"Fan[s] of mystery in general and Henning Mankell and Karin Fossum can only exult."--Library Journal
"This is a dark, haunting novel, with a protagonist who searches for a murderer and finds his own humanity. The emotionally wrought ending caught me off guard and touched me in a way that few mystery novels do."--The Boston Globe
"[Erlendur is] a helluva detective."--Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"Jar City stresses both the otherworldliness of this faraway country and how similar its denizens are to the rest of us. . . . An excellent debut."--Baltimore Sun
"Indridason raises in a thoroughly gripping manner not just questions of paternity in a small nation, but wider issues of the use of genetic information, culminating in an ending that proves impressively moving."--Time Out London
"Award-winning Iceland author Indridason makes a compelling American debut with this first in a series featuring Reykjavík police inspector Erlendur. . . . Quiet, morose, dryly witty, Erlendur makes a fine, complex companion. . . . Those who enjoy Karin Fossum, Henning Mankell, or Janwillem van de Wetering will welcome this new series."--The Portsmouth Herald
"A powerful, psychologically acute procedural drama."--Booklist
"Jar City is classic mystery fiction, both compassionate and thrilling. Indridason is about to become one of the brightest stars in the genre's dark skies."--John Connolly, author of Dark Hollow
"There's much to glean about the people of Iceland from this erudite and compelling story. . . . Jar City taps into the melancholy of Scandinavian perspective and manages to be quite thrilling, too."--Rocky Mountain News
"This careful, sparsely written book operates at a deeper level than most crime fiction: it conveys the sense of painful inevitability underlying the old stories that medieval Icelanders told through the long winter nights."--The Independent (London)
"The descriptions of Reykjavík and the surrounding area . . . are fascinating in their own right, and the plotting is riveting. . . . Detective Inspector Erlendur Sveinsson is an intense and introspective protagonist."--BookPage
"The author's American debut, winner of the 2002 Nordic Crime Novel Award, is a model puzzle presented with clarity and crisp economy."--Kirkus Reviews
"An absorbing police procedural dense with psychological pressure. The plot is a twister, the setting unique, and Erlendur's personal life is even bleaker than the Icelandic fall. Erlendur is a cop to watch. And I will."--Marshall Browne, author of The Eye of the Abyss