Customer Reviews

My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland

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Jonas Juliusson buys a health spa in Snaefellsnes on Iceland's west coast with the help of his attorney single mother of two Thora Gudmundsdottir. However, he fears the property is haunted so he invites Thora to stay and investigate, which she agrees though feeling he is being silly heeding local myths.

Upon arriving at the spa, Thora is greeted with the mutilated corpse of architect Birna Halldorsdottir who designed the new building. Jonas is the prime suspect since he sent the victim a text message to meet him at the place she was found dead. A second body also battered is soon found. Thora quickly changes her inquiry from ghost hunting to homicide hunting.

MY SOUL TO TAKE is an exciting Icelandic amateur sleuth mystery starring a wonderful attorney who begins to slowly find clues that lead to several suspects with motives. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the single mom finds the first corpse and never slows down as the brave lawyer makes her inquiries while another body surfaces. Sub-genre fans will enjoy this fine mystery while seeking Thora's last case (see LAST RITUALS).

Harriet Klausner

This second novel in a series featuring Icelandic attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir gives the author an opportunity to not only write a murder mystery, but to incorporate the history and ghost tales of the past into the plot. Thora is a middle-aged single mother of two and apparently becomes involved in matters other than her law practice.

A client, Jonas Juliusson, has purchased a couple of farms in western Iceland with Thora's assistance, and has opened a hotel on the property. He asks her to renegotiate the purchase price on the flimsy basis that something is wrong, such as ghosts wailing. She visits the hotel in an attempt to dissuade him from such a claim, but the architect working on an annex is found murdered and Jonas is arrested and charged when a second victim, an employee, is also killed. It's up to Thora and her lover to save the client.

While the plot moves forward, the reading is slow (I can't tell if it is the author's style or the translation) and there is a certain amount of repetition which slows things down. On the whole, the book is well-plotted, suspenseful and different, but, at least to this reader, somewhat laborious reading.

"My Soul To Take" is the first book I have read by the author, but it certainly won't be the last! This was a lovely mystery, with lots of well constructed red herrings! I almost always know "who dunnit," but in this one, I didn't see the resolution!

It starts in the 1940s in rural Iceland. A sweet little girl is killed. We flash forward to today: a hotel has been built near where the girl was killed (although no one knows about her), and there are questions of hauntings. Then, contemporary killing begins! Our heroine, a lawyer, goes on the hunt to figure out what is going on. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone who reads this review, so enough said!

This story is awash in possible motives, history, family gothic, etc. It is well constructed, with perfect pacing. If you love a good mystery, you will love this one.

The book's prologue, set in 1945, depicts someone cruelly leading a small girl to her death, a scene all the more terrifying because it involves no physical violence. Sixty-one years later, Thora Gudmundsdottir, lawyer and divorced mother of two, gets a call from Jonas Juliusson, a former client who now owns and runs a New Age resort on Iceland's west coast. Thora represented him in the negotiations for the purchase of the land for the resort. Now Jonas claims that the property has a hidden defect and he wants compensation from the sellers. According to Jonas, the defect is that the existing hotel and the grounds are haunted.Thora is skeptical both about the haunting itself and whether it can be a grounds for compensation. But she agrees to represent Jonas again.

Thora arrives and soon learns that the body of a brutally murdered woman has been found. The murdered woman was Birna, the architect for the resort. The police find evidence that links Jonas both to the original crime and to a second equally brutal murder of a hotel employee, making Jonas the chief suspect. Thora, as Jonas's lawyer, finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation and one with supernatural undertones. She works the case with her German boyfriend who has arrived to visit her.

The mystery is well-plotted and tragic as the original evil ruins lives when it is committed and years later ruins later generations. The characters are well drawn and come across as real people. All of them have flaws and good points.

