Thora Gudmundsdottir Book 1 (Thóra Gudmundsdóttir Crime Series)

The young student was a bit unusual. He was German, but chose to study in Iceland. He was a History major, but seemed to spend most of his time exploring the country’s Middle-Age witchcraft practice and practitioners. Oh yes, and whoever killed him removed his eyes …

Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, a divorced mother of two, has been hired by the mother of the deceased student. Thóra isn’t an investigator, she’s a lawyer who is finding that her take-home pay doesn’t stretch as far without two incomes. BUT, she’s also diligent – and she’s a mother; the victim’s mother believes that these qualifications may help find the REAL killer, not the poor guy who the police’s slip-shod investigation fingered. He COULDN’T have done it – could he?

Ms. Sigurðardóttir presents an interesting look at Iceland. As a native, she knows that there are some aspects of life that may seem a bit unusual to outsiders. To help us readers bridge the gap, she has our protagonist accompanied by Matthew Reich, a representative of the family – his German-based ignorance of Icelandic custom parallels our American lack of knowledge and the main character takes the time to explain things to him, and by extension to us.

Who DID kill our college student. Ms. Sigurðardóttir introduces several suspects and makes us wonder until she gets to the big reveal towards the end of the novel.

I truly enjoyed this well-paced mystery and look forward to reading more of the translated works of this talented author.

RATING: 5 stars.

This book presents a contemporary mystery wrapped in dark and ancient secrets with an icing of ambition. As the mystery builds through the book these secrets become more and more critical to solving the mystery.

As the first of Sigurdardottir's mysteries involving Thora Gudmundsdottir. That adds an aspect of interest to the book. It's always interesting to see how a character develops through a series.

The mystery will also take the reader through a brief tour of a part of Icelandic history. That history is fascinating in its own right, yet will not detract from the story.

It's a book I can recommend to anyone seeking a mystery to solve.

"Last Rituals" is the English language release of "Þriðja táknið (The Third Symbol)" by Icelandic novelist, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. This book marked the author's crime novel début, in 2005, with this English translation (by the late Bernard Scudder) dating from 2007.

The book itself is an odd mix. It opens as an unusually gory, gruesome and altogether bizarre murder mystery, involving macabre mutilations, student drug-taking, black magic cults and Mediaeval witch trials. From there, though, it quickly morphs into something that is much more a routine sample of romantic, investigative chick-lit. The book's central protagonist is a middle aged lawyer and divorcee with two children, Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, who is hired by the family of the murder victim -- a German postgraduate student at the University of Iceland -- to investigate the truth of his death. Although not an investigative lawyer herself, Thóra is lured by the outrageously large (or, as she phrases it, "interesting") fee and soon finds herself accompanying handsome German ex-policeman, Matthew Reich, into investigations into the darker deeds of Iceland's ancient as well as the immediate past.

The author has quite clearly done her homework when it comes to background research for the book, with extensive historical detail adding depth and richness to the telling of the story. Unfortunately, the book's main characters are portrayed so stereotypically and are so predictable in their behaviours that they descend almost to the level of caricature. Additionally, the novel's plot is so outrageously silly, that it is hard to take the book at all seriously. This somehow makes the gory bits more funny than horrific, which -- while it does make the book less harrowing to some extent -- left me at least with a distinct feeling of unease.

If this were a book by an American or even British novelist, I would probably have few problems with it, for this is very much a classic whodunnit (and a moderately good one too), which is Icelandic in character only in as much as that it where it is set. The book features many of the sites that most foreign tourists to that land will visit at some stage during a visit. Thóra's office is even located right in the heart of Reykjavik's tourist area on Skólavörðustígur and her home in the same suburb of the city as the author herself, Seltjarnarnes. All of this somehow lends the story something of a forced and artificial feel, when it comes to location and settings.

Many readers will no doubt read this book and value it for what is. For those readers more used to the ultra-realism of Iceland's other notable crime writer, Arnaldur Indriðason ("Jar City" etc), this book may well seem tacky and superficial -- rather like the endless mounds of fluffy stuffed puffins, seals and 'hidden folk' that line the shelves in the shops of Iceland's tourist centres. And, all in all, something of a disappointment.

This book piqued my interest for two reasons: I'm a big fan of Scandinavian mysteries (read Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson) and I recently journeyed to Iceland and wanted to read a novel that provided interesting descriptions of the country.

Regarding the second reason: The novel did not really succeed in evoking Iceland--neither its capital city nor the sometimes bizarre and interesting landscape of the country. The action could have taken place in Norway, Denmark, Sweden--or upstate New York, for that matter.

The plot and characters of the novel were not particularly interesting, either. Thora and Matthew--the main characters--are pretty dull, and the mystery (who killed the young German student and why) fails to truly draw the reader in.

I also found the novel to be amateurishly written (though perhaps this is the fault of the translator). By the time I was halfway through the novel I wanted to be done with it and move on to something more interesting.

Not recommended.

