Many thanks to Corylus Books and Ewa Sherman for the advance copy of "The Hotel Manager's Guide to Murder" for review.
As always, Quentin Bates has done a terrific translation from the Icelandic. I'm grateful to him for making it possible for me to delve deep into the world of Icelandic Noir. He's also an author in his own right; see a list of the Officer Gunnhildur mysteries, also set in Iceland.
I'd also like to call out the striking cover design by the Kid Ethic design studio, run by Mark Swan. The images and colors really catch the eye and serve as a perfect complement to the book.
No one who's ever had a job looks forward to the dreaded "performance review". In "The Hotel Manager's Guide to Murder", Bristol Hotel Supervisor Torfi is particularly nervous about his upcoming review, for good reason:
When Torfi gets to the review meeting, Ásbjörn, his boss, greets him with his usual smirky charm. They're soon joined by Sigríður, the head of HR, so Torfi knows it's not going to be good news. The two managers begin the meeting using corporate weasel words like "streamlining" and "resource surpluses". Torfi's worst fear has been realized; they really are going to get rid of him! Having started at the Bristol at an entry level, he knows everything about it: reception, housekeeping, dining, security, staff management, accounting. However, in his nervous state, all Torfi can blurt out is "But...I know...everything".
That one sentence changes the tone of the entire meeting. Ásbjörn and Sigríður look sharply at each other, re-group, and Torfi walks out, not with a severance package, but a promotion and a large bump in salary. He's not sure what the hell just happened, but he's thrilled about the raise, since he's in a lot of debt that his wife doesn't know about. It's good timing, because these two are also arguing about their respective kids from previous marriages.
He has no way of knowing that his meek protest has made him a future accomplice to a host of unwholesome activities. Ásbjörn and Sigríður are up to something at the hotel, but Torfi has no idea what it is. His suspicions are confirmed when a few weeks later, Ásbjörn hands him an envelope full of cash saying, "Your cut. Not a word, eh?".
Torfi can't help but be apprehensive about his sudden good fortune, and he wonders how far up the corruption goes. Does anyone at Nordique Group, the conglomerate that just bought the hotel, know about this? Doesn't matter; Torfi is now a part of it.
Managing the hotel becomes Torfi's nightmare. His every move seems to come with drastic consequences. One day, Ásbjörn directs Torfi to give bar supervisor Guðjon Andri a verbal warning for below-par performance. Torfi uses tried-and-true management language to tell the man to do his job better, or lose it. Guðjon Andri tells Torfi that nothing is going to happen to him because he also "knows everything that's going on." Torfi briefs his boss about the conversation. Then, someone beats Guðjon Andri so badly he ends up in the hospital.
When the police come to the hotel to question Torfi about the assault, he reaches the conclusion that his new partners are taking the concept of hotel management a bit too far.
One night, Torfi is having a terrible argument with his wife, Stjana. (She works at Nordique Group, the company that bought the hotel.) They're interrupted when Sigríður calls him to come to the Bristol for "an emergency". The emergency turns out to be helping the HR executive to dispose of a dead body. A body that just happens to be in the same room as mysterious "hotel head office bigwig" Alberto Morelli, who has vanished from the hotel. Sigríður commands Torfi to stuff the body in a laundry basket, take a hotel van, and dispose of it somewhere out of the way.
This formerly law-abiding hotel manager is now an accomplice to murder. It's darkly hilarious to see Torfi bungle his way through this mess. It's not so funny when others become involved, including Torfi's family.
Although Torfi's plotline is the main focus of the book, the hotel holds other secrets. Every morning, soft-hearted hotel kitchen worker Manuela surreptitiously feeds a group of homeless people from the back of the hotel. Raggi, Láki and the others appear at 5:30 every morning for a hot breakfast and coffee. They vanish by the time the first hotel guests come down to eat breakfast. Torfi knows what Manuela is doing, but he lets it go because she's a wonderful employee and he's a kindhearted man. Or, he could have been until that fateful performance review.
The same night that Sigríður calls Torfi in for an "emergency", Raggi and Láki come to the hotel for their free breakfast earlier than usual. Láki happens to look into a hotel laundry basket and sees something that shocks him. Raggi asks Láki about it, but he snaps back that it was nothing. Raggi then sees a white van drive out with the basket. They're now both unwitting witnesses to a crime and are also in danger.
Meanwhile, during a hotel planning meeting, Ásbjörn tells the staff to plan for a "deep clean" of the hotel rooms, starting on the same floor of the room where Thorli picked up the body. Deep clean means removing all items including rugs and furniture, replacing worn-out plumbing, and re-painting. Ásbjörn and Sigríður are erasing every piece of evidence connecting the hotel to the crime.
Not only are the police Investigating the beating of Guðjon Andri, DCI Haukur Grímsson is also on the trail of a missing person. Leó Jónsson was seen at the Hotel Bristol before he disappeared, but a search of the hotel registry doesn't find that name. Torfi becomes convinced that the body he disposed of was Jónsson's. He's more agitated than ever, but Ásbjörn and Sigríður tell him to relax. Everything is under control...for now.
Torfi's life is now one of constant fear and anxiety. The two execs are now using Torfi as their "enforcer", a role for which he is spectacularly unsuited. A request from Ásbjörn to discipline another employee sends Torfi reeling. Since his boss thinks he was responsible for Guðjon Andri's beating, they want him to keep up the bad work. Nothing too serious:
Torfi has no idea how to get out of this mess without losing his position and probably, going to jail. Of course, anyone would struggle when confronted with complicated new job responsibilities. The difference is that if Torfi "underperforms", the consequences could be fatal.
Events begin to converge on the Hotel Bristol and its conspiratorial senior management team. Ásbjörn disappears, leaving the mess in Sigríður's hands. Her usual veneer of calm and discipline begins to erode. An unknown person, possibly a higher-up in the company, is trying to cover their tracks by eliminating everyone involved, including poor Raggi, (one of the homeless group) who was with Láki the morning he peered into the laundry basket. Everything around Torfi is falling apart. The question is whether he can find a way to stay out of jail and keep his job.
Erlendur has written a gripping mystery infused with dark wit, relatable circumstances, and sympathetic characters. He uses one simple sentence, "But I know...everything" as a jumping off point for a bracing tale of shocking crimes, cover-ups, and unknown agendas. "The Hotel Manager's Guide to Murder" is also a great send-up of corporate life; the buzzwords, procedures and rules that verge on the ridiculous. It was a great idea to combine this kind of satire with the elements of a Nordic murder mystery. The book was such fun to read, and I am glad it's the first in a planned trilogy.
Author Erlendur Arason is not a fan of being photographed.
Erlendur Arason is a fresh voice in Nordic Noir, bringing a sharp, sardonic
new take to the genre. His 2025 debut novel, "The Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder" is the first in a new trilogy set in and around Reykjavík, called "Reykjavík Shadows". It is rumoured that Erlendur Arason is a pseudonym for a former Icelandic undercover detective who worked for Interpol / Europol 1973-2003 under the codename 'The Fisherman'.
Please buy/order "The Hotel Manager's Guide to Murder" from your local independent bookstore, or go to bookshop.org and order there. They now offer ebooks as well.
For audiobooks, go to libro.fm.
