When reading Peter’s post at Detectives Without Borders Test detect traces of humor in Swedish crime novel immediately sprang to my mind another example from one of the bleakest voices in Nordic crime, Arnaldur Indridason:
‘In the middle of the Christmas rush,’ he groaned. ‘I can’t understand how this could happen! How could it happen?’ he repeated leaving them in no doubt as to how totally perplexed he was.
‘Is he up or down?’ Erlendur asked.
‘Up or down?’ the fat manager puffed. ‘Do you mean whether he’s gone to heaven?’
‘Yes,’ Erlendur said. ‘That’s exactly what we need to know…’
A Crime is Afoot 