Coming from Arnaldur Indridason I found that the geography of Iceland was not so up front and centre in this book, nor the recent history; more, it was the past - Middle Ages - which was displayed.
Rather than a policeman we have a buttoned-up thirtysomething divorced lawyer, who has a family to run and a surly secretary who came with her office. She accepts a case from a German family who send an investigator to find out what happened to their son while at university in Iceland. The police have arrested one of the murdered man's friends but nobody has explained why the victim was found with a witchcraft symbol carved on his chest and his eyes gouged out. Turns out the victim was an unpleasant man with unpleasant habits and hobbies.
We get a tour of witch-huntings in Iceland, where alone most of the witches tortured and burned were male, and the grim methods prescribed for use in a book titled The Witches' Hammer, the second most produced medieval book after the Bible.
Thora the lawyer speaks Icelandic, English and German, and she translates for Matthew the ex-police investigator, while he jeers at her bulky coat and she secretly arranges to investigate caves without telling him to change his costly leather shoes. I found him a reasonable character, with dry wit rather than sarcasm, and most of the book's humour derives from their interactions. It is needed, as the witchhunting topic is dark and definitely not for the squeamish. I did spot the outcome a good way off and disliked quite a few of the cast.
As a counterpoint we get a smattering of everyday life in Iceland; the college cleaners are all from south-east Asia, the teens would rather play electronic games than ride horses. A geothermal energy plant produces 'free' electricity and hot water from the island's volcanic heart and the main menu item is still fish.
This is readable and informative, but not for those who only read 'cosies'.

This is a fairly typical contemporary crime/mystery novel, meaning that it can't do without gross mutilation and sexual weirdness (but manages not to have any incest, at least). There is also a lot of strange historical stuff, and the murder in the present has its roots in perverse goings-on in the past. Whatever happened to the straightforward, well-written novel in which a murder is committed by some unknown person and solved by a clever detective?
The ethnographic content, praised by some reviewers, struck me as rather dull (certainly not the kind of description that might lure me one day to Iceland). The characters are neither interesting nor well-delineated - and making some of them gross or weird is not an adequate substitute for this. The "broad-shouldered" male sex interest teeters on the brink of being a cliche figure out of a Mills & Boon women's romantic novel. The murderer is sign-posted early on as an unpleasant type of the sort that the novelist probably dislikes personally!
But the greatest weakness of this novel is that it lacks real suspense, or any sense of danger. The plot is detailed (or meandering), but unconvincing. Of course you read on to find out whodunit, and the text slides down easily enough, but do you really care? No.

Harald Guntlieb has been brutally murdered and a friend of his is accused of the crime. The family isn't satisifed with the investigation, however, and requests the services of Thora Gudmundsdottir, a local attorney. Matthew Reich is already working on the investigation but needs help navigating through the country as Iceland is completely foreign to him. Their investigation is going to take them along a bizarre and twisted path, a path into the history of Iceland's involvement in witchcraft, sorcery, and even torture.

The depth of history on Iceland and its association with witchcraft is simply fascinating. I'm unfamiliar with any of the history but the author presents it in an interesting manner. The details are often gory and the murder, along with the physical appearance of Harald prior to his death, is rather gruesome. Please be forewarned that this is an intense, even bizarre story at times. That is not to say that it isn't good, as it definitely is!

Thora is an intriguing character. The story focuses primarily on the investigation, but the glimpses into her personal life offer a portrait of a loving and caring mother. The contrast between the two mothers, Thora and Amelia Guntlieb, is startling. Thora's interactions with her son provide a much needed positive note to counterbalance the darkness that is portrayed in LAST RITUALS. I loved the way Yrsa Sigurdardottir made some very subtle but important statements about family, particularly in the midst of dysfunction.

LAST RITUALS is clearly not a tale that will appeal to all. The grisly details alone will discourage some readers. The style is very unique as this book has more the feel of literature than your typical thriller. LAST RITUALS is an intense read, but one easily worth reading.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

I enjoyed Last Rituals to large extent, and am delighted to find a new Icelandic author to follow. I won't go into the plot too much, since others have gone into it in depth. I found some of the conversation inconsistent and out of character and I wonder whether this is due, in part to the translation.

I just cannot visualise a top executive of a German Bank, the immaculate, correct Matthew who has been sent to direct solicitor, Thora, saying in a foreign language (English)'Okay, mate!' 'Well, folks' when speaking to strangers - Germans are instinctively more formal than that in their language.
I don't think she would say 'Bollocks' at the beginning of a sentence in speaking to Matthew in English either, he doesn't really speak Icelandic - it just it didn't sound natural, used only once and not signalled by earlier speech patterns. Sometimes the characters speak so formally and then suddenly they are speaking in colloquial English, that just doesn't sound right.
I never got a very clear visual idea of the main protagonists, apart from the fact that Matthew dresses inappropriately for the weather, in expensive formal suits and dress shoes and Thora is the opposite in Michelin man puffa jackets.

There were one or two loose ends that weren't resolved, part of the will of the murdered young man was supposed to be read only after the burial, and we never find out for sure who inherits the bulk of his fortune, although there are guesses.

Also, I thought the research showed too much. When an author goes to a lot of trouble to delve into a subject like witchcraft in the Middle Ages, there must be a temptation to put it all in, not waste it! I think the novel would have been improved if there had been less detail included.

However, It was a pretty good effort and I shall read the next one in the series to see how the characters develop.