The story meanders a bit in the early stages as Thora, lacking much information, flails around; but it picks up impetus as she learns more and moves to a complicated and exciting conclusion. Thora's romance and her dealings with her kids fit naturally into the story and are additions rather than merely distractions. The evil is scary because it is unnecessary yet readily committed. Evil is so easy. A good story and well done.

In MY SOUL TO TAKE, Yrsa Sigurdardottir's second book in the Thora Gudmundsdottir series, Thora travels to Iceland's west coast to assist a client who needs her help in a real estate transaction. He wants recompense from the people who sold him the property because the farmhouses he purchased have a hidden defect. They are haunted. Jonas has opened a New Age health resort complete with aura reader and he knows that the presence of ghosts will doom his venture. Jonas knows that there are ghosts; he has seen one.

Shortly after Thora's arrival, the police come to talk to Jonas. The body of a woman has been found on the beach; it is Birna, the architect Jonas had hired to build an extension to the hotel. She is buried under seaweed and there are signs that the killer knows the culture of the area. Thora realizes she must stay at the resort longer than she had planned in order to protect Jonas' interests but she is also intrigued by the boxes of old photos and artifacts that Jonas claims have a connection to the hauntings. Among the photos is that of a little girl, the ghost Jonas saw while he was looking in a mirror.

Among the ordinary photos and papers, Thora finds a Nazi flag, parts of a uniform, and magazines published by the Icelandic Nationalist Party. The past is very close to the present in this remote section of Iceland.

Shame, guilt, greed, pride, and love reach back to 1945 and forward to the death of Birna. Superstition and fear combine for another murder. And Thora is the anchor of the story and the solution.

LAST RITUALS involves murder and witchcraft and connects to the very distant past. MY SOUL TO TAKE involves murder and ghosts and connects to the recent past. Both are well-worth reading. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thóra Gudmundsdóttir's client Jónas Júlíusson wants her to look into the conditions of the land sale he made for the New Age health spa he runs in western Iceland. Would the undisclosure of ghost haunting the place be cause for legal action? Although Thóra does not believe in the ghost, she can't resist his offer for a nice weekend away from the children. Thóra begins research the the history of the farmhouse, a history that becomes more and more disturbing as she unearths more and more details. Even Thóra hears the strange eerie sounds associated with the ghost. Could the haunting be real? When the body of architect Birna Halldórsdóttir is discovered on the beach, Thóra investigates in order to protect her client when his cell phone makes him a possible suspect in the brutal murder. Could the murder have a connection to the haunting or is there some other motive connected to the spa itself? When another body is found, a body with the same disturbing clues, Thóra's investigation becomes all the more pressing. Can the evil of the past influence the present? What deadly secrets will Thora discover? Can those of the past speak to those present now long after their life stories have ended?

In the second book featuring attorney Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, MY SOUL TO TAKE, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir prefaces the current day story with an account of a 1945 horrific crime account of the eerie murder of a child, a crime all the more disturbing for its non-violent premeditated murder seen through a child's perspective. At first, the connection between the prologue and the main story seems unconnected but as Thóra unearths the past, the background of the past crime gives an eerie, and at times supernatural, atmosphere to the family history she discovers. Although slightly less macabre in actual crime details than LAST RITUALS, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir's second thriller has elements in common with the first that make the Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series so uniquely exquisite: the twisted creepiness of the crime and all its ramifications, a supernatural tone balanced by Thóra Gudmundsdóttir's more practical approach to clues, a connection between past and present and respect for history, and also a look into the deadly secrets within families. In both thrillers, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir weaves Iceland's history, landscape and culture into the very fabric of the thriller. MY SOUL TO TAKE is perhaps less graphically shocking than LAST RITUALS, yet just as disturbing --- if not more so. This reader would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite between the two. Rather than choose, MY SOUL TO TAKE along with her fist novel marks Yrsa Sigurdardóttir a new writer to add to my list of must read, top suspense authors writing today.

