Last Rituals
Ratings13
Average rating3.9
The spellbinding debut and international sensation being published in thirty countries featuring Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, a smart, sexy lawyer and investigator whose hunt for a modern murderer points to a very odd—and evil—chapter in Iceland's past.
After the body of a young German student—with his eyes cut out and strange symbols carved into his chest—is discovered at a university in Reykjavík, the police waste no time in making an arrest. The victim's family isn't convinced they have the right man, however, so they ask Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, attorney and single mother of two, to investigate. The fee is considerable—more than enough to make things a bit easier for the struggling lawyer and her children.
It's not long before Thóra and Matthew Reich, her new associate, discover something unusual about the deceased student: He had been obsessed with the country's grisly history of torture, execution, and witch hunts—a topic made all the more peculiar by the fact that unlike witch hunts in other countries, those in Iceland had targeted men . . . not women.
As Thóra and Matthew dig deeper, they make the connection between long-bygone customs and the student's murder. But the shadow of dark traditions conceals secrets in both the past and the present, and the investigators soon realize that nothing is as it seems . . . and that no one can be trusted.
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Series
Series
6 primary books#1 in Þóra Guðmundsdóttir
Þóra Guðmundsdóttir is a 6-book series with 6 released primary works first released in 2005 with contributions by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir.
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Popular Reviews
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Loved this first book in the Thora Gudmundsdottir series. It has everything I could ask for in a book....murder, a secret society, magic rituals, ancient manuscripts, and of course, it's set in Iceland.
This was between three and four stars, actually. Just to be fair.
So, Last Rituals...an intriguing title, is it not? Along with the blue-black book cover and the Icelandic setting, the readers are in for a haunting reading.
Last Rituals was already in my TBR list, but I started reading sooner than I thought, taking part in the September reading discussion of the You'll love this one...!! A book club & more, a suggestion by our lovely moderators. It is the first installment in Yrsa Sigurðardóttir'sÞóra Guðmundsdóttir series and the story fully delivers to its title. The setting is wintery, dark and bleak, and the elements of Witchcraft, Pagan lore and sub-cultural beliefs give a supernatural touch, attracting the reader's interest, doing justice to the reputation of the Scandinavian/Nordic crime genre. There are some hints of Jo Nesbø (the raw, realistic prose) and of Camilla Läckberg (the haunting theme and the glances into the personal lives of the characters). So, is everything perfect?In my opinion, no. It is a well-written and interesting novel, but not perfect.
I can't really say what it was that bothered me concerning Þóra. Perhaps I am nit-picking, perhaps it is a case of cultural differences, perhaps it is a problem derived from translation. In any case, I cannot say I ever warmed to our protagonist. Some examples of her way of thinking, certain remarks of hers made her come across as cold and offensive. In addition, there were some questions on her part that demonstrated an unusual ignorence, I didn't think that was realistic. However, I believe she shows herself to be a good and caring mother, trying to find the balance between her demanding profession and the equally demanding family life. As for Matthew, I have no opinion whatsoever. Let's just say that he didn't attract my interest.
In spite of these cons, I fully enjoyed Last Rituals and I intend to follow the series. I hope for more haunting, bleak cases with interesting twists.