Set in Iceland, this novel features lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir, an appealing character trying to juggle a fledgling law practice, two small children, and a limited income. She is hired by the family of a young German student in Iceland, after the student is brutally and weirdly murdered. The plot gets pretty gothic, but the setting is interesting and Thora is a most engaging protagonist. This is the first in a series, and I will follow it with interest.

Point of information: in literary terms, Iceland is getting to be pretty bloodsoaked: the store currently lists 16 Icelandic crime novels in English, several of which have multiple corpses. Back in the real world, however, murder is extremely rare in Iceland. An OECD survey of over 200 countries puts Iceland in the bottom five, right down there with Monaco and Palau. Given Iceland's small population (322,000) this implies very, very few murders. The average over the last 10 years is 2 murders per year. The first one of 2013 took place in May. Suspend that good old will to disbelieve

Harald Guntlieb, a German student, is murdered while pursuing graduate studies in Iceland, and his body is mutilated by magical signs carved into his flesh and the removal of his eyes. A great deal of money is also missing. The police quickly arrest Hugi Thorisson, a friend of Harald and his drug dealer. The police believe that Hugi killed Harald and stole the money. The family contacts Thora to look further into the matter because they think that the police have the wrong man. Thora will be working with Matthew Reich, who is a senior German employee of the Guntlieb family bank.

Harald is not a normal guy. His body is covered in tattoos, strange piercings and body "alterations." He uses drugs, parties hard and has founded a magic society at the university. He is very interested in black magic and witch hunting and is also (secretly) pursuing the first draft of a famous late medieval/early renaissance manuscript on witch hunting, the "Malleus Malificarum.

Thora and Reich use a lot of leg work and patient fact evaluation to unravel the case. In the process their respect ---and attraction---for one another grows.

The interactions between Reich and Thora consistently ring true. They handle one another, as adults do, even when there is strong attraction. The same is true for Thora's juggling of her professional and family life (where trouble is brewing with her teen-aged son). The verisimilitude of these interactions makes up for what is a fairly bizarre plot and for an occasionally lame translation, with constructions that are not normally found in English. The text, for example, states that Pope Innocent VIII "was attributed with" starting the witch hunts in Europe through a papal bull in 1484. Nonetheless an exciting story and strong characters make a very promising first novel.

This rather methodical mystery, set in Iceland - and translated from Icelandic! - was a bit uneven, but overall a pretty entertaining read. The plot unfolded in a very procedural and straightforward manner. This lent itself to a measure of predictability to the book, but the sheer logic of it all may come as something of a relief - the author took no surprising turns that are unfounded by all of the actions leading up to them. There was no attempts at trickery or a reliance on shock and horror. The real highlight of the book was the narrator, Thora. As a single mother and a lawyer (turned investigator here), Thora's personal life intrigued me more than the actual murder mystery! As the debut of a series, the author certainly generated a lot of rapport between reader and main character.

Actually, in numerous places, I wished that the narration remained more solely through Thora's perspective. A lot of characters were introduced here and given their own perspectives which slowed down the overall pacing. Still, this piqued my curiosity to see where the series will go from here, and I look forward to tracking down the sequel, My Soul to Take.

A friend of mine suggested I give Last Rituals: An Icelandic Novel of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft, and Modern Murder by Yrsa Sigurdardottir a read. Not quite knowing what to expect, I finally started reading it earlier in the week. Overall, it was a pretty good story, and one that took me outside my normal cultural settings.

The general plot revolves around the death of a German student who was studying in Iceland. Harald Guntlieb was found in a printer closet by one of his college teachers, his body showing signs of ritualistic mutilation. Guntlieb's parents don't think that the Icelandic police have done enough to find the real killer (they *do* have someone in custody, however). Ms. Guntlieb hires Thora Gutmundsdottir, a single mother who is a lawyer in a small two-person firm, to dig around and try to uncover other angles that might have been ignored. She's to be assisted by Matthew Reich, an employee of the Guntlieb's who handles security matters. The rather high fee she's been offered overcomes her reluctance to get involved, and she starts to work with Reich to bridge the gap between the German and Iceland culture and language. On first glance, it appears that the police have a pretty solid case on their suspect, and that Harald was wrapped up in some pretty strange, medieval practices. But as the two investigators continue to dig deeper, Harald's "friends" seem to know more than they're telling, and Harald's lifestyle may not be all that the others have made it out to be. Following the clues laid out in a series of letters from the 16th century, Gutmundsdottir and Reich start to learn the real truth behind Harald's obsession with witches and sorcery, and how they led to his death.

Not having any reference for Icelandic culture, I can't say whether this was an accurate representation of everyone involved. I will say, however, that the story and plot were interesting, and the characters had life. Gutmundsdottir doesn't come off as some super-hero detective. Instead, she comes off as a single mom struggling to balance work and life, as well as trying to manage a significant crisis in the life of her son. I enjoyed the interplay between the Gutmundsdottir and Reich characters, as they did seem to be a rather odd couple. And along the way, I picked up a bit of history to boot. I don't know that I'd make Sigurdardottir's novels part of my "must read" fare, but it was an enjoyable departure from my normal recreational reading.

