceland. Baddo is acres more interesting than your average rent-a-thug, a brooding, intelligent and effective menace who plainly has an interesting past – and who makes faster progress with his illegitimate investigation than the police do with their attempts.

Amid the chilly slither of slushy ice, Bates also conveys quiet moments of social commentary in non-judgmental fashion. These are deftly delivered without slowing the pace or detracting from the plot – they are simply a part of the story, just as much as the sturdy, matter-of-fact nature of the Icelandic characters. When some investigators might turn to drugs, booze or self-indulgent misery, Gunna and her fella spar with affectionate wit; Bates totally nails the dialogue between a loving, comfortable couple.

His writing is less quirky and more accessible than some Nordic authors (although you will need to be able to cope with Icelandic names if you’re to keep track of the cast). Although ‘Chilled’ unflinchingly portrays callous violence, it doesn’t submerge the reader in the overwhelmingly claustrophobic, stifling atmosphere so typical of Scandinavian mysteries. It’s written fluently and with crisp clarity, and crams multi-faceted texture into a rapid read.

This is gripping fiction, with a wicked villain and a marvellously robust female protagonist, but it feels only a step removed from the real world. After being somewhat ambivalent about the first book in this series, I’m now eagerly anticipating the next…
8/10

There's more detail on the plot and characters over at
https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/chilled-to-the-bone-death-i... show less

This is the first of a series featuring Sgt. Gunnhildur Gisladottir. Gunna is a 40-ish cop in Hvalvik, a small town about an hour outside of Reykjavik. A widow with a grown son & 13 year old daughter, she'll never be mistaken for a super model but Gunna has both feet firmly on the ground & a deep sense of self.
She's also very good at her job. Among her colleagues, she still runs into some who dismiss female cops but in her case, they do so at their peril.
Hvalvik is a town where the biggest show more problems are drunks, petty theft & redirecting traffic to accommodate construction of a large smelter facility & hydroelectric power station. They're controversial projects & tension between big industry & environmentalists is heating up. In fact, it's about to turn deadly.
It all begins with a body. Gunna gets a call about a man found floating by a nearby dock. Murder is rare in Iceland but once she identifies him, there are a couple of things that grab her attention. There was no reason for this city boy to be in Hvalvik. Also, a close friend of his recently died in another "accident".
Meanwhile, Gunna has been saddled with a journalist from Reykjavik. Skuli Snaedal is a rookie reporter & his editor wants a series of articles detailing the activities of rural cops. Instead, he'll soon find himself on the ground floor of a major investigation with national repercussions. Murder, industrial espionage, banking irregularities & corporate fraud are just the tip of the iceberg as this case presages the 2008 collapse of Iceland's financial institutions.
This is what I would describe as a gentle detective story. I normally prefer police procedurals that are a little grittier but enjoyed it for 2 reasons. First, a smart & intricate plot. Second, an interesting & original protagonist. My only quibble are the endless references to/comments by other characters about Gunna's looks & dress size. Maybe it was supposed to come across as a running gag but soon became tiresome & unnecessary to the plot. So she's not a beauteous babe. We get it.
Instead, she's something much more interesting & relatable...an average looking woman who's a great mom & dedicated cop. Her gruff manner masks a big heart. And it's her sharp intellect that makes the connections between various characters & their personal agendas.
There are many peripheral characters including police, journalists, activists & politicians that flesh out the plot. Having been to this beautiful country, I was hoping for a more atmospheric read with a specific sense of place but to be fair there's a lot going on here with a large cast so the story is more character driven.
All in all, a well paced & "clean" (no swearing, sex, etc.) detective novel with a compelling lead that should appeal to fans of the cozier form of this genre. show less