This is a well-crafted police story featuring a 36 year old female police sergeant who is interesting, smart & unusual. The writing is very good; the only difficulty with it is the Icelandic names with which I was unfamiliar, but the insight into Iceland was fascinating and the main character well worth getting to know. ( )

I recently read Snowblind by the Icelandic author Ragnar Jónasson and discovered the translator was Quentin Bates who has also written a series of Icelandic mysteries. So I thought I’d give Bates’ book a try.

Frozen Assets is the first in the series introducing Sgt. Gunnhildur Gísladóttir, known by everybody as Gunna the Cop. A body is found in the water near Hvalvík where Gunna is the police officer in charge. It might seem like an accidental drowning but then Gunna discovers that the victim had been seen in Reykjavik severely inebriated so the big question is how he got 100 kms away from the city. Gunna’s investigations uncover corruption involving the victim’s boss, Signurjóna Huldudóttir, who is married to the country’s Environment Minister.

It is Gunna the Cop that interests me enough to get me to read more of the books in the series. She is described as “a big fat lass with a face that frightens the horses” though that is an obvious exaggeration. She is astute and intelligent and straightforward. She doesn’t suffer fools easily. Colleagues respect her. For me, she is just a character I could not help but like.

Minor characters, unfortunately, tend to be a blur. I had difficulty differentiating the other police officers. Only the journalist shadowing Gunna and the villain emerge as fully developed characters.

I enjoyed learning more about the political and economic turmoil that Iceland experienced in 2008. I had never clearly understood what had happened, but Bates manages to explain in a way that makes sense.

The story is told from multiple perspectives; being given the viewpoint of the villain certainly increases suspense as a cat-and-mouse game develops.

I also appreciated the touches of humour. Throughout the book, blog entries by an anonymous blogger are inserted. This blogger provides “completely reliable, totally unsubstantiated and extremely libellous gossip about the great and the good of Icelandic entertainment, business and politics.” Some of his comments are hilarious, though of course his victims are less than pleased.

I will definitely return to this series because of the protagonist who is anything but a stereotypical police detective.

Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski). ( )

26-08-2008, 0944 Skandalblogger writes:
You can’t keep a good blog down!
So, we’re back and once again the Icelandic scandal blog has a brand-new home! We’ve been tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail one more time, so this time we’re back stronger than ever in a delightful part of the world where they respect the power of Mr Visa to overrule the pathetic attempts of those-who-run-things to silence free speech. Hurrah for the Tiger economies! Free speech is there for those willing to pay for it!
Making friends and influencing people!

Gunna is a well-respected police officer, but doesn't usually have to deal with major crimes in her role as police chief in a small town near Keflavik. But when the body of a drowned man turns up in a nearby harbour, hours after he was last seen in Reykjavik, she finds herself in charge of a case that becomes increasingly political as more deaths occur and the Banking crash looms.

I will be continuing with this series, as it looks as though Gunna will be going on to bigger and better things in the next book. ( )

With a great play on words the title of this book takes us to the frigid conditions of Iceland and straight into the economic crisis that is afflicting global industry and banking in the twenty-first century.

Big business, corrupt government officials and bankrupt banks are in a head-on collision course; graft is rife and something just a little more sinister surfaces when the first body washes up on the shores of the small fishing village of Hvalvik. Recently widowed rural cop Gunnhildur, pursues the inquiry as a murder, against the better judgment of her commander, until the second body is discovered and a common link is found. Juggling her family and her inept colleagues, Gunnhildur is the force that stands between right and wrong—city mouse vs. country mouse.

Put in charge of the task force and expected to fail by her superiors, Gunnhildur turns Reykjavik upside down in an attempt to out-fox the foreign national who has disturbed the peace in the routine life of the gentle fi sherman of her Iceland. Along with juggling a novice journalist assigned to shadow her and reports from an anonymous blogger who seems to complicate matters by accusing the very offi cials she is tagging in her investigation, she sets out to bring peace to the district.

In his debut novel Bates gives us an insider’s view by exposing us to a world outside of our norm and at the same time shows us the very problems that exist in our country are shared to some degree globally. As the bodies stack up and Gunnhildur fi nally corners her man, be prepared for the final breath-taking chase that will leave you blinking in wonderment as the cat-and-mouse search boils over. ( )

"She's a big fat lass with a face that frightens horses."
That is the description Skuli is given when he asks how he will recognize Gunnhilda.

I did wonder how much she would have in common with Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope or even Big Marge, Aline Templeton's raw-boned Scot.

FROZEN ASSETS is the debut novel in the Gunnhildur serieswhich has now grown to four published titles. Essentially it is a police procedural with a middle aged female police sergeant operating in rural Iceland. As it is the first in the series there is a lot of background material to introduce Gunna and her colleagues to us, so it feels as if it will be best to read the titles in order (see the list below).

Gunna is a single parent with a 13 year old daughter so she tries essentially to work a 9 to 5 job, and usually nothing very exciting happens in Hvalvik, and so it is mainly possible. Of course she is constantly on call and locals visit her at home out of hours if they need anything. But the discovery of a body in the Hvalvik harbour changes all that, particularly since there does not seem to be any explanation of how he actually got there.

Gunna is pulled into a team based in Reyjavik, and is put in charge of the investigation which seems to have nation-wide implications. A new energy plant is being built at Hvalvik but the company behind it was once government-owned, and it seems that all sort of people, including government ministers are profiting. In addition an anonymously published blog with "inside" sources is highlighting both corruption and sexual pecadilloes happening in high society. Add to that the fact that Iceland's banks are just beginning to feel the financial crisis, and overseas investors are withdrawing from the scheme.

I like Gunna's strong character, her persistence, her comprehensive grasp of what needs to be done, and also the different view of Iceland this novel gives. I think I'll definitely be looking into another title in the series. ( )