I read a glowing review of this book that inspired me to pick it up. While I think the review was rather too effusive, this was an interesting first book and I think the author has the potential to develop into something really special, given time and experience. Still, because this is a translation, it is difficult to know if some of the more awkward prose is due to the writing itself or if it's due to the translation. Either way, the book could do with some more polish.

The biggest minus of the book, in my opinion, is that Thora's personal life isn't really developed enough to be in the book. I felt oddly off balance whenever reading these details because they seemed sometimes like the author threw them in there and then didn't really go anywhere with them. Thora seemed much to casual about some of the events in her life--especially when it comes to the humongous bomb that her 15-year-old son drops on her. I have a hard time believing any mother could be as sanguine as Thora is, distracted by the case or not.

The real strength of the book, then, is in the mystery. I read a lot of mystery novels but I've never read one that's taken a foray into this particular territory and so it made for a nice change of pace. The murder victim's interest in witchcraft made for some interesting cultural lessons not only about Iceland but also about Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The author also did a nice job making the victim's family mysterious and revealing a surprising plot twist at the end. Harald is anything but a sympathetic character and while I've read mystery novels where the victim isn't the nicest person in the world, Harald's personality added an interesting twist.

The book seems very well researched, though I'm certainly no scholar of history. It is very detailed and well plotted and this is what makes me think that with some work and some polish, this author has the potential to become a fine writer.

Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann

Subtitled: An Icelandic Novel of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft, and Modern Murder

Rekyavik lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdottir gets a very unusual request. A German student, Harald Guntlieb, has been found murdered in the History Department building at the University-with some gruesome details. Even though a young man has been arrested, the family back in Germany wants help in making sure the investigation has been thorough, and that the police have the right man.

The Guntlieb family is wealthy, and they send a representative who works for them often, a German ex-policeman, Matthew Reich, He brings some documents to help Thóra, and will assist in the research. Against her better judgment, Thóra takes on the case-she is a single mother with two children and needs the money.

Some details about the grisly murder suggest sorcery. Harald was interested in witchcraft, and searching for a medieval manuscript written by a member of the Catholic Church who was a fanatic about seeking out witches, torturing and killing them. Harald seems to be more on a hunt for the manuscript than working on his thesis. Thóra and Mathew follow his steps, with the grudging help of Harald's friends Halldor, a medical student, and Marta, Briet, Brjann. And Andri. Hugi, who is accused of the murder, is resigned to his fate, but the circumstantial evidence against him is slowly chipped away by Thóra's investigation.

I was surprised by the outcome of the inquiry, and by the reasons for the mutilation of the corpse. The plot twists and turns in the historical search-and the unraveling of the motives for the murder are spellbinding. The setting is dark and dour, with Iceland's cold, snow, and treeless landscape depicted in detail. Thóra and her relationship with her children, co-workers, and with Mathew, is a delight.

Armchair Interviews says: Fortunately for mystery lovers, this is the first of a series.

Icelandic lawyer, Thóra Gudmundsdottir is puzzled when German resident, Amelia Guntlieb, wants to hire her to find out who really murdered her son, Harald. The Guntlieb family believes the police arrested the wrong man, and because Harald was studying at a university in Reykjavík, where Thóra lives, they ask her to look into the matter. Thóra doubts she find evidence to change events, but since she needs the Guntlieb's generous fee, she agrees to investigate. Sent to assist her, is the family's representative Matthew, a stoic, condescending man. But as Thóra delves into Harald's somewhat disturbing life, she comes to appreciate Matthew's presence.

The development of this relationship is one of the book's positive aspects, but I had problems with Yrsa Sigurdardóttir's debut mystery, LAST RITUALS. First, there's little emotion throughout most of the book. Other than doing a good job, nothing's at stake for Thóra. No threats, no violence, and little action. Interviews, some leg work, and document reading makes the novel's pacing painfully slow in places. For instance, sixteen pages show Thóra reading a report about Harald's life. Granted, Harald's life was odd and he was working on a comparison of witch hunts in Iceland and Germany (plenty of historical detail is provided), but the novel was easy to put down in a number of places.

Another problem is that Thóra's voice is so intellectual and formal much of time that it was tough to warm up to the character. The long, carefully articulated inner monologue didn't sound natural, even for a smart lawyer. This book was translated so who knows if this was the author's style or a translation issue? The same applies to the use of clichés like "barrel of laughs" or "for all the tea in China".

On the upside, we see more emotion from Thóra with her children in a tense subplot. Also, the main plot is intriguing and the identity of the killer surprised me, but then I rarely guess the killer's identity. There weren't many descriptions of Iceland, but the few I read were great, and I'd love to read more stories set in this country.

Thora Gudmundsdottir (have I mentioned how fascinated I am by the Icelandic patronymic naming system?) is very... normal. She's a lawyer, but not the usual sort you find in crime novels. She specializes in contractual law. When a German woman offers her more than her yearly salary to find out who really murdered her son, Thora finds she really can't refuse. After all, she's a divorced mother of two whose car is in the shop, yet again. Thora is matched up with Matthew Reich, who works for the family of the murdered young man. Thora and Matthew start out awkwardly, but soon grow into an easy companionship that pulls you through this story of witchcraft and rituals and bitterness and jealousy. I doubt we'll see more of Matthew later in the series, but I wouldn't mind it. I liked the simplicity and realness of Thora, and I look forward to meeting her again.

