Having written a ton on the problematic nature of villainous adoptees in crime fiction, I went into Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s book with a healthy dose of skepticism that she could pull this off. I appreciate the authors work, having enjoyed The Last Ritual. I think she creates interesting characters and does a great job of bringing Iceland to life. But I kept hearing how twisty and shocking this was. And it involved three adoptees at the heart of the story. So my antennae was up.
Did she pull it off? I think so. I can’t say why without spoiling but I felt mostly satisfied at how it was resolved. Though I’m not an adoptee so take that for what it’s worth.
In terms of a mystery, it’s quite interesting and well done. It kept me guessing and I definitely didn’t know who the killer was. It’s also rich in atmosphere; you certainly feel the brutal nature of the bleak Icelandic landscape. It was a long book for a mystery, clocking in at 450 pages but like a lot of other readers, I breezed through it.
Like The Last Ritual, Sigurðardóttir does a great job of creating interesting characters who I wanted to learn more about. I liked the psychiatrist at the center of it all. The detective less so; he’s more made out to be a mystery than he should be (this could also be due to her wanting the reader to think he’s involved with the murders which no spoilers there). But when I feel invested in the character, I can forgive the other shortcomings. This will likely go down as one of the best crime reads I’ll peruse in 2024.