Translated by Quentin Bates.
Published 25th July 2026 by Blekverk.
From the cover of the book:
The smarter a place looks, the darker the secrets it hides.
Guests at one of Reykjavík’s smartest hotels never know what happens behind the scenes –including what brings a group of down-and-outs to the Bristol Hotel every winter night while the rest of the world sleeps.
When overworked supervisor Torfi finds himself given an unexpected promotion that comes with a respectable pay rise, he takes it as a lucky break – until he’s told to make a murder victim disappear, and that he doesn’t have any choice. That’s when his life rapidly gets a lot more complicated.
What isn’t he being told? Torfi doesn’t know, but when police officers Haukur and Dagný start asking awkward questions, he needs to find answers – even though he knows only half of the story.
Longing desperately to go back to his old, boring life, Torfi finds himself desperately out of his depth as his family are threatened and his problems spiral far out of his control.
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Overworked, and under-paid, Torfi is a supervisor at the Bristol Hotel, one of Reykjavik's finest. The place is not the same since it was taken over by the Nordique Group, who have been looking to cut costs ever since the senior management was replaced, and Torfi is horrified when he is told that his services are no longer required - especially given the financial straits currently putting a strain on his marriage.
Much to Torfi's confusion, the decision to dismiss him is rapidly converted into a promotion to Front of House Manager, with a considerable pay rise, when a misunderstanding works in his favour. He thinks himself lucky, until he suddenly finds himself undertaking tasks which are most definitely not in his job description...
This first part in a new trilogy set in and around Reykjavik follows the dodgy goings-on at the five star Hotel Bristol. The story unfurls from the perspectives of Torfi, whose new promotion comes with the responsibilities of reluctant fixer for the corrupt management at the Nordique Group; and a down-and-out called Raggi, who is part of a group of homeless people drawn to the hotel by the impromptu 'breakfast club' operated under the radar by kindly staff member Manuela.
Torfi's accidental promotion soon has him well out of his depth. He has no idea what the new management are really up to, and his suspicion that is is nothing good is confirmed when he is required to dispose of a dead body in the wee small hours of the night. The brief respite in his personal troubles is soon replaced with severe anxiety that his part in the cover-up will earn him jail time, once the police home in on the Bristol Hotel in search of the missing man.
The story bowls along at a good pace, delving into Torfi's home life, and the increasing difficulties he is facing on the job-front as more illicit tasks come his way, all while he tries to avoid attracting the attention of police officers Haukur and Dagný and negotiates the embarrassing revelation that he is the subject of much salacious gossip. Meanwhile, Raggi and co find themselves the target of someone intent on keeping them quiet about the things they may, or may not, have spotted while lurking around the hotel grounds.
There is a real flavour of Antti Tumainen's delicious crime capers in the combination of gritty Nordic Noir action, touching family drama, and dark humour in this story. The plot is full of clever twists and turns that keep you turning the pages, Erlendur's words flow beautifully through Bates' translation, and the characters are a joy to follow through their trials and tribulations - especially quiet hero, Torfi.
This was such fun that I swallowed it whole. I cannot wait for the next Reykjavik Shadows book!
The Hotel Manager's Guide to Murder is available to buy now in paperback and ebook.
Thank you to Blekverk for sending me a copy of this book, and Ewa Sherman for inviting me to take part in ths blog tour.
About the author:
Erlendur Arason is a fresh voice in Nordic Noir, bringing a sharp, sardonic new take on the genre. The Hotel Manager's Guide to Murder is the first in a new trilogy set in and around Reykjavik.
About the translator:
Quentin Bates escaped English suburbia as a teenager, jumping at the chance of a gap year working in Iceland. For a variety of reasons, the gap year stretched to become a gap decade, during which time he went native in the north of Iceland, acquiring a new language, a new profession and a family…
He is the author of a series of crime novels set in present-day Iceland – and as a translator he has worked with some of Iceland’s coolest writers, including Lilja Sigurðardóttir, Sólveig Pálsdóttir, Stella Blómkvist, Einar Kárason, Ragnar Jónasson, Jónína Leósdóttir, Óskar Guðmundsson and more.
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