They kill seal pups for food and for their fur. I like the descriptions of how the inhabitants of Flatey make their living. The repetitiveness and predictability of this rhythm (chapter-question-chapter-question, etc.) is boring. The 40 questions, along with related fragments of the sagas, are intertwined with the detecting thread of the plot. Unfortunately, the structure of the novel does not work for me. When another suspicious death occurs, detectives from Reykjavik become involved, which precipitates the conclusion. A body is found on a tiny islet off the coast of Flatey island, and a motley group of characters conducts an investigation. The plot of the novel is taking place in 1960 and relates to the (fictitious) Flatey Enigma, an extended riddle (a 40-question quiz really) on the topics of the Flatey Book stories. A tiny library on this island once housed the famous Flatey Book, the largest medieval Icelandic manuscript that contains sagas of the Norse kings. Alas, this novel is not that interesting and I find its literary structure lacking.įlatey is a small island off the western coast of Iceland. I wanted to like it as I liked his "House of Evidence", which I reviewed recently and rated with four stars. Victor Arnar Ingolfsson's "The Flatey Enigma" is quite a bit of a disappointment. The Flatey Enigma by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson
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