Book Summary and Reviews of The Quiet Mother by Arnaldur Indridason

The Quiet Mother by Arnaldur Indridason

The Quiet Mother

A Detective Konrad Novel

by Arnaldur Indridason

  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (3):
  • Published:
  • Dec 2025, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Retired detective Konrad returns to Reykjavik in The Quiet Mother by Arnaldur Indridason, "one of the most brilliant crime writers of his generation" ―The Sunday Times (UK)

A woman is found murdered in her Reykjavík home, her apartment ransacked. On her desk lies a note with retired detective Konrad's phone number. Days earlier, she had begged him to find the child she gave up nearly fifty years ago. But Konrad, reluctant to reopen old wounds, turned her away. Now, haunted by guilt, he vows to uncover the truth―for her and for himself.

As Konrad digs into her tragic past, he is drawn into a web of secrets, lies, and betrayal. Each revelation points to a hidden life that connects her death to a decades-old murder―and to shadows from Konrad's own family history.

The Quiet Mother is a masterful blend of human tragedy and relentless suspense, where every discovery comes at a cost. Arnaldur Indridason once again proves why he is the voice of Nordic Noir, delivering a harrowing tale of guilt and redemption.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Much of the book is prototypical Indridason—atmospheric, character-driven, and sleek—but everything kicks up a notch in a brutal finale that will sear itself into the minds of readers. This series continues to impress." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The Quiet Mother is vintage Indridason… [and] solid proof that the crown [of Scandinavian crime writers] rests securely on King Arnaldur's head." —The Financial Times (UK)

This information about The Quiet Mother was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Janine_S

Compassionate complex noir
I enjoy Nordic Noir so when this ARC became available (thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press) I was excited to read it. While this is the third book in the Detective Konrad series, the book can pretty much stand alone from a storytelling perspective - I hadn't read either of the previous two - and the author doesn't bore you with repeating things. The story and characters are straightforward and well developed.

A frail woman, Valborg, is brutally murdered in her apartment. She had reached out to Konrad several months past to find a child she gave up for adoption almost 50 years ago. Konrad had declined to help her and now has guilt over this, so decides to pursue the search, even though not much is known about the birth and many of the people who might know are dead. In investigating, he also returns to wanting to find out who murdered his father many years ago.

These two stories twist and collide in this suspenseful murder mystery. Then thrown into the mix is a bit of paranormal events as Konrad meets up with Eygló, a psychic investigator (who appears in a previous novel per my investigation). The novel explores the themes of guilt, the lasting effects of trauma and the beauty of redemption.

Flashbacks to Valborg's traumatic past mingle with abuse other residents of her neighborhood. When Konrad finally connects the dots on Valborg's murder (you have to read the book to find this out), the haunting impact of past events on the present is glaringly revealed.

This is a complex story filled with compassionate understanding of how the past informs the present.

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Author Information

Arnaldur Indridason Author Biography

Arnaldur Indridason won the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Silence of the Grave and is the only author to win the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel two years in a row, for Jar City and Silence of the Grave. Strange Shores was nominated for the 2014 CWA Gold Dagger Award.

Other books by Arnaldur Indridason at BookBrowse

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