Most book launches follow a predictable pattern: meeting various people who work at the publisher; chatting briefly with the author, wine or beer glass in hand, maybe even holding up a plate of cheese and bread if you can. But yesterday afternoon's launch of the American publication of JAR CITY, Arnaldur Indridason's English-language debut in the boardroom of St. Martin's offices, was just a little bit different.

There was the interesting object lying on one of the tables, right across the way from glass upon glass of champagne. And upon closer inspection, it proved to be the Gold Dagger that Indridason won earlier in the week for his next book, SILENCE OF THE GRAVE (which has been out in the UK since the summer but won't be published till late 2006 at the earliest.) Most people joked that they thought the Daggers didn't actually exist, and that the Crime Writers' Association just liked the name. But no, there it was.

Then there was the fact that this was no ordinary launch, not with Secret Service agents several rows deep protecting what appeared to be every major luminary from Iceland, and the country's president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, shaking everyone's hand (mine included.)

With a bit of fanfare (in the form of an introduction by Tom Dunne) Grimsson gave a speech about how literature in Scandinavia goes back 1000 years (to Viking-era times) but that Indridason is a special writer for their country because he was one of the first (if not the first) to write detective fiction, which has proven to be immensely popular in his native country as well as internationally. It was obvious that Grimsson was proud of this -- and not just because he used to work for Indridason's father at the local newspaper several decades back.

I had to duck out early, but not before chatting briefly with the author (who was still somewhat jet-lagged, having flown from London only the day before) as well as editors Kelley Ragland, Ben Sevier and Marcia Markland. The biggest surprise came straight away, when I walked into the boardroom to find Rachel Ekstrom running the show. Some years back, she was a publicity assistant for the Minotaur imprint. Now, after an 18-month hiatus, she's returned to the company this week to take over from her old boss Linda McFall, who left for an editorial position with Mira. Not a bad way to start a new job by spearheading a presidential visit, that's for sure....