JUSTICE UNDONE

VilhjÊlmsson's powerful melodrama, reportedly based on a true story, won the 1988 Nordic Prize for Fiction. It recounts, at an admirably brisk pace, the journey of a young magistrate to a remote area of Iceland to investigate an alleged infanticide, and his discovery of a world menacingly indifferent to the ""civilization"" that he believes he inhabits and represents. The relatively simple narrative is much enhanced by apposite and ironical allusions to both classical and Scandinavian myth, and the taciturn ""guilty"" parties are, paradoxically, given an almost superhuman depth and dignity. An absorbing read, and a beautifully crafted work of fiction.