MY SOUL TO TAKE is an awesome thriller that continues to haunt long after the last page. The crimes seen from the point of view of the victims give the reader a glimpse into the twisted face of evil as one sees through the perspective of the very human victims. As the clues unfold, Yrsa Sigurdardóttir paints an ominous emotional landscape, drawing the reader into the very heart of the crime. As Thóra unlocks each strand of the web connecting past and present, the power of history takes on more importance, magnifying the scope of past horrific deeds. Attorney and divorced mother Thóra Gudmundsdóttir adds a richness to this work of suspense beyond just the crime itself. Her feet-on-the ground approach to the crime heightens the suspense while also allowing a bit of humor as relief from the shocking crimes. The unfolding story of her sometimes mundane family conflicts provides a stark contrast to the family history she researchs. MY SOUL TO TAKE creates a startling portrayal of evil past and present. A superb, satisfying ending completes this chilling work of suspense. This reader is most anxious for the release of the author's next novel. Brava!

COURTESY OF BOOK ILLUMINATIONS

This was a new author to me and she's fantastic! The story was well-paced, kept your interest and had lots of twists and turns. I will have to get more of her past books because now I want to read them all. She really relates her main character to everyday people with children, ex-spouse problems and work problems. The parts with her secretary really cracked me up (maybe because I am a secretary too)! Just loads of fun and gave up tv for several nights to finish it. Enjoy!

I am a recent fan of Icelandic Mystery novels. This is the first one that I have read by this author. It led to another and probably several more in the near future. The icelandic lanscape provides a stark, bleak, and foreboding background to the secrets and crimes that can occur within families. It is written with grace, intelligence and a dash of humor. Kudos to the author and the translator.

In one of her interviews, Yrsa said that the problem of writing a mystery in Iceland is that there are only two or three murders a year (on the whole island). So to create a reason for a murder takes a lot of thinking. You can't just take a European or American tale and rewrite it for Iceland, it has to be reasonable to those who live there. Well this one is special, once again (like in "Last Rituals") this one includes ghosts and 'things that go bump in the night'.

Thora goes up north to see her client who has opened a 'New Age' spa that is located on the land of two old farms, she is told by the owner that the land is 'haunted'. This would be no big deal except that it's wrecking havoc with his employees who are 'sensitive' to the 'bad vibes' of the land. While she's there, two murders are committed and no one can figure out why. But the local police decide it had to be the owner and therefore Thora must find the real murderer to free her client.

Some of the backstory therefore has to do with the families that owned the land before selling out to the Spa owner. It seems that the problems go back to a time when families who couldn't feed themselves, would commit infanticide by leaving newborns on a rocky peninsula overlooking the ocean. There is a local legend that you can hear the abandoned babies crying in the night. Helping Thora is her German friend (from the first book) Matthew.

At the same time her sixteen year old son, and daughter are staying with her ex-husband. Because she has to stay longer than planned, her son gets bored and heads back home with his sister, where he picks-up his pregnant girlfriend (in her ninth month) and takes off with her SUV and camper. After their little adventure they show up at the Hotel, it gets a little to crowded for comfort.

Eventually, with the help of some locals who know the history of the farms, Thora is able to figure out who the murderer is and her grandchild is born and the sun comes out, and the pixies dance and everyone is in love.... yeah the ending is very pedestrian. All in all though it does keep you attention.

Zeb Kantrowitz

NOTE: I find it hard to read these Icelandic books only because the names people have are strange enough without them having nicknames. They also don't have last names like us but carry patronymics. So Thora is Gundmunsdottir, but her daughter in Hannesdottir and her son is Hannesson. If your named after your dad, as is one of the characters, your name could be Baldvin Baldvinson. It's sort of like reading Tolstoy.

The Icelandic setting is well drawn and the mix of crimes in the past and present is interesting. But I had issues with some elements of the plot and what seemed like juvenile behavior of the protagonist and just couldn't get my teeth into this as I have with other Icelandic mysteries.