My Soul to Take, a novel of Iceland
by manz
If you’re like me and breezed through Arnaldur Indridason’s Reykjavik Murder Mysteries and are anxiously waiting for the next book to be translated into English ( Hypothermia will be released at the end of the month, and the reviews are great), take a peek at Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s novels. As with many of Indridason’s books, they are also translated by Scudder, before his death. Thus far we have Last Rituals and the newest, My Soul to Take. The novels feature lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdóttir as an investigator helping solve random crimes she gets involved in. I am enchanted and awed once again at how well these Icelandic authors paint the Icelandic setting with such description that it becomes an important character in the books.
In My Soul To Take Thóra heads to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula to talk a frantic and spooked hotel owner out of the idea that his hotel is haunted by ghosts and that they are decreasing his property value. Of course while there a body washes up nearby, and she starts digging into the hotel’s history, the mysterious hauntings, and the history of the farms on the land the hotel now resides. Haunting, ethereal, lovely. Snaefellsnes is the perfect setting, as it has a history of its own magical and other worldly powers. This novel is an excellent whodunnit with a full cast of characters.
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