Instead of writing one post for every book in the Þóra Guðmundsdóttir (Thora Gudmundsdottir) series I decided to group them together and write one post about them all.

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Þriðja Táknið (E. Last Rituals) – (4/5)

Last Rituals is set in Reykjavik, and mainly at the University of Iceland. It was strange reading a murder mystery about the place I have been so often. There is only one murder in Last Rituals which creates a space to really introduce the victim and his story.

Sér grefur gröf (E. My Soul to Take) – (4/5)

My Soul to Take is set in Snæfellsness which I visited last summer (and blogged about the trip). Here Þóra goes to a hotel and the entire story is set around that hotel and the nearby area. It is a twofold murder mystery, one that happens as she is at the hotel and the another one that happened in the past. There is something so devastating about the plot of the book and I felt sad for several days after reading it.

Aska (E. Ashes to Dust) – (2/5)

Ashes to Dust is set in Vestmannaeyjar and the main plot is that several dead bodies were found. They had been hidden in a house that was covered in ashes during an eruption of a volcano. There was an eruption in Vestmannaeyjar in 1973 so it is interesting to have theses historical facts with the murders. I did feel that the plot was quite obvious and just didn’t sit right with me.

Auðnin (E. The Day is Dark) – (4/5)

The Day is Dark is set in Greenland. Where Þóra and her “team” goes to find why several Icelandic people have gone missing. I believe that this book is one of the scariest one from her. There is something so eerie about the fact that they are up on a glacier in the middle of winter with no way to communicate with the outside world.

Horfðu á mig (E. Someone to Watch Over Me) – (4/5)

Someone to Watch Over Me is set in Reykjavik, but mainly in the new neighbourhood Grafarholt. It is really interesting how she is describing the new neighbourhood since it has grown tremendously since the book was published. I felt that the plot of this book was more about ghost than Yrsa’s previous books and it was quite scary.

Brakið (E. The Silence of the Sea) – (4.5/5)

The Silence of the Sea is different from Yrsa’s other books in the series. This book is two different elements. Firstly, it is Þóra trying to figure out the mystery and secondly it is the mystery itself happening. The book is amazing and I loved the pacing of the stories and how intertwined they were. I am not a huge fan of the ending, but at the same time I didn’t see any other ending being possible.

General comments about the series.

What really annoyed me with the novels was how Þóra kept on talking about her receptionist Bella. Throughout the series she keeps on describing her in a very fat shaming way and how ugly Bella is. In Aska she is shocked and disgusted that someone would have sex with Bella and even though she is a vital part of the progress of the case Þóra simply keeps on dismissing Bella and insulting her looks. This then continues in the other books as Bella takes a bigger part in all of the murder cases.

Additionally, I felt as Þóra didn’t evolve throughout the series. The murder plots are so dense and well researched there isn’t really any space for anything else. It is as Þóra isn’t the main character of the novels but simply a background character and the murders are the main characters. Which is understandable, the murders and the creation of the Nordic Noir world that these stories are part of need the space.

-Katrin