Synopses & Reviews
Long-buried secrets go hand in hand with modern-day murder in this second thriller featuring attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir from Iceland's queen of crime fiction.
When the body of a young woman — badly beaten and with pins inserted into her feet — is found at a New Age health resort in a renovated farmhouse, lawyer and single mother of two Thora Gudmundsdottir is called upon to represent the chief suspect, the resort's owner. But upon her arrival she encounters more than a fresh corpse — local legend has it that the resort, located in the mystical region of Snaefellsnes on Iceland's west coast, is haunted. At first Thora dismisses the claims as nothing more than myth and superstition, but even she can't explain the bizarre occurrences she witnesses in her search for answers.
As Thora digs deeper into the farm's past, she discovers long-buried information on the property's disturbing history, and her once-solid view of reality begins to waver. Are the hauntings real, or just a case of folklore gone wild? And, more important, does the farm's eerie past have something to do with the murder? When another body is discovered — looking very much like the first — Thora is forced to put aside her doubts and confront the horrors of the present before a twisted killer strikes again.
With its confident plotting, chilling atmosphere, and smart, compelling heroine, My Soul to Take confirms Yrsa Sigurdardottir as a new maven of mysteries.
Review
"Top notch crime fiction." Boston Globe
Synopsis
"Top notch crime fiction."
--Boston Globe
American readers first met Icelandic lawyer and investigator Thora Gudmundsdottir in Last Rituals. In My Soul to Take, internationally acclaimed author Yrsa Sigurdardottir plunges her intrepid heroine into even graver peril, in a riveting thriller set against the harsh landscape of Smila's Sense of Snow territory. A darkly witty and continually surprising suspense tale that places Yrsa Sigurdardottir firmly in the ranks of Sue Grafton, Tess Gerritsen, Faye Kellerman and other top mystery writers, My Soul to Take is ingenious Scandinavian noir on a par with the works of Henning Mankell and Arnaldur Indridason. Stieg Larsson (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) fans should also take note.
Synopsis
In this chilling follow-up to Last Rituals, lawyer and single mother of two Thora Gudmundsdottir is once again pulled into a darker side of Iceland's history as she hunts for a savage killer.
Synopsis
In the mystical Snaefellsnes region on Iceland's west coast — at a New Age health resort in a renovated farmhouse — the body of a young woman is discovered, savagely beaten, with pins inserted into her feet. Thora Gudmundsdottir, lawyer and single mother of two, has been retained to represent the resort's owner and prime suspect. But a fresh corpse is not the only abomination Thora encounters here — for local legend says this place is haunted . . . and a bizarre series of inexplicable occurrences soon suggests it is so.
As Thora digs deeply into the farm's past, she unearths a shocking history of evil and depravity — and her once-solid view of reality begins to waver. But a second murder, shockingly similar to the first, pulls Thora back to earth by making two inescapable truths abundantly clear: the killer she seeks is very real . . . and is not finished yet.
Description
American readers first met Icelandic lawyer and investigator Thora Gudmundsdottir in Last Rituals. In My Soul to Take, internationally acclaimed author Yrsa Sigurdardottir plunges her intrepid heroine into even graver peril, in a riveting thriller set against the harsh landscape of Smila's Sense of Snow territory. A darkly witty and continually surprising suspense tale that places Yrsa Sigurdardottir firmly in the ranks of Sue Grafton, Tess Gerritsen, Faye Kellerman and other top mystery writers, My Soul to Take is ingenious Scandinavian noir on a par with the works of Henning Mankell and Arnaldur Indridason. Stieg Larsson (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) fans should also take note.
About the Author
Yrsa Sigurdardottir is an award-winning author of five children's novels, and her first adult novel, Last Rituals, also featuring Thora Gudmundsdottir. She is currently one of the directors of Verkis, one of Iceland's largest engineering firms, and lives with her family in Reykjavik.