Those looking for something quite unusual and new by way of a mystery or thriller now have "Last Rituals."<
Its author is an Icelandic Civil Engineer who has also written five children's novels. Now, she has turned her hand to mystery and produced one of the best mystery/thrillers in many years, in any language.<
Ably rendered into English by Bernard Scudder, "Last Rituals" is the story of a struggling attorney who agrees to help investigate the murder of a German student in Reykjavik. There are a great many complications. The police already have a suspect, but the victim's parents don't believe he did it. Thora Gudmundsdottir must also work with a retired German policeman sent to Iceland to aid in the investigation.<
What they find is far from simple, including the fact that the student was in search of the original manuscript of the legendary "Malleus Maleficarum," the Medieval "Witch's Hammer." He also, they find, was involved with a black magic cult. Eventually, they must journey deep into the dark history of Iceland and into some of the darkest corners of the modern world.<
"Last Rituals" is wonderfully paced, rich in characterization, superior in story. It is such a satisfying book that readers will insist the next book by Sigurdardottir appear like magic!

Lawyer and single mother Thóra Gudmundsdóttir is contacted by Matthew Reich, an ex-German police officer, for help. A wealthy German family's son has been studying at university in Reykjavík, Iceland. His body was found with his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest. His family doesn't believe that the Reykjavík police have the right man in custody. Since Thóra's law practice is struggling, she needs the money and agrees to conduct her own investigation.

It quickly comes to light that the murdered student was studying Iceland's history of torture, execution and witch hunts, and the more that Thóra and Reich investigate, the more likely it seems that his studies played a part in his murder.

I was greatly anticipating this book. One of the reasons why I love reading mysteries set in other countries is because I'm an armchair traveler. I love learning about other countries, and a feeling of place can add so much to a story. Sadly, there was very little sense of place in Last Rituals, and the plot didn't have much that was new either.

What I did enjoy a great deal was the character of Thóra, her dual careers of lawyer and mother, her dedication to both, her stubbornness, and her sense of humor that would flash unexpectedly and make me laugh. If not for Thóra, I doubt very much that I would read the next book in the series. Thóra sparkled to such a degree that I know I will be reading more about her in future.

Thora Gudmundsdottir (have I mentioned how fascinated I am by the Icelandic patronymic naming system?) is very... normal. She's a lawyer, but not the usual sort you find in crime novels. She specializes in contractual law. When a German woman offers her more than her yearly salary to find out who really murdered her son, Thora finds she really can't refuse. After all, she's a divorced mother of two whose car is in the shop, yet again. Thora is matched up with Matthew Reich, who works for the family of the murdered young man. Thora and Matthew start out awkwardly, but soon grow into an easy companionship that pulls you through this story of witchcraft and rituals and bitterness and jealousy. I doubt we'll see more of Matthew later in the series, but I wouldn't mind it. I liked the simplicity and realness of Thora, and I look forward to meeting her again.

Those looking for something quite unusual and new by way of a mystery or thriller now have "Last Rituals."<
Its author is an Icelandic Civil Engineer who has also written five children's novels. Now, she has turned her hand to mystery and produced one of the best mystery/thrillers in many years, in any language.<
Ably rendered into English by Bernard Scudder, "Last Rituals" is the story of a struggling attorney who agrees to help investigate the murder of a German student in Reykjavik. There are a great many complications. The police already have a suspect, but the victim's parents don't believe he did it. Thora Gudmundsdottir must also work with a retired German policeman sent to Iceland to aid in the investigation.<
What they find is far from simple, including the fact that the student was in search of the original manuscript of the legendary "Malleus Maleficarum," the Medieval "Witch's Hammer." He also, they find, was involved with a black magic cult. Eventually, they must journey deep into the dark history of Iceland and into some of the darkest corners of the modern world.<
"Last Rituals" is wonderfully paced, rich in characterization, superior in story. It is such a satisfying book that readers will insist the next book by Sigurdardottir appear like magic!

Lawyer and single mother Thóra Gudmundsdóttir is contacted by Matthew Reich, an ex-German police officer, for help. A wealthy German family's son has been studying at university in Reykjavík, Iceland. His body was found with his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest. His family doesn't believe that the Reykjavík police have the right man in custody. Since Thóra's law practice is struggling, she needs the money and agrees to conduct her own investigation.

It quickly comes to light that the murdered student was studying Iceland's history of torture, execution and witch hunts, and the more that Thóra and Reich investigate, the more likely it seems that his studies played a part in his murder.

I was greatly anticipating this book. One of the reasons why I love reading mysteries set in other countries is because I'm an armchair traveler. I love learning about other countries, and a feeling of place can add so much to a story. Sadly, there was very little sense of place in Last Rituals, and the plot didn't have much that was new either.

What I did enjoy a great deal was the character of Thóra, her dual careers of lawyer and mother, her dedication to both, her stubbornness, and her sense of humor that would flash unexpectedly and make me laugh. If not for Thóra, I doubt very much that I would read the next book in the series. Thóra sparkled to such a degree that I know I will be reading more about her in future.

