"So it goes."

Siglufjörður is a fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors and "nothing ever happens" according to the chief of police who has been there forever. Even better, it's accessible only via tunnel and frequently snowed in because of avalanches. Enter Ari Thór Arason -- who will finish his exams and training here. At most he's a supposedly talented rookie on his first posting, far from Reykjavik where's he's been at school and lived with his almost-doctor girlfriend.

Sounds ripe for mystery and crime, no? Also, it's not New York or London or Shanghai or Moscow or any of the usual suspects we find in police procedurals or mysteries. I loved the idea.

Unfortunately, this novel felt like so much set-up for a series, and I have a pet peeve about writers doing that. I'm eventually going to read the second one, but I will admit I don't have high hopes, and I will borrow it from the library.

A lot was just unrealistic about the plot of this "mystery." First of all our hero is so young as to not even have finished his training when he moves to the town where he's been told "nothing ever happens" and in short order solves a twisted and complex bunch of crimes. Those crimes aren't even being acknowledged by the police that have been in the town forever, but our young almost-cop figures it all out without any help and with seemingly very little trouble or time.

Then there was this weird extraneous romantic plot which I'd be willing to bet a lot of money will resolve in one certain direction in the next book. The whole thing was very A-B-C, but not even that orderly. Come on, mystery writers, challenge me!