''Silence of the Grave'' (''Icelandic: Grafarþögn'') is a crime novel by

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic writer

Arnaldur Indriðason Arnaldur Indriðason (pronounced ; born 28 January 1961) is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction; his most popular series features the protagonist Detective Erlendur. Biography Arnaldur was born in Reykjavík on 28 January 1961, the son of ...

. Set in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, the novel forms part of the author's regionally popular Murder Mystery Series, which star . Originally published in Icelandic in 2001, the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation by

Bernard Scudder Bernard John Scudder (29 August 1954 – 15 October 2007) was a British translator from Icelandic language, Icelandic into English language, English. His translations include the work of best-selling crime writer Arnaldur Indriðason and Yrs ...

, in 2005, won the British Crime Writers' Association

Gold Dagger The Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. From ...

award for best crime novel of the year. Human bones are found buried in a construction site in Grafarholt. The police starts investigating only to uncover dark secrets from 70 years ago and in a parallel narrative we hear the story of an abused woman from the same time, who is somehow connected to the bones.

Awards and nominations

*2003

Glass Key award The Glass Key award ( sv, Glasnyckeln, da, Glasnøglen, no, Glassnøkkelen, fi, Lasiavain-palkinto, is, Glerlykillinn) is a literature award given annually to a crime novel by an author from the Nordic countries. The award, named after the nove ...

(for Nordic crime fiction novel) *2005

(from the British

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

) *2006 Barry Award (nomination) 2001 novels Novels by Arnaldur Indriðason {{2000s-crime-novel-stub