Meet Thora Gudmundsdottir, an attorney and divorced mother of two, a teenage son and a six-year-old daughter. As if her life is not hectic enough, she receives a phone call from a German woman whose son has been killed at the local university. Amelia Guntlieb wants to hire Gudmundsdottir to investigate the death of her son, as she and her husband do not believe the police have investigated it thoroughly and further believe they have the wrong man in custody. Gudmundsdottir agrees to think about taking the case and she is to meet with a German man, Matthew Reich, who works for the Guntlieb family in order to ascertain more about the victim and the case. She, of course, accepts the case and will work closely with Reich for the remainder of the novel.

Once she takes the case she starts to find how just how strange the victim, Harald Guntlieb, really was. He was enrolled in the graduate program at the university in the history department and his field of expertise was witch burnings in Iceland and on the mainland. As Gudmundsdottir and Reich delve into Harald's past more they find he was into the dark arts and on a relentless search for an old book entitled The Witches' Hammer. They investigate his friends but they all seem to have an air tight alibi for the night of Harald's murder.

This is an exciting who-done-it book along with a great cast of characters. If you like murder mysteries you won't want to miss this book. I can hardly wait to start her next novel.

"Yrsa Sigurdardottir is excellent writer from Iceland. Her first book to be released in the US is 'LAST RITUALS: A Tale of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft and Modern Murder.' Thora Gudmundsdottir is a single mother of two and a struggling attorney who is approached by the German parents of an exchange student. The police have arrested a suspect in the murder of their son but they don't believe the police have the right person. They are willing to pay Thora a significant amount of money if she concentrates on finding the person really responsible.

"She is soon joined in her investigation by Matthew Reich, a German also hired by the victim's parents. As they investigate they discover that the murder is connected to Iceland's very dark, mythic past. The victim was very interested in Iceland's history of witchcraft and the hunts for the practitioners most likely because these witches were men.

"This is an excellent story begging to be read straight through to the end but it is more than a bit grisly. I scanned the details. I think the difference between a story like this and a Hannibal Lector story is that the latter smacks everyone in the face with their vulnerability. The victim in this case has gone willingly into a past that may or may not be real.

"A second book in the series is being released in May and I am looking forward to it, grisly or not.
"Beth"

In Reykjavik, Iceland, the police arrest a drug dealer for murdering and mutilating German college student Harald Guntlieb. However, the victim's affluent parents do not believe the police caught the right person; they cannot comprehend why a drug dealer would asphyxiate a victim rather than just shoot him, not carve out their son's eyes nor carve ritual symbols on his chest. They assume their offspring was killed in a witchcraft homicide.

Still seeking closure, the parents send trusted family friend Matthew Reich, a former CID agent, to Iceland to investigate. He knows even before he leaves the continent that he will require local assistance so through Harold's grieving mom Amelia, Matthew hires lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir, a single mother, to assist him on the case as she speaks his language as well as that of the locals. They follow up on the odd LAST RITUALS by looking into Harold's life in Iceland and learn he belonged to a strange group that participated in unusual sexual rites and had a passionate fascination with medieval witch-hunts. As they dig deeper, they find the case spiraling out of control even as Thora's family life intrudes.

Thora makes this exciting Icelandic whodunit an entertaining read as she struggles between balancing a complex investigation with the demands of her children especially her teen son. Matthew knows he can go nowhere without her as he does not speak the language besides being a foreigner no one would cooperate with him. Thus her family needs intrude on the case driving Matthew to distraction. The mystery is clever as the audience will find many suspects to choose from even while the police seek to end the case with a second arrest of a student. LAST RITUALS is a terrific investigate thriller.

Harriet Klausner

A book that starts with a mutilated corpse whose eyes have been cut off might be expected to be dark, twisted, and macabre. But in this case, while intriguingly dark, Yrsa Sigurdardottir's book is actually an entertaining lighter type of mystery with a heroine who is just as refreshing as say Elizabeth Peters' Vicky Bliss or PD James' Cordelia Gray. Thora Gudmundsdôttir is a lawyer and single mother who agrees to look into the recent death of a young history student who is heir to a German banking fortune. His mutilated corpse and the research he was working on point to his involvement in cult-like activities dealing with sorcery and black magic. While the premise is not entirely original, the deft way in which Sigurdardottir handles the dark subject matter seen through the pragmatic and honest eyes of Thora is the best part about this novel. An enjoyable and entertaining read for a relaxing weekend.

Last Rituals: Icelandic Novel of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft and Modern Murder by internationally acclaimed author Yrsa Sigurdardottir and translated into English by Bernard Scudder will thrill readers with the finely written mystery and more intimate look at a glimpse of Iceland as the background, a country that intrigues but often remains mysterious. The author combines an obscure part of history with dark psychological details while also creating a realistic and sometimes humorous backdrop in the characters investigating this unusual case.

