Andrew K. (kuligowskiandrewt) -
Think back to some of the famed detectives of the âold daysâ. Sherlock Holmes. Miss Marple. Charlie Chan. The perfect sleuths. An orange peel carelessly discarded a block away from the scene of the crime would lead them to the correct conclusion that the butler must have killed the old dowager in her sleep!
Detective Huldar is cut from the same cloth of those earlier detectives. Unfortunately for him (but a blessing for the readers), his portion of the cloth is frayed, stained, and generally irregular in many ways. He dwells on the poor choices that he's made in his personal life â while going out and repeating them. His professional career has managed to launch itself sideways, with successful solves being offset by missteps with his superiors. It's a wonder that his colleague from an earlier case, a child psychologist named Freya, is willing to work with him again, let alone even TALK to him!
Wait ⦠back up that last statement. She's not, her involvement with Huldar's case is only because Huldar made a couple of phone calls and convinced her superiors into coercing / forcing her into it. Bodies â or body parts â start showing up in unusual places. Could this be tied to a 10-year-old threat unearthed in an elementary school's time capsule? Could it be tied to a convicted child rapist / murderer who has been released from prison? OR are both âcluesâ merely red herrings to draw attention away from the real motive? There seems to be a time crunch in solving this mystery, as the killer does not seem to be done with his or her agenda â¦
Author Yrsa Sigurdardottir weaves an incredible tale, bring characters of different ages and social strata together in a mystery that kept me guessing until the last page. (Yes, even when you believe the mystery has been solved, don't put the book aside â like a Marvel superhero movie, if you leave before the credits are over, you're going to miss something!) I confess â it took me a few pages to get into this book, but once I did, I found it even more difficult to put it back down again!
RATING: 5 stars â and an ovation to go with it.
Detective Huldar is cut from the same cloth of those earlier detectives. Unfortunately for him (but a blessing for the readers), his portion of the cloth is frayed, stained, and generally irregular in many ways. He dwells on the poor choices that he's made in his personal life â while going out and repeating them. His professional career has managed to launch itself sideways, with successful solves being offset by missteps with his superiors. It's a wonder that his colleague from an earlier case, a child psychologist named Freya, is willing to work with him again, let alone even TALK to him!
Wait ⦠back up that last statement. She's not, her involvement with Huldar's case is only because Huldar made a couple of phone calls and convinced her superiors into coercing / forcing her into it. Bodies â or body parts â start showing up in unusual places. Could this be tied to a 10-year-old threat unearthed in an elementary school's time capsule? Could it be tied to a convicted child rapist / murderer who has been released from prison? OR are both âcluesâ merely red herrings to draw attention away from the real motive? There seems to be a time crunch in solving this mystery, as the killer does not seem to be done with his or her agenda â¦
Author Yrsa Sigurdardottir weaves an incredible tale, bring characters of different ages and social strata together in a mystery that kept me guessing until the last page. (Yes, even when you believe the mystery has been solved, don't put the book aside â like a Marvel superhero movie, if you leave before the credits are over, you're going to miss something!) I confess â it took me a few pages to get into this book, but once I did, I found it even more difficult to put it back down again!
RATING: 5 stars â and an ovation to go with it.
