The Draining Lake - Couverture souple

A skeleton is found half-buried in a dried out lake. The bones have been weighed down with an old Russian radio transmitter: is this a clue to the victim, and the killer's, identity?

Detective Erlendur is called in to investigate and discovers that there may be a connection with a group of students who were sent to study in East Germany during the Cold War, and with a young man who walked out of his family house one day, never to return. As the mystery deepens Erlendur and his team must unravel a story of international espionage, murder and betrayal.

'Indridason manages to keep the reader guessing...right to the last' Sunday Express

'Beautifully written and translated...combining suspense with moving insights into the human condition' Sunday Times

'A haunting, compassionate work' Observer

'An absorbing story which confirms Indridason's place among the leading writers of Nordic crime fiction' Sunday Telegraph

In the wake of an earthquake, the water level of an Icelandic lake drops suddenly, revealing the skeleton of a man half-buried in its sandy bed. It is clear immediately that it has been there for many years. There is a large hole in the skull. Yet more mysteriously, a heavy communication device is attached to it, possibly some sort of radio transmitter, bearing inscriptions in Russian.

The police are called in and Erlendur, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli begin their investigation, which gradually leads them back to the time of the Cold War when bright, left-wing students would be sent from Iceland to study in the 'heavenly state' of Communist East Germany.

The Draining Lake is another remarkable Indridason mystery about passions and shattered dreams, the fate of the missing and the grief of those left behind.