Thora Gutmundsdottir, a divorced mother who started her own legal partnership receives a phone call from Germany from the Amelia Guntlieb who had been given her name by one of Thora's former professors. Amelia's son was murdered in Iceland and the family needs assistance. The Guntliebs do not feel the local police investigated their son's case thoroughly. Amelia proposes that Thora work with Matthew Reich, a man who spent 5 years with the Munich CID. Although Matthew has the investigative skills needed, he does not know the Icelandic language well enough to ask questions and mix with the locals well enough to get real answers. Certain shocking details of Harald's murder are just too mysterious, eerie and gruesome to believe the murder is connected to a drug deal gone bad. Does someone have a personal vendetta against Harald? After initial reservations, Thora accepts the case and Matthew hands over a dossier detailing many of the particulars of Harald's life. Do the details of his murder relate to his studies of history or to some dark hidden aspect of his personal life? Are the gruesome details a measure of the killer's rage or a clue to the identity of some mysterious group? What does the strange symbol mean? Harald had gone to Iceland to study Medieval history. In particular, his research compared Icelandic witchcraft with witch burnings, execution and torture in Medieval Germany. Whereas women were often the target of witch burnings in Germany, in Iceland, the majority of witches executed were men. Does this difference have any bearing on Harald's research in Iceland? As the investigation narrows, the two discover Harald began to develop strange practices while in Iceland. An investigation into Harald's personal life in Iceland as well as in Germany unearths more and more secrets. Thora and Matthew's investigation takes them through the history of Iceland in many forms and the author gives the reader a fascinating view of both historical and modern Iceland. The more clues they find, the more mysterious the murder appears and the two are no longer sure whom they can trust.

Yrsa Sigurdardottir creates the perfect balance between realistic characterization and a darker multi-faceted mystery that intrigues the reader as it unfolds. As the details of Thora's family life interfere with her investigation, the reader sees a glimpse of her as whole person ---one who cares for her children as only a devoted mother can but also as a person whose life has endowed her with a delightful sense of humor and a sense of compassion that underlies her investigation. The developing relationship between Thora and Matthew provides delightful humorous twists to accompany the terrifying secrets and relationships they uncover. The mystery itself grabs the reader's attention from the very beginning and heightens with each successive revelation of clues. Suspenseful twists and turns lead to a climax where all the pieces carefully prepared from the very beginning fall together and yet still surprise the reader in unexpected and unforgettable new ways.

Yrsa Sigurdardottir's novel will appeal a wide variety of readers with an interest in Iceland from those with a mere curiosity for this unique country all the way to those with a more thorough knowledge from travel or studies of Icelandic literature. The author interweaves well known aspects of her native land such as the Icelandic horses, lava fields and various landmarks with a humorous look at the pronunciation of the Icelandic language and local driving customs into the plot and interchanges of the characters themselves. Those curious for a closer more in depth look at Iceland will appreciate the author's look at the effects of a small population, the history of Icelandic law and religion and the results of globalization on the daily life of local residents. At all times, the author integrates these details so closely into characters and the structure of the novel so that the pace of the mystery unfolds fluidly with a touch of humor and heightening of the mystery.

Scholars quite familiar with Medieval Norse manuscript history and literature will be thrilled to discover the realism in Yrsa Sigurdardottir's portrayal of the intricacies of Icelandic manuscript history. The author details this history through Thora's investigations of Harald's actions and relationships so readers unfamiliar with this aspect of Icelandic history easily follow the unfolding mystery. The author creates the best of two worlds ---- the reader follows a realistic portrayal of Iceland's unique place in Medieval history and literature without being weighed down by a pedantic academic treatise but her attention to precision makes Last Rituals a more intriguing read than some of the missing codex, manuscript, symbol novels in current vogue. Yrsa Sigurdardottir's careful attention to detail and its seamless integration into the very heart of her writing style make Last Rituals one of the best recent novels in the genre.

Very interesting. A little dark but full of suspense. Quite an unexpected ending. Potential to explore this author. I already started her second book and kind of get the idea about her theme. Refreshing since I don't usually read this category of books but I like it.

While not totally overwhelmed with this one, I'll chalk it up to being the first in a series of novels planned by this author. It takes a while for characters, etc. to be developed, so I'll wait for her second novel to see how it turns out.

Last Rituals wasn't bad but it wasn't great. The main character is lawyer Thora Gudmundsdottir, a lawyer in a tiny firm with an unruly secretary that came with the place. She doesn't make a lot of money to support her two children, so when she gets a very unusual request that promises to pay well, she is intrigued. It seems that a German student, one Harald Guntlieb, has been found dead in the History Department building at the local University. The police have a suspect in jail, but Harald's parents don't think he did it. They are paying Thora to look into the case, and send a representative (Matthew) with some files for her to look over. As time goes on, Thora & Matthew find out a lot about not only Harald, but his gruesome interests.

The book has a bit of Icelandic church history in it, as well as some history of the dark arts. It also gives a peek into Thora's character, as a mom and as a lawyer. Some of the parts involving her kids were a bit unbelievable, but the mystery is okay and interesting.

I would recommend it to anyone who has an interested in mysteries from outside the US, or anyone who likes Scandinavian mysteries. It's a series opener, so you know the best is yet to be.

Not as good as some of the other Icelandic authors. But I did enjoy that the main character was your harried, overworked single mother of two children and the typical Icelandic character filled with existential angst.

