Deze IJslandse auteur combineert meesterlijk ijzingwekkende misdaadromans met boeiende jeugdfictie. Haar werken worden gekenmerkt door diepgaand inzicht in de karakterpsychologie en een rauwe sfeer die de lezer meezuigt in duistere mysteries. Of ze zich nu verdiept in ingewikkelde whodunits of betoverende werelden creëert voor jonge lezers, haar unieke stijl en haar vermogen om spanning op te bouwen zijn onmiskenbaar.
Bij opgravingen worden drie lijken en een afgehakt hoofd gevonden. Ze liggen in de kelder van Markús Magnússons ouderlijk huis, dat meer dan dertig jaar geleden bij een vulkaanuitbarsting werd bedolven. Omdat Markús de opgravingen tot elke prijs wilde voorkomen, rust de verdenking van de moorden op hem. Heeft hij als tiener drie mensen om het leven gebracht? Hij huurt advocaat Thóra Gudmundsdóttir in om hem te verdedigen. Maar wanneer zijn grote jeugdliefde wordt vermoord, begint de zaak er steeds problematischer voor hem uit te zien. En de plaatselijke bevolking is merkwaardig genoeg niet geneigd hem te steunen…
When all contact is lost with two Icelanders working in a harsh and sparsely populated area on the northeast coast of Greenland, Thóra is hired to investigate. Is there any connection with the disappearance of a woman from the site some months earlier? And why are the locals so hostile?
In een geïsoleerd dorpje op de IJslandse Westfjorden beginnen drie vrienden aan de renovatie van hun vakantiehuis. Al snel blijkt dat ze niet alleen zijn – iets of iemand wil dat ze het fjord verlaten en jaagt hen op met zijn mysterieuze aanwezigheid. Aan de andere kant van het fjord onderzoekt de jonge dokter Freyr samen met agente Dagný de zelfmoord van een vrouw. Tot hun schrik bleek de vrouw geobsedeerd te zijn door de verdwijning van Freyrs zoon, een aantal jaar eerder. Als deze twee verhalen in elkaar grijpen wordt een angstaanjagende waarheid aan het licht gebracht.
"On a jagged, bleak lava field just outside Reykjavik stands the Gallows Rock. Once a place of execution, it is now a tourist attraction. Until this morning, when a man was found hanging from it...The nail embedded in his chest proves it wasn't suicide. But when the police go to his flat, a further puzzle awaits: a four-year-old boy has been left there. He doesn't seem to have any link with the victim, his parents cannot be found, and his drawings show he witnessed something terrible.As detective Huldar hunts the killer, and child psychologist Freyja looks for the boy's parents, the mystery unfolds: a story of violence, entitlement, and revenge"--Provided by publisher
An abandoned luxury yacht arrives in Reykjavik harbor with no one on board, raising chilling questions about the fate of the crew and the family who left Lisbon. Thóra Gudmundsdóttir is enlisted by the young father's parents to investigate the mystery. The unsettling words of a child—“Mummy dead. Daddy dead. All dead”—echo as Thóra delves deeper into the case. She encounters rumors of a curse surrounding the yacht and is haunted by the possibility of seeing one of the missing twins onboard. The search intensifies as she questions the whereabouts of Karitas, the glamorous wife of the yacht's former owner, and the identity of a body that washes ashore. Renowned author Yrsa Sigurdardottir, celebrated for her gripping crime fiction, crafts a narrative that intertwines suspense and supernatural elements, showcasing her mastery in Nordic Noir. With a career that began in 2005, Sigurdardottir has produced numerous bestsellers and received accolades, including the 2015 Petrona Award. Her work has been translated into over 30 languages, solidifying her reputation as a leading voice in contemporary crime writing.
If I die before I wake . . . A grisly murder is committed at a health resort situated in a recently renovated farmhouse, which turns out to be notorious for being haunted. Attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir is called upon by the owner of the resort - the prime suspect in the case - to represent him. Her investigations uncover some very disturbing occurrences at the farm decades earlier - things that have never before seen the light of day . . . MY SOUL TO TAKE is a chilling, dark and witty crime novel, and a welcome return for Thora, the heroine of the highly-acclaimed LAST RITUALS.
It was meant to be a quiet family fishing trip, a chance for mother and daughter to talk. But it changes the course of their lives forever.They catch nothing except a broken doll that gets tangled in the net. After years in the ocean, the doll a terrifying sight and the mother's first instinct is to throw it back, but she relents when her daughter pleads to keep it. This simple act of kindness proves fatal. That evening, the mother posts a picture of the doll on social media. By the morning, she is dead and the doll has disappeared.Several years later and Detective Huldar is in his least favourite place - on a boat in rough waters, searching for possible human remains. However, identifying the skeleton they find on the seabed proves harder than initially thought, and Huldar must draw on psychologist Freyja's experience to help him. As the mystery of the unidentified body deepens, Huldar is also drawn into an investigation of a homeless drug addict's murder, and Freyja investigates a suspected case of child abuse at a foster care home.What swiftly becomes clear is that the cases are linked through a single, missing, vulnerable witness: the young girl who wanted the doll all those years ago.Taut, terrifying and impossible to put down, The Doll cements Yrsa Sigurdardottir's reputation as a master of storytelling tension and surprise.