After reading the first two Icelandic mystery novels by Arnaldur Indrithason, and enjoying the setting as well as the story, I happened upon this first novel by an Icelandic woman, a civil engineer. The main character, Thora Gudmundsdottir, is a lawyer (civil, not criminal) who, because she speaks German, becomes involved in the investigation of the gruesome murder of a German graduate student at the University of Iceland. Harald Guntlieb, who had his own psychological problems as well as a great deal of money, had a deep interest in sorcery, the witchcraft burnings, and the surviving related manuscripts. When his body is discovered missing its eyes, the police immediately decide a drug-dealing friend of his is responsible. Harald's mother thinks otherwise and hires Thora, who finds herself assisted by the Guntliebs' head of security, whom she doesn't much like -- at first. The plot is heavy on Icelandic church history, and academic research, and rather extreme body ornamentation, and the author doesn't really drop subtle hints along the way; you find out things as Thora does. In fact, the only reason you might have to suspect the real culprit is that he acts in a generally suspicious way -- but for no particular reason. He's also a POV character for part of the story, which isn't exactly playing fair with the reader. The author's style is a bit clunky, but one may hope she'll learn. Also, the translation is a bit stiff and overwritten, but that's a common fault. Not a great first novel, but not bad. She has a second one coming and I'll be watching for it.

Quite weak...the storyline is over-complex, without being interesting. I liked Thora, the central character, but I really struggled to get to the end. It was easy to forget what had happened previusly Just not my cup-of-tea, I suppose, or maybe I should have read it in larger chunks.

This first book from the Icelandic author is an excellent book. I've read many books recently by authors with English as a second language and feared the same issues with this book - stilted English or poor proofing. However, this book had impeccable English. The story is basically an exciting murder mystery. While the story involves delving into the dark side of magic and witch hunting, that is not really what the story is about. The ending isn't incredibly surprising, but does offer a few twists and turns. For a character who is found dead on the first page, Harald turns out to be a very interesting fellow and the story leads to revealing his murderer and also the story behind why Harald was such an odd person in life. Sigurdardottir has let loose a writing talent that will see me looking for future books from her.

I couldn't finish this novel because the translation was so poor -- clunky and with odd phrases that didn't read like English. Altho I've been to Iceland, I do not speak Icelandic (when people couldn't speak English, I made do with hand gestures and my, albeit limited, Norwegian). However, the rule for good translation is always that it reads well and you are not aware that it is a translation. This book felt like writing by numbers and was very laboured. I shall try later novels by this author (I love Jo Nesbo and some Henning Mankell, but I'm not a fan of Laurie Thompson's translating, altho I know some people rate him). Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow was, I thought, superb. His next book I couldn't finish and it didn't even seem to be written by the same person (it had a different translator, of course, which made all the difference).

I looked forward to reading this novel, that included ancient symbols, Icelandic history, and of course, murder. I was disappointed. Perhaps something was lost in translation. What could have been an exciting unfolding of clues and events similar to Brown's mysteries, was a clunker.

Doubling her fees and promising a huge bonus at a time when Thora Gudmundsadotter badly needed the money was enough to draw her to this case, but at what cost?

Thora investigates the horrible death and mutilation of a young German student at the University of Iceland. The police have a suspect imprisoned, but the victim's parents don't think he's the killer. She is drawn into a world she only knew from the outside; a world of witchcraft and strange Rituals.

Well written and greatly entertaining.

Review by Wanda C. Keesey (author of Lost In The Mist release date May 2008)

I think this is a exceptional first novel. I particularly liked the witchcraft elements in it. There are a few sections that could use a little smoothing out, but I like this as much as anything I've read in the genre in the last year. I have high hopes for this novelist, though I worry that with multiple authors (Many very good) working the same territory (Iceland) that over time, the homogeneous nature of Icelandic society may lead to a number of overly similar novels. But that's a worry for the future. Right now, this is a great way to spend a night (I stayed up to finish it)or two.

I liked Thora's character - level-headed and willing to be flexible. The physical details of the murder and its attendant magical practices were gruesome, and the descriptions of the ease of getting around Reykjavik and Iceland were clear and accurate and lent authenticity to the plot.

I had read stellar reviews of this novel, and the subject matter was intriguing. I was soooo disappointed. The premise and the cultural tidbits were interesting, as promised, but there was no real suspense or character development. The difficulty may be in the translation, but it is a pedestrian read for those of us whose first language is English.

This book was a great disappointment - all the reviews I had read rated it very highly, but I thought it was almost a total waste of time. The character development was minimal at best, the suspense building that related to solving the murder was artificial and cumbersome, as was the development of the information relating to witchcraft and sorcery in Iceland. Try a different author.

Harald Guntlieb is a German student who is studying the history of witches in Iceland. He is found has brutally murdered and a friend of his is accused of the crime. The family isn't satisfied with the investigation, however, and requests the services of Thora Gudmundsdottir, a local attorney. Matthew Reich, a German man who works for the family, is already working on the investigation but needs help navigating with the language in Iceland. Their investigation takes them along a bizarre and twisted path, a path into the history of Iceland's involvement in witchcraft, sorcery, and even torture.
This is the first book in a series and I am looking forward to the next books.In this first novel, Thora's relationships with her family and workmates are started and I am looking forward to learning more